Monday, July 9, 2007

USB hubs are a great addition to your computer system but you should make sure you understand what you're buying. Many people find tiny little hubs that do not have power supplies. They rely on the power from the USB bus to make sure objects connected to them get power to run. I really suggest that you buy hubs that come with a power supply. That way you won't be greeted by a message saying there isn't enough power to run the device. The other thing you need to be aware of is the fact that if you plug a USB 1.1 device into a USB 2.0 hub you bring the speed of all devices plugged into that hub down to 1.1 speeds. Also note that if you plug your keyboard and mouse into a hub and then try to start up with the mouse button down (eject disk command) or start up with the C key down (startup with the CD or DVD that's in the drive), the machine will not see the key as down. It will only see past the hub after the computer is up and running. 10:08:49 AM    comment []