| Manufacturer: Interex |
| Suggested Retail Price: $29.95 |
System Requirements:
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Specifications:
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The Interex USBView hub is not like other USB hubs. This hub has special LEDs that not only tell when the hub is on and functioning, but also how much bandwidth on your USB chain is being eaten up.Set up:
The setup of this USB hub, like many other, is quite easy. This hub gives you a choice however. You can either have it self powered (plugged into an electrical outlet), or bus powered (receive power from the USB bus. If you decide to use self powered mode, plug it into the outlet, use the provided upstream USB cable to plug it into the computer or another hub. If you choose bus powered, just plug it into the computer or another hub.
Usage:The USBView hub has a series of six LEDs. One sapphire blue for power on/off, and five bandwidth indicator LEDs. The bandwidth indicator LEDs consist of three green, one yellow, and one red. While high bandwidth devices (such as scanners, hard drives, and CD burners) are in use, you can actually watch just how much bandwidth is being used up.
These bandwidth indicator LEDs provide a very helpful troubleshooting tool. With these lights, you can see if you are using too much bandwidth at any one time, which can cause misreads, data loss, and coasters (improperly burned CDs). By watching these lights, you can see if you need to cancel a job, or if you are able to start another one without hassle.
The other major feature of this hub is the ability to be either self, or bus powered. If you have a shortage of electrical outlets, but still need to use more USB devices than you have ports for, you can use the bus powered mode. But, as with any USB hub, I would recommend using self powered mode. Not only does this eliminate those "Not enough power" messages, bus it also extends the reach of a USB chain past the normal 5 meters.
One very minor detail that can be a pain to some people is the location of the USB ports. On this hub, the upstream and four downstream ports are all located on the back. Some people like to have at least a couple ports on the front for easy accessibility for input devices. Also, having all the ports on the back makes the hub somewhat less sturdy. But, the sturdiness problem is a very minor one.
Nevertheless, Interex has thought of everything. The y included a metal plate of the bottom of the hub for sturdiness. This extra weight keeps the hub from toppling over backwards when too many devices are connected to it. Plus, they made this metal plate easily removable for those road warriors who don't want the extra weight.
Problems:I did not encounter any problems using this hub. All the devices I tried worked flawlessly through it. Even the bus powered devices (mice, keyboards, game pads, etc.) worked flawlessly if I used the hub in either Bus or Self powered mode.
Conclusion:With the unique bandwidth indicator LEDs and bus/self powered ability, this hub is truly different. From my tests, I feel this is the best hub available today. This product continues the great line of products made by Interex.
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10/10 stars |
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Arbitrary Quote - I finally came up with a punishment for the boy. First, no leaving the house, not even for school. Second, no egg nog. In fact, no nog period! And third, absolutely no stealing for three months!