Customer Reviews

Kensington PocketHub USB 2.0 Compact 4-Port Hub (33054)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an extraordinarily thin and slick USB2 hub. I checked out many others at circuit city, and this was by far the most attractive.

- 3.0"L X 0.5"H X 2.25"W
- adapter: 5V 2.5A 12.5W, even the 2-prong adapter is slim! It fits "sideways" into your power strip easily without taking up two outlets =) I haven't seen an adapter with this ingenious design/orientation before.

The hub can also work without the AC adapter, but I imagine it drains power from my laptop. But it's nice to have the option.

As with any small usb hub, there's a chance that you may have difficulty fitting devices that are slightly larger than average, e.g. USB IR receiver for your mouse or some USB thumb drives. It was a tight squeeze, but I managed to carefully fit my receiver for my Wireless Optical Notebook mouse (Targus PAWM10) without too much trouble. The mouse also came with an extension cable for the receiver which would circumvent the tight fit, but that's just one more thing to plug in than necessary.) It helps that the receiver swivels 90degrees.

I've read reviews of other hubs, indicating that they overheat. I haven't experienced it myself. The Kensington remains quite cool. It is possible that without the AC adapter, it may heat up. But I'll leave that for someone else to investigate.
Connection is truly plug & play. The book even warns you about the alert when conneting backward to USB1.1 device.

I often have my pda, camera, printer, and mouse conneted simultaneously. I can't say that all devices are truly running simultaneously, but for someone who does average-to-heavy computing I haven't had any problems yet. I use my IR port for my pda now, so have freed up the port for my usb drive.

It's a great buy and very elegant--a great price through amazon. It will look great among your other trendy gadgets and fits conveniently in your laptop case, pocket, etc.

The design of the hub is sleek, elegant... worked with no problems right away (plug & play seems to work these days). The picture shows a very short cable that goes from the PC to the hub, but there is a longer cable included if you don't want the hub to sit right next to your USB port.

However, the power plug is practically larger than the hub (and it is strategically NOT shown in the picture, which I think is deceptive because it's quite bulky). It really needs to go on the end of a power strip because it measures 2" high x 2.5" long x 1" deep, and the cord comes off the side. If you have an end space available on your power strip, you're fine, if not... well, this will take AT LEAST 2 spaces. My cellphone charger has the same "sideways" design... so both ends of the power strip are now in use...

This tiny 4-port USB 2.0 hub is a must-have for any notebook user.

The casing is a silver-metallic color which goes along nicely with my silver laptop. It is *extremely* thin, just a little thicker than the actual USB port itself. There is a ~2in cable to plug into an existing USB port on your computer (laptop or otherwise). The cable tucks away neatly into the hub's casing when not in use thereby saving more space. The package comes with an additional cable (~2ft) in case you need just a little more reach.

I have only used the hub without the included AC adapter, as when i use my laptop i'm normally in a location without access to outlets. It does get warm, but not excessivly (in my opinion). I haven't used any items that could be considered power hungry, such as scanners or external drives. I have used things such as USB flash drives, my PDA, mice, MP3 player without a hitch. My Windows XP system beeps when I plug in the hub, but otherwise is unnoticed.

Any laptop user places a premium on items they can carry around that add functionality but dont cost much in terms of size or weight. This hub falls squarely in that description and should be included in every laptop bag.

I looked around on Amazon for the ideal usb hub. I considered buying the cheaper linksys hub, but you can't plug in any devices that require power from the usb port because the linksys hub doesn't come with its own power supply.

But there are some usb hubs that work only when their power supply is plugged in. I wanted the freedom to use a power supply when i wanted to. The Kensington hub provided every feature I desired. This hub is beautiful and slim. I don't think that the power supply is "monstrous".

Currently, I'm using all four ports on the hub for my HP all-in-one printer, my external hard drive, palm pilot cradle, and wireless mouse. It works flawlessly with my windows xp pro operating system.

I have no complaints.

I present software seminars for a living and I use this little hub at least twice a week. I'm not easy on it and it's still holding up well after almost a year of heavy use. The option to use the power cord is great when you have external USB hard drive enclosures that need the extra juice. Also nice that you don't have to use the power adapter if your devices don't need it. Tossed into a pouch on my backpack, this thing travels with me everywhere.

I ordered this USB hub because the wear and tear of travel has left me with only one usable USB port. I just got the pocket USB hub today and plugged it into my laptop. I have Windows XP and was worried that this might not work well. Boy was I surprised when my computer detected the hub immediately. I now can use both my printer and external modem at the same time. This was a perfect solution for my problem. Thank you Amazon.com.

I bought this hub and am pretty happy as well, but just a couple of things to add:

1. The LED's stay on all the time. I'm not sure if it's because I'm using a Mac or if they're just broken, but they seem to serve no functional purpose whatsoever. I'd like to find out about it but...

2. This hub isn't even on the Kensington website anymore and the only instructions that came with it were simply how to plug it in. A bit frustrating.

3. The extension cable (a really nice addition and one of the reasons I bought it) has a "Lead warning" on it, saying that it contains lead which is known in CA to cause birth defects and pregnant women shouldn't handle it. A bit scary and I see no reason why lead should even be in the cable.

But on the plus side:

4. The adapter is 120-240volts so you can take it with you when you're out of the country.

Overall, it works and no problems yet so I guess that's all I ask.

It is not clear from the product description, but the hub, which is UBS 2.0, works fine with USB 1.0 connections. Do be aware that you will need a free electrical outlet as the Hub has an AC powerconnection to ensure enough power to operate all USB devices connected. I use it to power a Iomega CD burner and a SanDisk card reader.

A good, simple product, easily installed.

This is a great little USB hub. It worked very well for me for quite some time and in fact still does work without any problems. The one potential problem is that the plug is starting to pull off the end of the little USB wire that connects the hub to the computer. When it finally does break this thing will be dead. I've had it and used it hard for the past 18mo - 2 years so the failure isn't the end of the world.

Even though it is great for portability I've found that I like using it at my desk. Because it comes with an AC adapter it's a great way to handle higher drawl USB devices that often come with a second USB cable that is just for power.

I have had the pockethub for a few months now. had no problems at all. it is always plugged in with the external power and it hasn't become too hot. always have a flashdrive and mouse connected to it and hasn't showed any slowing.