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ventaDoes anyone know anything about USB hubs?
At work, I wish to plug in more devices than my laptop has USB slots. Usually I have plugged in:
1. A small portable HD
2. A USB mouse (OK, technically it's a USB trackball, but not to worry)
3. A keyboard, which is really PS2 but I have a decent converter.
I learned the hard way that at least (1) prevents me from using an unpowered hub.
So I bought this, which has two powered slots and five unpowered.
I expect (possibly wrongly) that (2) and (3) should be OK in unpowered slots. However! I often have issues where my keyboard/mouse stop working for a brief period (~10 seconds). During this time the laptop's built-in keyboard/mouse work fine. It's quite annoying.
Last week, I thought my HD had died, but I'm now cautiously optimistic that the problem was just that the hub wasn't powering it properly. When I plugged the HD in, its little blue light came up on but the disc didn't spin up. However, it seems to be behaving fine when plugged in directly to various different machines.
So... tell me, oh LJ, what do I need in the hub department? An ideal solution will Just Work with my three not-terribly-complicated peripherals, and will not take up very much space on my desk.
At work, I wish to plug in more devices than my laptop has USB slots. Usually I have plugged in:
1. A small portable HD
2. A USB mouse (OK, technically it's a USB trackball, but not to worry)
3. A keyboard, which is really PS2 but I have a decent converter.
I learned the hard way that at least (1) prevents me from using an unpowered hub.
So I bought this, which has two powered slots and five unpowered.
I expect (possibly wrongly) that (2) and (3) should be OK in unpowered slots. However! I often have issues where my keyboard/mouse stop working for a brief period (~10 seconds). During this time the laptop's built-in keyboard/mouse work fine. It's quite annoying.
Last week, I thought my HD had died, but I'm now cautiously optimistic that the problem was just that the hub wasn't powering it properly. When I plugged the HD in, its little blue light came up on but the disc didn't spin up. However, it seems to be behaving fine when plugged in directly to various different machines.
So... tell me, oh LJ, what do I need in the hub department? An ideal solution will Just Work with my three not-terribly-complicated peripherals, and will not take up very much space on my desk.
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no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 11:04 am (UTC)I have one of these (used with a PC, not a Raspberry) and it works very well.
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Date: 2015-10-13 01:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 11:12 am (UTC)http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-hubs/
Worth spending a bit to get what you need
no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 11:46 am (UTC)I don't know what your (Venta's) external drive is used for but I used to attach a USB hard drive containing my mp3 collection to my laptop and it's been replaced by a memory stick because their capacity is more than enough these days. With one of those you ought to be able to ditch the power supply altogether.
no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 01:56 pm (UTC)The HooToo does appeal slightly, since it's small, a convenient shape, and 4 ports is plenty for what I need.
Snap!
Date: 2015-10-13 11:12 am (UTC)Gah!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 11:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 11:54 am (UTC)I'm still earwormed, even after listening to 20 mins of madrigals (rehearsal for a concert, not usual Tuesday lunchtime listening).
no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 01:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 01:37 pm (UTC)And furthermore, someone's posted a really long review on that Maplin site where they talk about it really being two separate hubs, where ports 1, 6 and 7 are the first directly-connected hub, and ports 2-5 are another hub connected to the fourth port of the first one. Is it worth jigging things around to use only 1, 6 and 7 and see if that makes a difference?
no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 01:47 pm (UTC)I do, just, but one of the appeals of a hub is having to plug in fewer wires when I get in of a morning :) At present I have to do 4 (power, HDMI in, USB hub, headphones). I blame Dell, who basically only make[*] two kinds of machines: (1) "office" machines, which have docking stations but are weedy and (2) "gaming" machines, which are powerful but don't come with such tiresome things as docks. A docking station would sort all of this nonsense out.
Is it worth jigging things around to use only 1, 6 and 7 and see if that makes a difference?
It's certainly worth it (and thanks for digging that out of the review, I hadn't spotted it!) Sadly, my keyboard (6) has "hung" twice in the time it's taken me to type this!
[*] or made, when I was choosing this laptop two years ago, they may have rectified this.
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Date: 2015-10-13 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 02:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 02:11 pm (UTC)Ooh, I didn't even know they were a thing. I'll do a bit of hunting, thanks!
no subject
Date: 2015-10-13 02:17 pm (UTC)(I did, of course, mean HDMI out earlier, not in!)