Belkin USB 2.0 4-Port Ultra-Mini Hub
by Belkin Components
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List Price: Our Price: $6.72 You Save: $8.27 (55%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Belkin USB 2.0 4-Port Ultra-Mini Hub
Customer Review: Small, not powered, short wire, designed for travel
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this mini hub as a freebie at a trade show and I am using it occasionally, while on the road - I preemptively plug in the thumb drives that I need and then I attach the entire assembly to whatever machine I may be using when I need them. It's been okay so far.
Any prospective buyer should be aware of the following before making the purchase:
- Definitely meant for travel and laptops, less suitable on one's desk or desktop machines (see below).
- The chord is VERY short. This is an issue with desktops. I suppose it's possible to plug the hub in and leave it hanging off the front or the back of a desktop computer but it's not something that I would do.
- Related to the above, it is not a fashion statement. The hub is functional and allows 4 USB devices to be plugged into it but it is not likely to win any design award. I mention this because, with the chord being as short as it is, the likely space this hub will occupy is on your desk.
- It is not powered. As such, do not plan to use it with (more than one) USB-powered hard drives. It should be okay if the drives use their own power supply.
- It does not have many blinking lights like some other hubs do. I like that.
Overall, the Ultra Mini Hub is a useful device and it should be an excellent buy to the extent that the buyer is aware of the issues I listed above. I see no reason to subtract any stars from my rating because the hub is specifically designed for occasional use while traveling.
Customer Review: Buy or not? The reviews/ratings should be MORE than enough!
Summary: 5 Stars
I mean it...the reviews for this product are correct. Let me just tell you that I only read one review...all I needed to see were the number of reviews and the average number of stars I saw with it (4.5).
But, I'm not here to repeat the general consensus. I want to just point out some important factors associated with this particular product:
SHORT CABLE: The connecting usb cable is short. WAY TOO SHORT. I had to purchase Amazon's own USB extension cable for it to be useful for me (guess what I'm reviewing next!). Because this USB hub is actually pretty slick looking, I wanted it on my desk...which happens to be more than a foot away from my computer. Not to mention, I want the ease of plugging in my USB drive, iPod, iPhone without having to reach in some dark wire-jungle behind my PC. Do yourself a favor, get an extension cable.
4 USB PORTS: A good number. Don't forget you have a minimum of 4 in your computer. For a typical home user, 4 additional ports are more than adequate.
PORTABILITY: My setup is an HP Laptop with a docking station...so yes, portability is a relevant factor. However, my laptop comes with 3 USB ports...rarely do I carry more than 3 USB devices. But, it's thin and small. Easy to take anywhere you need to go.
All in all, for the price, you can't beat it. Belkin is a reputable brand (reputable in that they seem to make quality products) and this is a solid port. No problems so far. Will update as necessary.
Customer Review: very useful!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought 2 of these -- one for my notebook and one for my netbook (if I ever get the netbook back from my daughter) and after seeing the price go up, I probably should have bought at least 1 or 2 more, So far, one of these units is hooked up to my notebook and I've got the USB's for 2 printers hooked up, the USB for the backup hard drive and a PS/2 keyboard/mouse dongle hooked up StarTech.com USB TO PS/2 KEYBOARD ( USBPS2PC ) -- all powered separately if required.
No - it is not powered (read the specs) and no it does not have a long tag (read the specs) but if it did have those features, then the small footprint of the design would be compromised, and the small size is what is attractive about this unit in the first place.
For what I need this for - something to easily detach and pop in the messenger bag and yet give me a few more USB ports - this thingy is great. It's not so heavy that even if it has to dangle over the side of the notebook with 3 or 4 peripherals attached to it, it's not weighed down and putting a strain on the USB port on the notebook.
UPDATE: The price lowered again so I ended up ordering a 3rd one for myself and some for Christmas stocking stuffers.
If it fails or goes goofy on me, I will post an update, but so far I am quite happy with this purchase.
Customer Review: Nice compact USB 2.0 Hub
Summary: 5 Stars
I have this attached to one of the USB ports on my Macbook. It is lightweight for travel yet stays in place on my desktop, where it takes up little space. The USB ports are one to each side, so you don't have to worry about a thicker USB head on a cable stopping you from using an adjacent port. There is a red power light to indicate that this is working, though there is no power adapter, which sometimes is necessary so that a hub can power certain items, such as a portable hard drive.
Bottom line: If you are looking for a compact, inexpensive USB Hub for your laptop (or desktop), this product works just fine.
Update April 24, 2010: This product is very handy for powering USB devices even without a computer so long as the device can be powered via a USB cable using an AC adaptor into which one end of the USB cable is plugged, and the other is plugged into the device. For me this includes my BlackBerry Tour, Kindle 2, Slacker G2, and Ipod Touch. Just plug the Belkin mini hub into a USB AC adaptor, and voila!, you now have four ports to power USB devices without a computer and without having to bring along the separate USB adaptors for each device.
I use an iPod travel AC adaptor which has an output of 5V and 1 amp. Note: you cannot power devices using the method that I have described that require more power, such as a camera.
Customer Review: Great for all your little extras.
Summary: 5 Stars
I use this on my laptop that only has 3 usb ports. I have two external hard drives that I am always accessing and in addition to those, I have my mouse and MP3 players, along with a cacaphony of other items that may need to be plugged in at any moment, like my joystick for playing games. Usually I can just unplug one thing to plug in something else, but when I am doing video editing, I need both hard drives plugged in a the same time and cutting the timeline RIGHT where you need it is difficult with the laptop's pointing device.
For the price, this is an excellent hub. It allows you to power up to four devices simultaneously. Just keep in mind that the USB cord can only handle so much data, so don't plug in several hard drives to it and expect to access them all at the same time. I use it plug in my mouse, my joystick, my zune, and my ipod, as none of these require particularly high data transfer speeds. This way I can keep all these things plugged in at the same time and can quickly unplug all at the same time when I need to bring my computer with me.
Anyways, as far as hubs go, this is pretty decent. It's the first I have ever owned, though not the first I have ever used. So long as you don't try to use it for high speed data access on multiple items at the same time, this thing will work jsut fine.