Wacky USB powered toys really don’t appeal to me, and yet my desktop computer at home just doesn’t seem to have enough USB 2.0 ports. With only 4 USB ports I find a USB hub a necessity. A shared printer takes up one port (I just don’t print enough to justify a network printer), an APC UPS another port and a cradle for my Palm the third. On top of that I still need to plug in an external hard drive and have a spare port for a a USB Flash drive.

To maximize the number of available ports I use a Belkin TuneSync USB Hub. That way I have a dock for my iPod, and four extra USB 2.0 ports (It uses one port).

Its one weakness – from a user review by agnelors: “Could be a little smaller”.
It is a bit large, so I keep it on top of my Desktop computer tower, instead of on my desk where space is at a premium. Of course a USB Hub without a iPod Dock would be smaller.

For laptops a more portable solution would be a USB Thumb Hub like the Belkin Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Thumb Hub.

Posted on December 15th, 2007 by mervyn