Have you ever actually looked at how many USB devices you own or use? I recently had this realization while moving my desktop computer set up around. My mid-2007 Mac Mini does not have near enough ports to connect all of my gear so I have a standard USB hub which is full and only leaves me with one hard to reach port for a drive or other item. That also led me to realize that my MacBook Pro only has two ports. Of course, this is not usually a problem except when you need to attach two items and one of the plugs is too wide. I tried plugging in my computer at work while I had an 8GB USB drive connected and was unable to fit both plugs. This has left me on a search for different and better USB solutions.
Thomas at USB Fever was kind enough to help me out by sending me The World’s Smallest USB 2.0 4-Port Hub. The title is not official, but it sounded pretty small so I was intrigued. I have been testing it for several days and have been satisfied.
The hub arrives in a clamshell package and includes the hub and a nice USB cord that measures a little over 20 inches.
The hub itself is high quality. For the price, I expected a fragile cheap feeling product. The case is super small. I took several photos to compare sizes to common items. It is actually just a bit larger than a USB drive so it is ultra-portable. I have decided to carry the hub in a small pocket in my gear bag so it is available with my MacBook Pro as well as to connect to the one open spot on my home hub. The provided long cord has made it convenient to connect multiple devices quickly and easily.
The case of the hub is made from an attractive shiny metal. Not only does the unit look nice, but it feels strong and durable with the metal casing. The sides are made of black plastic which includes all of the connectors as well as a red LED indicator light and spot to plug in an optional power adapter. The fit and finish is flawless. There is no gaps or movement where the metal and plastic meet or on any of the ports. The unit is tiny, attractive and solid.
During football season I am under a strict time restraint for preparing my game plan on Mondays. We put together a large packet of information for the team that must be printed out and ready to go that morning. It always takes me until just before my deadline to get the film watched, tendencies found and game plan created and diagramed. All of this work is done on a USB drive on Office for the Mac. Because the printer cable and USB drive will not both fit my MacBook, I have to save and move my drive or email the information to myself to print at school. It is a time issue and annoyance. For my first test, I went to my classroom and connected the World’s Smallest USB Hub, USB drive and printer cable. Pulled up the last game plan for this year and printed in seconds. The hub was fast and reliable and solved an issue I faced this season. I also transferred a large number of files from my drive to the laptop and back again. The hub performed as fast as expected.
I also connected the hub to my Mac Mini where it worked as any hub does. Since I have no available ports on the computer or the hub I had installed, I connected to my Apple Keyboard. It was nice to add four ports for quick use. Using a SD card reader, I transferred 164 photos this morning to the Mac and an external hard drive at expected speed and ease using the hub from USB Fever.
Highlights:
Our USB Hub allows you to add more USB peripherals to th ePC, also, it supports to connect USB devices through cascading multiple Hubs.Features:
– Probably the world’s smallest USB 2.0 4-Port Hub (Dimensions: 5.8 x 28 x 12 mm, approx.)
– Comact (smaller than 2 SD cards, see the 1st picture in our product page)
– Lightweight: 21g (Hub only)
– USB 2.0 and compliant with USB 1.1 as well
– LED indicator (on when power is on)
– Made of high-graded alloy with Metallic Silver SurfacePackage Contents:
– Ultra Slim USB 2.0 4 Port Hub x 1
– USB 2.0 cable x 1
The World’s Smallest USB hub can be found here on the usbfever site along with many other options for USB hubs.
MSRP: $9.99
What I like: Super small and durable. Ultra-portable.
What could be improved: I would like to see an included power source or an option to add one.
RT @geardiary: Review: World's Smallest USB 2.0 4-Port Hub http://bit.ly/cyxBU8
Review: World?s Smallest USB 2.0 4-Port Hub #gadgets http://bit.ly/brabF1