USB Hub?

[Judy G. Russell]

Okay... now I'm running out of USB ports. I have a USB printer, a USB connector for my scanner, a USB dock for my Palm, a USB card reader for cards from my digital camera, and now this USB external HD.

Will I degrade performance very much if I toss a USB hub onto one of the existing ports and start plugging things in there?

[Karl Semper]

Okay... now I'm running out of USB ports. I have a USB printer, a USB connector for my scanner, a USB dock for my Palm, a USB card reader for cards from my digital camera, and now this USB external HD.

Will I degrade performance very much if I toss a USB hub onto one of the existing ports and start plugging things in there?

Shouldn't, but I get one with a wall wart and make sure that it is USB 2.

[RayB (France)]

Okay... now I'm running out of USB ports. I have a USB printer, a USB connector for my scanner, a USB dock for my Palm, a USB card reader for cards from my digital camera, and now this USB external HD.

Will I degrade performance very much if I toss a USB hub onto one of the existing ports and start plugging things in there?

Try here -

http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=1998&pcount=&Product_Id=164620

Mine works like a charm.

[Judy G. Russell]

Terrific, thanks. Yeah, I was thinking of something like this one (http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10323928&spf=1&sp=1) or this one (http://www.buy.com/prod/IOGear_USB_2_0_HUB_w_6_Ports_12_in_4_Memory_Card_R eader_Writer/q/loc/101/10394327.html).

[Judy G. Russell]

Thanks, Ray! That's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of... nice to know it works well for you. I never really thought I was going to run out of USB ports when I bought this computer, but I sure have run out!

[RayB (France)]

Thanks, Ray! That's exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of... nice to know it works well for you. I never really thought I was going to run out of USB ports when I bought this computer, but I sure have run out!

I have 2 USB ports on my Mac. One has my keyboard in it. The mouse plugs into the keyboard. I have the hub on the other. I have the following to connect.

Ext Zip Drive
2 Scanners (One for pages and one for 35mm slides and negs.)
Printer
Ext HD
Camera

What I have done is plug an additional, un-powered Hub into the main one and it still works like a charm.

[ktinkel]

Will I degrade performance very much if I toss a USB hub onto one of the existing ports and start plugging things in there?Shouldn’t degrade performance. Be sure to buy a powered one (that IO 6-port model that you linked to looked good to me). Some devices will not work without power. That was the only problem I ever had with USB ports.

[Judy G. Russell]

That's very encouraging, Ray! I know I won't have time to pick up a hub tonight (it's mock trial season and I haven't been home except to sleep in ... forever, it seems...) but I'll order one ASAP!

[Judy G. Russell]

Got it: get the power. I know I had read about problems with unpowered hubs, so I will definitely get a powered one. Thanks!

[Gary Maltzen]

I tend to shy away from D-Link. The powered USB2 hubs I got which work well with hub-powered devices like scanners (i.e., have adequate power) have been Belkin (black, 4-port). I've been very pleased with ioGear equipment (KVMs) I've purchased.

[Judy G. Russell]

Thanks, Gary -- two recommendations for Belkin are good enough for me!

[Mike Landi]

Go for it, and I'm sure you've been told by others, get a self powered hub.

I've got a few of these and they do not harm performance at all. What will cut down performance is running two or more devices at the same time (say, your external hard disk and a USB printer.)

[Mike Landi]

I'll add a third. <g>