Customer Reviews

Targus PAUH112U USB 1.1 Micro Swivel 4-Port Hub (Silver)

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is a great product at a great price. I bought one of these for my laptop to add to the number of USB ports available. I liked it so much, I bought another for my desktop to simply make the ports more accessible. The supplied cord is plenty long to reach the desktop on the floor and then I simply Velcro'ed the Targus to my desk to make plugging and unplugging USB devices much more convenient. The Targus works right out of the box, no install required and it works on every computer I've tried -- no problems. I must confess, the blue LED's look pretty cool too!

First off, note that Amazon has grouped together reviews from a number of different Targus hubs. That's why you see references to USB 1 versus USB 2, some people with 4 ports and some with 8. This review is for the Targus PA050U USB 2.0 High-Speed Hub (4-port).

The positive:

--It functions. However, almost all USB hubs do that, so that can't really be the basis for a rating.

--I do like the glowing blue lights when a device is plugged in and powered. (And it matches my Saitek Eclipse keyboard, which also has a blue glow. Unfortunately, the hub ended up on my tower underneath my desk because of the cord length, so I can't even see it).

The negative:

--The cord! It's not even three feet! Make sure you measure the distance you'd like your cord to travel before purchasing this hub. It's about 2 feet 9 inches. I wanted to put this hub on my desk, but the cord is not long enough to make it there from the back of the computer. For the price of this hub, I shouldn't have to buy a longer cord.

--It weighs almost nothing, which means it won't stay where you want it to. Plus, the cord it comes with is fairly rigid, which means that the direction of the cord determines where your hub points. I grant that the weight is a positive for those who carry it around with a laptop, but it is not good for someone who wants it to sit somewhere semi-permanently. Another reviewer had the great idea to use velcro; I will have to take that suggestion.

Overall, it does what it's supposed to, but doesn't every hub? The difference is in the details, and this hub's short cord and feather weight are disappointing. Three stars for a desktop user. I'd probably give it four or five stars if I were a laptop user, since the short cord and light wieght would be great.

This is an excellent usb hub for the price. Very compact and very light. It doesn't take up too much space at all. Also, it's powered thru USB so you do not need to deal with an AC adaptor.

I have a couple of USB devices that are powered through the USB port as well and my concern was whether they would still be active through this hub. I plugged both into the hub and both were powered up!!

And the 4 ports light up with a nice blue led color that's looks really cool!! Targus should show this in their ads/marketing material because it definitely makes the hub look much cooler!

This is a great bargain and perfect for people that need a simple & compact USB hub for all their gadgets.

Definitely recommended!!

PROS

Small
Cute
Self-powered - comes with a power adaptor. I have 6 devices hooked up to it, including 2 USB Hard Drives, and it works fine without the adapter - a big plus for me. Most hubs would not work with this setup.
USB 2.0 & 1.1 - 6 devices hooked up, 3 low speed and 3 high speed, all work very well.
Runs cool.

CONS

Not sure why, but they put the 7 ports on one side of the hub and power/uplink ports on the other. This is dumb. If you have the hub on a desk it looks awkward. All ports should be on the back and leds on the front. Here, the leds are next to each port which makes them completely useless as you don't see them.
The hub is very light so when you have lots of devices hooked up the font gets a elevated.

Overall, the best hub I've ever had and I tried many.

It's speedy and space saving and inexpensive. I bought this to replace my Belkin because the Belkin needed to be plugged in. This one is powered by your computer so there's no extra power cords, which is a big plus to me.

The only thing I dislike about this is the fact that the Hub takes up two Usb ports instead of just one like the Belkin.

This hub seems to work fine, but it is not a high-speed USB 2.0 hub, despite the on-line technical specifications. (The packaging doesn't say anything about USB 2.0 either.)

With Win Xp, just plug and go, no problems whatsoever. The ports do light up with blue LEDs, making it look even cooler than in the pictures. I highly reccomend this USB hub.

I chose this just because I wanted something cheap. I have heard bad things about some other brands overheating or having various problems, but I have been using this a few months and found no problems whatsoever.

It remains room temperature and has had no bandwidth or power problems for me. It appears to have a place to connect a power supply (not included), but that doesn't seem to be listed as a feature so I cannot guarantee it. It has two USB plugs so you can get the power from a second USB port if you need it. I have only needed one. My only complaint with the device is having that extra plug sitting around (attached to the cord), but of course that isn't a problem if you use it.

It's cheap and it works, so I recommend this item.

This review pertains specifically to the Targus PAUH217U 4 Port Ultra Mini USB 2.0 Hub.

The cord is about 2.5 feet long - long enough to reach from my pc, which sits on the ground, to the top of the desk. It has a cable which is split into two USB plugs - one just to transmit data, the second to power the unit. The second plug does not need to be used unless you plan on using some heavy-duty hardware, and if so what are you buying a hub called the ultra mini for anyways? If you insist on trying to run a blow dryer off the thing, then it does have an input for a separate power source, which you will have to buy separately.

In short, If you have an old school machine with USB ports which are inaccessible /inconvenient to use, this little hub will give you quick access while taking up minimal space on your desk.

This is very well designed. It give you 4 USB Port but two on opposite sides. This is very clever becase you have plug in devices from both sides. You webcam or cell on your left and your mouse and number pad on your right. The cord that plug in from the Hub to the Computer is very sterdy yet flexible so you can not only adjust the Hub in all kind of angles, it would stay at that angle and not twist all around you wires. It also works great if you jsut want to charge you USB devices on the go. It come with a plug in AC adapter so you don't need to bring your computer along with you to charge youd devices.