A good USB Hub with few issues, January 28, 2011

After reading reviews for several different 7-port powered hubs, I purchased this hub and an IOGEAR GUH227 to do my own comparison.The Hubs are both attached to HP 8440p Elitebook laptops running Windows 7 64-bit operating system. The hubs are connected to the following devices:- Keyboard- Mouse- HP 1022n Laserjet Printer- Fujitsu Scansnap personal scanner.Normally I would not have bothered purchasing a powered USB Hub for these devices, however, Fujitsu is so cheap that even though the scanner has it's own power supply, it does not power its own USB connection. When connecting this device to a non-powered hub, it consistently disconnects itself between scans.Pros for this device:- All 7 ports are on the same backbone, so it only adds a single USB driver entry to device manager- Connected devices are reported under the device manager properties for the USB HUB- Once attached with some double sided...

Plugable 7-Port High Performance USB HUB:Packaging: This unit comes in an EASY-TO-OPEN package. It is not one of those clam-shells that require scissors or a knife to open. Goes from the Amazon box to package open and ready to use in less than 30 seconds. This is a bonus in my book because I dislike having to open a clam-shell with a knife or scissors, it is frustrating.Power Supply and USB cable: The power supply is a HEFTY 3A output. It will power all 7 ports at 428mA each or 6 at 500mA each. (500mA is the max any one USB device may draw.) This is important as I have blown out 5 USB hubs since January due to a lack of power to the hubs. On lesser hubs, if you hook up too many power-hungry devices it will actually destroy the controller inside and that renders the hub useless after that. If you have ever done that, you know how infuriating it can be.Power cable is 54" long. USB cable included is 38" long and is standard male USB on one end...

The job of a hub is to connect your devices together transparently. Which leads to only two questions: Does it work, and does it look good on my desk?As for looks, it's not bad. 5 plugs on the side (2 & 3), and two under the top cover. The middle strip contains LEDs which light up blue for each active port, and one red LED at the top. A "plugs in the back" model might be slightly prettier, but I've got one of those for another machine and they up being very wide. I like the smaller footprint of this one.I plugged in the hub, plugged in the power supply (a more than ample 3A, which is excellent), and connected mouse, keyboard, webcam, phone headset and cable for a USB pedometer. I then promptly forgot about the hub. Soon I realize I was making a telephone call over USB while uploading the weekend's walk data, and everything was humming along nicely. No issues, no driver hassles. Just what I was from a hub. It's there, and besides now having 7 more USB ports, my...