For you Geeks/Experts: questions on USB hub

I've run out of room for usb connections on my XPS.

Question 1: If I were to get a USB hub that connects 4 usb's to one usb on the notebook, would that stress the notebook or that particular usb connection?

Question 2: Would the 4 USB's into the hub connected to the notebook usb run slower, like a bottleneck than running one at a time into the notebook?

Right now I'm running my trackball, keyboard, TV & media stick in those usb ports.

I'm trying to decide to get a 4 usb hub or not.

Thanks for any input

 

If you have a stick that does anything with video (media, tv?), you WILL want the USB hub to have its own AC power supply. If you don't you may fry your USB port over time if it tries to draw too much current.

You might as well get one with a AC supply anyway, so you have options.

 

Yeah definitely get one that has its own power. Even with those, some devices like external harddrives will limit the number of devices you can put in the hub.

 

I was planning on getting a usb hub with it's own power as I forgot to mention that I will be running a SD USB 250GB External HD as well as my trackball, keyboard, Pinnacle TV & media stick in those usb ports.

 

i have an xps m1330 and i've run into the same problem of yours...even more because i only have 2 usb ports..so i decided to buy an usb port and went for one from Logitech ( http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Premium-4-Port-USB-Hub/dp/B000RZUV9S )...it has simple but very nice design and the green lights when you connect something are also nice...it also comes with it's own power connection if you want to connect an external hard drive or something more demanding...
i have two external hdds (320gb wd passport and 1tb wd essential mybook)
passport is connected to one of the two ports from my notebook and usb hub to the other one
i couldn't get the 1tb hdd working even with usb hub's own power cable plugged but luckyly the hdd came with it's own power connection so there is no problem..so i don't use hub's power cable...only hdds

i would suggest you to buy one of these..they're very helpful

 

i currently have two external hdds, mouse and speakers connected..they're all working well...so definitely buy an usb port even if you have 4 ports from your notebook

 

My XPS has only 3 usb ports.

What do you mean by:
the hdd came with it's own power connection so there is no problem..so i don't use hub's power cable...only hdds
I have a friend shipping me a SD 250GB usb HD and he said he was shipping me a T394 cable and told me to use that with the HD instead of the usb port.

 

powered USB hubs will work fine for what you're trying to do. Just make sure you post pictures once you're done painting it red...

 

i'm talking about this one: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=353

Package Includes:

External hard drive
USB cable
AC adapter
Quick Install Guide


so it comes with it's own AC adapter and will power separatelly from the notebooks power...i couldn't get it going without his own AC adapter...but when i plugged it separatelly with it's own adapter it worked very well...so no problems

the other hdd is 320gb passport also from WD:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=391
this one it can run without another power adaptor...just plugged in into my notebook's usb port

 

Gee, you know me pretty well! LOL because I do plan on painting it to match my XPS.

BTW the midnight blue one you have looks great too!

 

I have a friend shipping me a SD 250GB usb HD and he said he was shipping me a T394 cable and told me to use that with the HD instead of the usb port.

i guess that will work since it's the same way i use it...don't know what T394 cable means though..but i guess that's HDDs own power adapter...just like in my case...so that will do it

 

Yup, I sure like it. A friend came over a while back and loved to colour so much she made me order her a M1330 in the same colour.

Yours is unique though and it looks great, you could make a business out of customizing XPS covers!

 

I was told by my friend who builds and sells business desktops back east, that the Firewire T394 was much faster than usb.

 

1394 is firewire. Yes firewire can be faster than USB. I use esata which is the fastest.

 

oh i see..so you would connect the HDD to the notebook through firewire instead of usb

i was talking about the difference between my two HDDs...the one with 320gb can run with notebooks power only...but the 1tb one can't run unless it has his own AC adapter.....i guess it needs more power
now i don't know about your 250gb one..but i guess it's the same as my 320gb passport one...so hopefully won't need any additional power

and please excuse my english...i can't explain very well what i'm trying to say often..

 

I just got back from buying the 4-port BELKIN Plus Hub that has the AC power.
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=357371

 

What I've learned about USB hubs:

1) It is always best to go with a powered hub if you can.
2) If you plug a USB 1.0 device in to the hub (mouse, keyboard, etc.), most often the hub will limit communication of all devices on the hub to 1.0 speeds.
3) My daughter's Ipod absolutely would not show up in Windows unless I connected it directly to one of the USB 2.0 ports on the computer. Did not work connected to the hub.

Hth.

 

btw coolest usb hub ever http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/9116/

 

LOL that's amazing

 

1) this is true...eventhough i never plugged the hub to it's own power
2) i have my mouse plugged into the hub and it causes no problems to other devices
3) i don't use my ipod too much these days but i tryed connecting my phone and it works very well

 

Bluetooth FTW.

 

I've seen it on a couple of different hubs. With a mouse plugged in, Windows kept nagging me, saying my devices would perform faster if I connected them to a USB 2.0 port. Unplugged the mouse and it worked fine. I'm guessing it's hub-specific. I know that I *have* seen this mentioned in a footnote on the back of the product packaging for some hubs.

 

I don't think things like a mouse or keyboard causes much stress on the notebook usb, but running a TV tuner might so a powered hub would be good for that.

 

How is the USB Hub that dell offers from its site? I added it to my order since it was only $20. Is it going to be a problem or work fine?

 

forgot about that, you're right..good luck with your hub...i think that's a must for everyone...since notebook's don't have that many usb ports...especially m1330s

 

You'll have to tell us a little more about it... like maybe a link, before we can say if it is good or not. I would imagine for $20 it is not a powered one.