Customer Reviews

Kensington PocketHub 7-Ports Portable USB Hub (33366)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This is to let people know that the power supply in the current version is only 2.5 amps rather than the 4 amps it used to be. Hence it no longer provides full power to all 7 ports at the usb spec of .5a per port.

I bought 4 of them (3 from Amazon after initial purchase somewhere else). The hub has seven inputs as opposed to four. We are in era of many USB devices so four might be sufficient sometimes, but not for someone runnig computer studio with number of printers, scanners and input devices it is not. This thing can be stacked, because there is no fancy shapes and inputs all over surfaces like in many other similar but funky products. Performs well with majority of USB devices except those that can work exclusively with computer hub directly. It helps to reduce number of cables (one would require twice more power cables for hubs if used 4 input hub). The power cable uses "brick" power supply so the power plug is small and it does not interfere with other plugs in adjacent outlet.

My Macbook came with just 2 USB ports and I have several USB devices. I was constantly plugging and unplugging cables in order to use all the various USB driven components. Annoying and wearing on the notebook's ports.
The Kensington Pockethub was the perfect solution, providing 7 access points for USB connection. Now, no more picking and choosing what gets power and what does not. No more constant switching.
The Pockethub comes with an ac power adapter which is huge beside the little hub itself. The literature says that the "...AC power adapter must be used for maximum performance" . I'm using 3 of the hub's ports with no ac attached and it's working flawlessly. I may need the ac boost as the ports fill up, but for now, the little hub is doing just fine on its own.
The Pockethub itself is well made, attractive ( in an unobtrusive way ) and small, taking up minimal desktop space. I would choose and buy the Pockethub again, no question about it.

I bought this item based on previous positive experience with Kensington products. This product however greatly failed. The unit comes with an insufficient AC adapter. I used this hub with just my iPhone and a USB mouse. I plugged the hub into my MacBook Pro. After barely 1 minute (literally), my mouse did not work. Using my trackpad, I found that my iPhone was no longer mounted. I unplugged the hub from my laptop and plugged it back in. It worked fine - for another minute. The hub is greatly underpowered by the AC adapter. I was only using two ports on it. And this is supposed to handle seven connections? Don't buy it. I replaced it with the Belkin 4-port Desk Hub and it works beautifully.

All in all a well designed product, performs well, however does have some issues.

Have issues with intermittent problems with iMac (intel, OS X 10.5). Need to periodically unplug from iMac, reboot and then reconnect. Intermittently causes extremely long boot issues. Have isolated issue to USB Hub itself. Have two and they both suffer from same problem.

Am looking for a more Mac stable solution.

No noted issues yet when used with Windows.

I bought this Kensington "PocketHub" 7-port USB hub (K33366) at OfficeMax, last spring (2008), for the specific purpose of connecting a USB printer that I wanted to locate about 12 feet from the computer. It worked fine for that purpose, with just one device plugged into one port, for 18 months.

This weekend, I decided to re-configure my home office, and I decided to take advantage of more of the ports. Inexplicably, I found that some devices (such as my iPhone adapter and my Logitech trackball) were never recognized when plugged into the Kensington hub, even though they were recognized when plugged directly into the computer. So I switched some connections, and tried plugging my WiFi adapter and my Logitech USB headset into the Kensington hub.

I knew something was wrong when I smelled that acrid burning smell that comes when an electronic device is being fried to a crisp. The smell came from the Dell USB WiFi device, which is now dead. When I pulled the Logitech USB headset plug from the Kensington hub, it was very hot to the touch (but seems to work now, when plugged directly into the computer).

Fortunately, I do have a 100-foot ethernet cable, so I was able to run that cable from my router/gateway to my home office. Perhaps I'll surrender and just drill a couple of holes in the walls to just use that cable permanently, instead of trying to find and configure a new WiFi adapter for the computer. That would also eliminate the need for a USB hub, since all my other devices are now plugged directly into the computer.

This thing is awesome..
I tell you what, do your self a favor and buy this USB Hub.
The AC adapter provides enough power for my 2 printers, two external hard drives, one flash drive, charging my GPS navigator at the same time.
With no fancy shape and no annoying light, I'll say this thing is unbeatable..
The only thing is that, it's kind of light. I use a tape to stick it on my desk, so that I don't have to hold it everything I plug or unplug my flashdrive or a USB cable.

I like the 3 USB ports on the back. I plug my two printers at the back,so that I don't have to deal with so many cables on the front. The 4 USB ports on the front are usually for frequently removed devices, such as flash drive and USB cable to charge your iPod or GPS..

Bought this thing back on September 15, 2010 and it has already fried. The front 4 ports went out on me about 2 weeks ago and the last ones just crapped out today(11/23/2010). Not good since I use this device to run all my external hardware for work. Would not suggest this product. Not worth the price. If you open it up and look at it it is a circuit board that is supposed to be held by brackets on the metal casing. The board itself is not big enough to fit into the brackets so the card fell into the casing and shorted out the components. The concept is good but I think they need to spend more time on quality control. Not worth the money.

Like all Kensington products, this USB hub is beautifully made, sturdy, and works very well. It looks great on the desktop. This unit has seven USB ports; three on the back and four on the front. It is powered by an AC cable, so it can provide power to devices that require power from the USB port. On Windows 7 the PocketHub installed in seconds and was ready to go. I immediately plugged in several devices including a USB iPod cable, and everything went right to work and was immediately functional. Can't ask for more than that. Recommended. RJB.

Kensington PocketHub USB 7 Ports Portable USB Hub K33366

I was in need of more USB connections to my hard drive. The hub was great, freeing up the USB in the front of my desktop computer hard drive. I can now use my camera and a flash drive without unplugging something else.

Well worth the money.