[yanges]

what are some reliable & inexpensive 2 or 4 port usb hubs for use with a G5 2.0ghz PowerMac?

Thanks!

[chucker]

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/P...9&sku=320-4111

4-port USB 2.0 hub for below $400 with some special deals.

[yanges]

Originally Posted by chucker http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/P...9&sku=320-4111 4-port USB 2.0 hub for below $400 with some special deals.

$400???

hubs run $10-$70 that i have seen....

[Maciej]

Did you look at the link?

[chucker]

For a more serious answer, Froogle lists USB 2.0 (I presume you don't want 1.1) hubs for as low as $5.99: http://froogle.google.com/froogle?sc...&q=usb+2.0+hub

[yanges]

Originally Posted by Maciej Did you look at the link?

yes i did...

it links to a Dell UltraSharp monitor??

what does that have to do with USB hubs?

[yanges]

Originally Posted by chucker For a more serious answer, Froogle lists USB 2.0 (I presume you don't want 1.1) hubs for as low as $5.99: http://froogle.google.com/froogle?sc...&q=usb+2.0+hub

Thanks chucker!

gives me some good choices! :smokey:

[chucker]

Originally Posted by yanges yes i did... it links to a Dell UltraSharp monitor?? what does that have to do with USB hubs?

It was a (lame) attempt at a joke. The monitor (I'm using it as I'm typing this) has an integrated 4-port USB 2.0 hub. A few months ago, I needed a hub because I had more USB devices than my computer had ports. Then I saw someone talk about the aforementioned DELL screen in another AppleNova thread, and since my monitor was getting dated, I got that and solved the hub problem too.

[atomicbartbeans]

Semi-on-topic, what's the maximum number of USB devices that you can connect to any particular machine at once? Through various hubs, I have about a dozen into my iBook right now.

[yanges]

Originally Posted by chucker It was a (lame) attempt at a joke. The monitor (I'm using it as I'm typing this) has an integrated 4-port USB 2.0 hub. A few months ago, I needed a hub because I had more USB devices than my computer had ports. Then I saw someone talk about the aforementioned DELL screen in another AppleNova thread, and since my monitor was getting dated, I got that and solved the hub problem too.

ah, i missed tha!!

i did not notice that the monitor had USB ports!

and the monitor listed was $599 so i was not sure what was up....

Thanks for the froogle link though, as i found this:

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/...d=mwbfroog le

which was just the type i wanted :smokey:

[screensaver400]

Originally Posted by atomicbartbeans Semi-on-topic, what's the maximum number of USB devices that you can connect to any particular machine at once? Through various hubs, I have about a dozen into my iBook right now.

I could be wrong, but I believe the USB 1.1's spec said no more than 127. USB 2.0 might be a bit different, though.

Remember that the 11 mbps for USB 1.1 is shared among all devices. If you have 127 different devices in use, its gonna be ultra-slow.

[octavist13]

Would it be better to buy a USB 2.0 PCI card instead of a hub. I bought a hub about 5 years ago and it was very unreliable. I would constantly lose connections and have to reboot and stuff. Are they better nowadays?

[dfiler]

Ironically, when I went to buy a USB2 card for my G4, I discovered that walmart offered a better deal than compUSA or bestbuy. I got an adaptec 5 port card for 25 bucks. Even better, USB cables were half as much at walmart as the other two stores. Strange...

[Kestrel]

Originally Posted by screensaver400 I could be wrong, but I believe the USB 1.1's spec said no more than 127. USB 2.0 might be a bit different, though. Remember that the 11 mbps for USB 1.1 is shared among all devices. If you have 127 different devices in use, its gonna be ultra-slow.

USB allows 127 devices per root hub, whether it's USB 1.1 or 2.0. As screensaver400 mentioned, given that USB 2.0 tops out at 480Mb/s, you're likely to run out of bandwidth on a given root hub before you fit 127 devices on it. USB 2.0 hubs perform "transaction translation" that prevents USB 1.1 devices from taking up huge chunks of bandwidth on a USB 2.0 network, which can really make a big difference if you have USB 2.0.

To answer the original question, the number of USB devices you can have connected to your computer is limited only by the number of USB cards you can fit in your computer and the bandwidth of the PCI bus. Have a look at http://www.linux-usb.org/usb2.html and http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d...h_dmt_vhzc.asp for more information.

[FFL]

Does anyone else here remember this story from several years back?

There was a Cupertino on-campus Beer Bash (might have been just before a WWDC) after which several fun-loving Apple engineers got together and broke the world record for the number of physical USB devices hooked up to a single computer and working - over 100, IIRC.

[DMBand0026]

Gosh computer geeks know how to have a good time.

Normal drunk guy conversation:

Guy 1: dude, lets get wasted and see how far we can streak without getting arrested!!!

Other guys: alright dude!

<high fives all around>


Geek drunk conversation:

Geek 1: Guys, lets get inebriated and see how many USB devices we can daisy chain to this notebook computer!!1one!

Other geeks: Woh! Cool!!one1! We'll be totally 1337 h@x0r3!!one1!

<geeky giggles>


What a world we live in.