7-Port USB Hub with ON/Off Switch, Black

Here's a two-part rating. The first and most important concerns its attributes as a device (data-moving) hub. I'm quite happy with it in this capacity, due to the following benefits:Pros* Compact form factor* Cool blue lights for each active port (the blue is more saturated and slightly darker than a blue coneflower, if that helps)* One on/off switch per port (so you can temporarily disable individual devices from being enumerated or unnecessarily powered up)* All seven ports work (kind of a base requirement, but I'm pleased that they all do)* Automatic driver installation in Win7/64 (and presumably other OSes as well)* Black case (goes better with my other components)* Positive engagement of the USB-A plugs (not loose at all, but not difficult to insert)Cons* Just discovered today that it doesn't supply a huge amount of power for charging. I was attempting to recharge a small 1500mAh backup battery and running two other devices -- a wired keyboard and a wireless mouse (the dongle for it). When I started charging the battery, the mouse jerked around and then stopped working. This abated when I used the hub's convenient switch to turn off the battery. I've plugged in the hub to a 5v power supply to remedy this.* Minor: the device is lightweight and thus is capsized by the cables I have plugged into it. This is a nit not worth docking a point for, rather just an FYI in case this sort of thing matters to you.* Some people may find the LEDs a bit bright (then again, it gets flipped over by cables, so the LEDs don't aim up, anyway).Other thoughtsThe power issue is a little annoying, but I'll live. I won't dock the device a star for this, but it is something future buyers should be aware of.----And here's where the review from the standpoint of a hub ends. Read on, if you want to try using this device to share peripherals between two computers by way of swapping plugs.The integral USB-A cable, rather than a USB-B socket with a B-male or mini-male to A-male cable supplied, slightly derails my original game plan for swapping peripherals between two computers using two interchanged USB-mini male plugs (one each per computer). I clearly see this pictured on the item page, and thus I won't be dropping any points from the rating of a fine piece of equipment. This is just a heads-up for those of you who might want to use this excellent hub like I plan to. I have purchased USB A (female) to USB A (male) extensions and all is well. I just switch manually, which beats a KVM that ultimately does unpredictable things or enforces keyboard emulation.

Just testing out this unit right now. It's great so far, has recognized every device I have attached. This includes:*A  Logitech Wireless Mouse M325 with Designed-For-Web Scrolling - Light Silver (910-002332) : at first I was dubious this would work for some reason but it did, and it works just like if it was attached to one of the main usb ports.*A cheap (but great) generic usb keyboard I bought a couple of weeks ago.*A  WD Elements 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN : this one uses it's own power supply so I don't know how it would behave if it was one of the newest ones that don't need the external power.I don't particularly like the leds as a matter of preference but the ones on this unit aren't too shiny as have been described on other usb hubs on Amazon. I guess it's also better to have them than not to since I could just tape over them if they become too annoying.All of this has been tested under Ubuntu Linux, so it should work on Windows too. That said, if something doesn't work quite right when I log on Windows I will update this review.Great unit at an unbeatable price. Can't get better than this: 5 stars!NEXT DAY UPDATE: I forgot to include my smartphone on the device connectivity test I performed yesterday. This hub just got better! I have the hub connected to a usb with powershare enabled and that same usb port couldn't recognize my smartphone (Galaxy S Captivate) as a mass storage device when connected directly to it, even with powershare disabled on the bios. Not anymore! Connecting it to the usb hub it is recognized as a mass storage device just as it should.I initially didn't care that much for the on/off switch but they are a nice addition that I will use regularly. I have a hdmi to rca converter (that doesn't have it's own on/off switch) that sometimes needs more power than the one provided through hdmi, now I can leave it connected to the hub and just turn on the port when needed. This helps me to accomplish what I wanted to do all along: more than having more usb ports, I wanted to FREE UP all the usb ports of my laptop, so when I'm going to move it around I just have to disconnect one and I'm all set. I'm using 5 ports of the 7 provided and there doesn't seem to be any reduced performance or functionality.As it stands this hub just has to stand the test of time to keep the 5 star score.

Let me start off by saying that I regularly buy cheap China-made (supposedly low quality) items from amazon or eBay and I must say that I have been satisfied with my purchases for the most part. That was until I ran into this little piece of crap. My purpose for buying this was to use it for my external (powered) USB hard drives. I have 5 or 6 of those to store various types of data (pictures, home videos, installers, etc.). I wanted it to act as an on/off switch for my drives so that I don't have to plug/unplug the USB cables all the time. Needless to say, this did not work for that purpose. It switched on and off fine, no problems. However, when I copy data between drives (including the laptop's internal drive) it is VERY slow and most of the time just stops and freezes in the middle of copying. Also, it is supposed to be USB 2.0 compliant but when I plug in my devices, Windows tells me that it is not and that I can improve my performance if I plugged into USB 2.0. To sum it up, if all you need it for is to plug in your mouse, keyboard, light, etc., then this might work for you. If you are going to plug any type of external hard drive or flash drive, don't bother.Pros:- on/off switch and lights work just fine- aesthetically looks pretty coolCons:- data transfer speeds are very bad, most of the time will not even copy your file completely- has a provision for a 5V power adapter but it does not come with one- very light and flimsy

I bought several of these to expand the ports on a rasperry pi with Open Media Vault insalled so you can have all your usb sticks available for cheap on your network. It also works on windows 7 with no problems. Note that it is only usb 2 spec. I read some negative reviews on this but after taking one apart to see the construction the only thing i found was that the pcb was not cleaned very well which was easily fixed with a little rubbing alchohol. To take apart gently pry the bottom off starting near the usb cable then gently rock back and forth to seperate. It is not glued and only held together by friction. Enjoy a good product for a verry good price.

So far it is giving good service.

El producto funciona a la perfección. Con seguridad debe tener alguna fuente de alimentación extra puesto que la he conectado con varios dispositivos que requieren de corriente mediante usb como bocinas o cargar celulares y el concentrador suministra toda la corriente sin problema. La única cuestión es que no es USB 3.0 por lo que se recomienda sólo para dispositivos que no impliquen transferencia de archivos.

Your product is very very bad . When I got it it was already damaged. Only 3 out of 7 ports were working and when I tried to return it you said no. I want a replacement correct working product.

Mala calidad, el teclado y mouse a veces se desactivan siendo necesario reiniciar la PC, l conectar un control Xbox no lo detecto. Muy decepcionado...