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IOGEAR MiniHub 2.0
IOGEAR MiniHub 2.0
pros and cons
- Compact inexpensive.
- No supplied software no mounting points.
Compact, cheap and silver. You can't say much more about IOGEAR's four-port USB 2.0 hub, since it eschews fancy packaging and features in favour of minimal size and cost. At 9.5cm by 6.4cm by 2.1cm it's around the size of a cigarette packet -- if you don't count the external power supply -- and at £54.46 (ex. VAT) it's not going to break the bank.
The minimalist nature of this unit means there's little to describe. There are LEDs for each of the downstream ports, and one to indicate power. The case has no rubber feet or mounting holes, so some blu-tack may be in order to keep the hub in place. The supplied 180cm USB cable will allow you to locate the hub quite a way from your PC if necessary.
There's no software supplied with the MiniHub 2.0, so if your USB 2.0 adapter card manufacturer hasn't supplied hub support, Windows won't recognise it as a high-speed hub and you won't get the higher speed connectivity of USB 2.0. Microsoft only supplies USB 2.0 drivers for Windows XP, but when these are released you'll get the full 480Mbit/s bandwidth from this hub.
IOGEAR's MiniHub 2.0 is an inexpensive and compact unit. Provided you have USB 2.0 hub support, it will allow you to expand without taking up too much space itself.