I have a few favorite peripheral manufacturers, Belkin has always been high on the list, it's nice to be able to go with what you know.

But- there is no shortage of USB hubs from which to choose, so I was curious if this one had anything to make it stand out. Decision? Not really. I don't know if anyone would care about a real test of data transfer speeds - vs. another product, powered vs. unpowered, direct connect, etc.. so for the sake of brevity we can skip that. Besides, I am sure those numbers will show up here sooner or later, even if only copied from Belkin's spec sheet.

About the size of (and slightly resembling) a 10-hole diatonic harmonica, it is indeed "ultra-slim". the fact that it is powered is a plus, but it's actually hard to tell from the packaging- but if you heft it first you'll appreciate there has to be more than the unit included.

Comes with a fairly standard AC adapter and a mini-to-full sized USB male. What I found unusual about this cable was that it is white, the first non-Apple cord I have seen of that color.

Whatever.

Unlike another reviewer states, I did not find it necessary to be powered in order to work correctly- at least with USB drives; larger peripherals- printers, scanners- will probably require it.

As far as USB drives, the 4 ports are placed too close together to allow more than 4 of the slimmest you can find too fit, even at that they tend ot fan out a bit. Why anyone would need to do this is questionable, although working in IT there are times when I do in fact transfer a lot of data back and forth- it could be useful for making multiple copies across several drives, but if this became more than a once-and-awhile thing, I'd pick up a different model.

However, 4 standard USB plugs fit perfectly- obviously the design target- or 2 and a larger device. I found the perfect place for it too- it fits perfectly attached to the lower left side of my monitor, courtesy of Scotch Permanent Mounting Tape, 1 Inch x 125 Inches- so instant added four-port expansion conveniently located, as well as a mini-USB plug for a direct connect to some other devices I had. How nicely 2 Amazon products solved a problem I didn't even knew I had!