If
there’s one universal truth to personal computers, that you can never have
enough USB ports. Doubly so when the front USB ports o your computer suddenly
crash from overuse. That’s why today we
bring you an in-depth review of Belkin’s 7port USB 2.0 Hub.
Hub Design
The Belkin Plus Hub bears a rather unique design. Measuring
6”*3.5”, the hub is rather thin but a bit on the long side due to the USB ports
being arranged horizontally instead of vertically. The end result is slightly
more desk space being used but when combined with the slim profile it makes the
hub much more manageable when it’s being stacked. You’ll notice that in the
center of the hub next to the two top-mounted USB ports is a small rectangular
hole, meant for stacking on top of another 7 port plus hub’s two USB ports for
a snug fit. The hole is surrounded by a large section of blue molded rubber
that contrasts with the hard white plastic that makes up the rest of the hub.
If the hub isn’t being stacked however, the hole can make
the overall appearance somewhat awkward. The molded plastic turns into a cable
management clip on the right side of the hub for keeping your PDA and iPod data
cable handy.
Hub Performance
As a technology enthusiast, gamer and over clocker, I have
never been one to go easy on my hardware. I expect things to run at full
capacity without any crashes of hiccups. thankfully Belkin passed with flying colors.
The Plus USB was fully loaded with managing Logitech G15 gaming keyboard with a
gaming mouse plugged into the keyboard, handling the video stream from USB
monitor, playing back the video from USB 2.0 web camera, synchronizing iPod
while charging it as well as cell phone. The Plus Hub managed to get a little
warm throughout the ordeal, but not nearly as hot as a laptop or hard drive can
get. This device include a USB sound card with playback controls, an MP3
player, a webcam, a game pad and two external hard drives. Using 2.0 Hub
introduced no slow-downs when the drive was the only device connected, peaking
at 23.5MBps. considering the hub must maintain internal communication between 7
devices including a game pad that uses an interrupt protocol, these results are
actually pretty.
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