Customer Reviews

Belkin USB 2.0 Plus Hub (7 Port) F5U307-BRN

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I need a powered USB hub. I run several high power draws: a cooling plate and USB powered hard drives. This is the only one I could find that actually told me how much power it gaves each outlet, 500m amps. The 2 vertical ports are handy for quickly plugging in flash drives.

Don't over look your monitor's powered USB ports. I just bought a Dell 2208WFP monitor and it has 4 ports with 2.5 watts each.

I was looking for an USB hub that could expand my ports for my Mac Book Pro. Belkin is a trusted name too for me, alot of their products are really friendly to the Apple world. I really felt comfortable buying this. So far it works great, I love the fact that it has the 7 ports and that everything is neatly organized. I highly recommend this product for anyone looking to add more ports to their laptop/desktop. Also, for people who have desktops, this would be a great way to plug it into the back and leave the hub out front, because then you wouldn't have to go around the CPU tower everytime for a newer hub if your front ones are full. I use it to plug in my Apple Keyboard, charge my iPhone 3G, iPod Touch, older iPhone that I use as a "touch", and a couple of Western Digitals harddrives. I don't leave on the WD passports, but whenever I need to access one, it's there for me. Did I mention on this really makes everything organized.

This review relates to the Belkin USB 2.0 Plus Hub (7 port). I bought it because I had so many things requiring USB ports that, before I bought this hub, I had to unplug things like a printer or a UPS control cable in order to plug in things like a USB downloader for an SD chip from my Canon camera or the charge/download USB cable of my iPhone. The hub itself is plugged into a USB 2.0 port on my Apple iMac 20" powerpc G5 box running Mac OSX 10.5.5 and into an AC outlet.

When I plug the aforementioned USB devices into the Belkin hub, they work exactly the same as if I had plugged them directly into the iMac itself. No setup, no learning curve, no nothing. It just works. Plug it into an AC outlet and it has sufficient power to recharge my iPhone.

I paid a premium to buy the Belkin device because I have used their equipment before and consider Belkin to be a quality manufacturer. There is one unusual feature of this hub that may well justify a price higher than that of the competition. This particular hub has the odd feature of being stackable: that is, you can use at least to two of them together, one on top of the other. There are two USB ports on top of the Belkin hub, and when a second one would stack on top of the first, there is a square hole all the way through the thing so that the topside ports on the lower hub are accessible through the hole in the second one. I haven't actually tried this, but it is ingenious, assuming it works.

I bought three of these hubs for different locations. All three died within the space of six months. It's a pity, because I like the design - useful number of ports and handy having two on top. But three duds makes it more than a coincidence.

I've also had problems with the long-term reliability on some 7-port hubs from other manufacturers, but generally have a better experience with four-port models, so I'll be sticking to the latter from now on.

I'm glad I read other reviews and opted for the 7 port powered hub. You just don't realize how many "things" you have to connect with. Just think, printer, power supply (the sensor to manage failures etc), IPod, IPhone, Sandisk reader, Wacom pen tablet, scanner, and who knows what else. The port works fine - you don't know it's there - and that's the way it should be. I'm happy and think it's a good value for the price. Opting for external power for so many devices just makes sense - after all, your PC is not intended to be a power supply for peripherals.

This is my third or fourth Belkin hub of one sort or another and it is a quality product.

I use this one as a docking station of sorts for my laptop at my home office.

The physical design is brilliant. Two features I have come to love are the top ports and the cable hook. The top ports make plugging in the random camera, portable drive, or whatever a snap.

The cable hook on the side holds the main USB line I use to connect it to my laptop and the iPhone cable always at ready. It holds two cables easilly, a third works but is a bit crowded. The 'hook' is an open, c-shaped cable channel along the right side of the hub made of a stiff but flexible plastic. Cables can snap in and out or slide through. Disconnect a cable and it stays within reach.

Now, an admission: initially I plugged this unit into a bad extension cord. The hub failed in an interesting way: everything worked *except* my iPhone. This included a WD External 320 Gb hard drive and a Samsung external DVD Burner - two power-hungry devices. The iPhone wouldn't work even if it was the *only* device on the hub.

I thought I had a defective unit (and Belkin support was no help). Only when I plugged a lamp into the same extension cord and it flickered did I realize the problem. When I plugged the hub into a working AC outlet the iPhone worked fine. Give it the juice it's designed for and this hub performs like a champ. I now have 5 - 7 devices plugged in all the time and it works great.

The hardware is five-stars, Belkin customer support knocked the review overall down to a 4-star.

BUYER'S WARNING: This hub and items attached to it (e.g. my wireless mouse) were frequently spontaneously shut off and on. The unit got extremely hot, so hot in fact that I could not keep a finger against its base. As I had it sitting on a wooden desk, I was fearful that this could realistically represent a fire hazard. I am returning the unit for a refund. This appears to be a very common problem with this USB hub.

Despite this being a powered USB hub (power adapter included), some accessories plugged into this hub end up underpowered, and others don't draw enough power to register on the desktop's bus.

I have had this hub for about a year now, and it progressively gets weaker and weaker. Several of my appliances, like my flash card reader and my digital recorder download receptacle, do not get enough juice to be recognized as even being connected by my computer, when connected to this hub. I have to plug them directly into my computer to be recognized.

Now, my HP 4400 printer is no longer being recognized as being connected when on the hub, after months of OK use via the hub. I had to connect it directly to my computer to do some printing.

I cannot recommend this hub to anyone. Am now looking for a non-Belkin replacement.

After using this product for 2 1\2 months, I can honestly say that it works great. I've had no drop outs or tracking errors from any of my connected devices. I purchased this hub based on the success I've had with a Belkin 4-port hub purchased a year ago. I highly recommend this product.