Kensington DomeHub 7-port USB 2.0 Hub with FlyLight
by Kensington
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List Price: Our Price: $31.25 You Save: $7.74 (20%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $19.99 (click here) 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 Kensington DomeHub 7-port USB 2.0 Hub with FlyLight
Customer Review: Nice price, great product, and it's so cute too.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a good price for this duo (I shopped around at some local office stores before purchasing), and for me is absolutely perfect for my needs.
Maybe it goes without saying (considering "weighted" is in the title), but this is NOT something you'd want to cart around with you, say in a bookbag, on a daily basis. It's maybe about a pound? It feels substantial. For my purposes though, it's perfect. I can set it up in my home office and plug in my keyboard, mouse, usb drive, pen drive, and all sorts of other randomness without the plugs bumping into each other. I haven't yet experienced any pulling out of the plugs like another reviewer, but mine is situated really close to my left hand, so I can easily pull things out. However it doesn't feel after a week of light use that it's going to be a problem. The whole setup connects to your laptop/desktop by a skinnier cord than your normal USB cord. It looks pretty durable and I rather like this feature - makes for less bulk on my desk. Being a Mac laptop user, I should say the looks factor is high (cute next to my white mac), AND I have noticed absolutely no hiccups in speed accessing all of my devices. In fact, I think the printer starts up and spools faster when connected to this than directly to my laptop, but maybe that's just my wishful thinking since I'm no longer waiting to plug something back in while it does its work. Oh, yeah, and the light's pretty cool too - not exactly a reading lamp, but nice to throw in my school bag and pull out at necessary times (like library reading sessions perhaps). It coils up pretty small and is handy. All and all, I think it's a great product if you're looking for something pretty and fairly permanent on your desk to connect all those peripherals. Thinking about buying a second one for my office at the U.
Customer Review: Is it OK to love a USB hub?
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't usually get all misty about peripherals, but the Kensington 7-Port USB 2.0 Dome Hub solved a couple of major usability issues for me and is possibly the best, most intelligently thought out USB hub made. Why?
1) This hub replaced an older 4-port hub that had too few ports even when it was new. This makes me ask: Why do others even bother to make a 4-port desktop hub today? If you're on the fence as to whether it's worth spending $12 more to get 7 ports instead of 4, the answer is Yes, Yes, YES! Even if you don't use all 7 right away, at some point -- like when you need them most -- you'll be glad they are there.
2) This hub's dome design actually makes it more compact than my old 4-port hub, so it takes less desktop space while doing more work.
3) It's weighted, so it stays where I put it. As with other hubs sold even today, my old one was not weighted, so it moved whenever a USB cable did, which in turn often made cables come loose. But the Kensington Dome is rock steady and the cables stay put.
4) It worked instantly right out of the box, and still works flawlessly. Note that I run a Mac OS X system, so no driver was needed for this hub. If you run OS 9 or older, or a PC with Windows, you'll need to load the driver provided on a CD that comes in the package. I can't vouch for how it runs with those systems, but it worked so well with mine that I see no reason it shouldn't with yours.
Finally, keep in mind that although this is a USB 2.0 hub, if you plug it into a USB 1.1 computer port, like those in an older computer, it can only do USB 1.1 work. This may seem obvious, but unfortunately isn't to some, and it's an important point in order to give this little beauty it's due respect.
Go for it. You'll love it, too.
Customer Review: Good customer service and good product
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this in Sept 08 and had no problems with my laptop. It was a plug and play and was recognized without issue. Recently I noticed that some of the lights hadn't been coming on consistently. I tried plugging it into another laptop and just thought the lights went bad because it appeared that the connection was still working. But then again the things it was connected to also had wireless capablility too. So i wasn't sure. But today I realized that 4 of the 7 usb ports had stopped working. So I unplugged it and set it aside to look for my receipt and book that came with it. I then went to the kensington web page and found the customer service phone number and called it. My call was answered almost immediately by a very pleasant lady. She took my info and asked me if I had tried plugging it into another computer and I told her I tried two laptops but if she would hang on i could try my desktop. Of Course, when I plugged it in there IT WORKED!!! Isn't that always the case. I asked her if from time to time it needed to be unplugged to clear and plugged back in. She said she never really heard that before but if it works then all the better. So, It is a good product. It has not had a problem connecting anything I have tried to plug into it, and if by chance you ever notice the lights go out on the front, just try unplugging it for 20 minutes and plugging it back in again. IT WORKED FOR ME. The thing I like the best about calling customer service was that (unlike many other manufacturers) I actually got through to a live person, who was pleasant, and very interested in helping me resolve my issue. because of that GREAT support, I would buy another product from this company.Customer Review: Excellent hub, useful design
Summary: 5 Stars
Darn good stuff, this is: a high-speed USB 2 hub with 7 ports.
The cool little LED fly light, and a USB extension cable just add to the value of this hub. The hub itself is fairly heavy, a bonus when you have a half-dozen USB cable gadgets hanging off of it. My previous hub, a small cigaret-pack size, was always sliding around on the desktop.... sometimes it ended up hanging halfway to the floor. With the Kensington, that's a thing of the past.
I also like the LED light... I often work at night when it's quiet, and entering my AV editing room/office it's very possible to step on (or trip over) any number of cables, instruments, what have you. With this little lamp lighting up the room dimly, I can see well enough to navigate around the obstacles. I often aim it at the keyboard so I can still glance at the keys to make out the characters... my monitor doesn't really illuminate the keyboard from its position on the desk. so it's been handy. I like that.
The attached USB cable concerned me at first. I thought it was wimpy (it's quite thin). However, it has not failed me after months and months of service, so no complaint there.
The ports are arranged at slight angles to one another, so USB cables and gadgets don't exactly plug in parallel to one another. They "fan out" some, so the hub requires a bit more desktop space (behind itself) than its own footprint. Plugging in cables takes a bit of getting used to because of the slight angles, but the connectors feel solid and I've had no troubles there.
The 7th port is on top of the dome, which is handy if you have PDAs or MP3 players; it's also a good spot for the fly light!
Customer Review: Well thought out & fun
Summary: 5 Stars
Great hub, looks great sitting on the desk near my PowerBook. I bought this rather than a desktop Dock, because now I can just hook up one cable and get to all my devices.
I like the weight of the hub -- it doesn't fall off your desk when you use it! The power adapter brick thing is small, as well, which is very nice. However, note: the power adapter will probably only fit on the END of your power strip because it it one of those that points off to the side rather than a huge square.
PROS: Works as advertised, nice quality, top port is awesome for... everything, includes short built in USB cable and a USB extension cable if you need it, free FlyLight might be useful for something
CONS: Can't see the lights on the front well (you have to lean over), might come scuffed (see below), kind of expensive (but what good thing isn't?)
Be warned: I bought one through Amazon, and loved it -- so when we needed another USB hub in a little office emergency, I ran to a local office store and picked one up -- they had all been scratched pretty badly by their own packaging. There wasn't a single one that didn't look like it had been scuffed really bad. Kensington just didn't pack them well. This wasn't a problem on the one I bought from Amazon, but I think I might have lucked out.