Kensington PocketHub 7-port USB Hub - 33366

After several years of constantly failing USB hubs, I discovered from an earlier post on this review site that not all hubs are equal! For my workstation, using other brands of "Lifetime warranty" hubs that failed on a regular basis became frustrating! Those were 4 port hubs that chained (Stackable) giving me 9 usable ports from 3 hubs. Each hub used a 1 Amp power supply. lets see: USB specifications call for EACH port to provide 500 Milliamps, or 1/2 Amp! So that means I could only use any two ports simultaneously! BAD! So I tried the Kensington 7 port hub that has a very nice switching power supply that properly powers ALL 7 ports simultaneously, and, can even boost a bit more power to heavier use ports!(Whatever other ports aren't using). Pros: Small, well built. A kick-butt power supply! Cons: NOT STACKABLE! Probably should be a PROS... The power cord is not overly long. For my under desk workstation, it was too short. A quick visit to MCM Electronics.com provided two 6 foot USB mini 5 pin cords for a few bucks. Problem solved. I mounted mine to a small shelf using adhesive backed hook & loop fasteners. I'm on my first month and time will tell. If you must stack, use one that's built for stacking, But, many cameras, webcams etc won't work on stacked hubs.
 
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As one of the other reviewers pointed out, this may be the only USB hub on the market that offers up to the USB-compliant-max 500mA on every port. And its switching power supply means it's efficient when plugged into the wall no matter if it is in use or not. My only complaint is that the hub is light compared to the power supply and USB cables so it has a tendency to move around a lot.
 
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This unit has performed flawlessly since it was installed. One reason I bought it was the reviews that indicated it had a power supply with extra capacity. I was amazed, however, to open the package and find it did not include the normal plug-in transformer, which consumes virtually the same amount of power regardless of what may be demanded of it by the USB hub. Instead, it had a switching power supply, which consumes almost nothing when power is not demanded and is highly efficient to boot. (I am an electrical engineer so I appreciate the difference!) However, since the hub is something that is normally left on all the time, anyone who wants to reduce their electrical bill will appreciate it too - the power supply is never even warm to the touch! Since this is a more expensive type power supply, it is even more surprising to find it in a low-cost product. Kudos to Kensington!
 
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Kudos to Mr. Kennedy from me as well. The power to fully supply the needs of each port seems to be im'port'ant. I've had this about three weeks now, and so far it has been perfect except for losing the connection to my external keyboard one time. Other than that glitch which was during initial setup and has not reoccurred, it has been perfect. My HP laptop has 3 built in USB ports and one of them can't stay connected. A different no-name 7 port hub I purchased gave me nothing but trouble. I highly recommend this one. Who wants to mess around plugging/unplugging/rebooting all the time? These things should require no time and no thought.
 
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7 fully-powered USB ports... what more could you ask for ? buy one... it is worth the $$
 
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I bought this USB hub to replace my existing 7-port USB hub connected to a notebook PC. The main reason for my purchase is for the high power (thanks to Mr. Kennedy's review). I just used this USB hub for one day. It meets my expectation. It was needed to connect my portable USB Hard Drive to two hub ports for enough power; now one port is enough. My pair of USB-powered speakers sound better in the mid-range and base (base demands more power to play)- that's the most important factor to me. There are cheaper 7-port USB hubs available. But the higher price of this hub is definitely justifiable for the high power (of course if you need it).
 
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It's great to have 7 USB ports on such a small unit. Overall it offers good perfomance for a good value. It would have been better if they offer 2 ports on top of the unit.
 
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This is a great USB hub. It's small and yet large. It has a small footprint, yet has SEVEN ports. It comes with a power brick, but I've found that I don't even need to connect it to power because once connected to the system, it gets power from it. Just remember, if you connect it to a USB port that only supports 1.0 or 1.1, then you'll only get that speed. I'm going to purchase a 2.0 PCI card so I can get the faster speed.
 
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To date this is the only USB 2.0 HUB I've found that is reliable and provides a full 0.5A (500mA) of power to each port. Actually, its power supply is even better than it needs to be at 4.0A. I have even run a 0.7A 2.5" hard drive (that's 0.2A more then is legal) with no problems whatsoever. <p> My only criticism of this product is that Kensington does not tell you that they provide you with a good power supply. (Their tech support didn't even know.) The only way I was able to find out was by picking one up at a local electronics store. Given that nearly all other USB hubs are crap, it would be nice if Kensington would be a little more boastful about their specs. <p> All the dozen or so USB devices I've tested with this hub have worked great. It's also quite small and stacks nicely. (They don't lock together or anything, but their rectangular shape makes them easy to organize on my desk.) <p> I would not by any other USB hub.
 
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This is the second pocket hub i have purchased. After good performance on another Mac, i needed another and bought this again. I have mixed both USB 1.x and USB 2.0 items on the same hub and have the USB 2.0 items (scanner, thumb drive) still work at high speed through the hub to the USB 2.0 port on my Mac. I also have USB headset and USB Treo 700p adapter work just fine through it too. Haven't had anything not work through it yet. It just works.
 
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