Inateck HB4008 Portable USB3.0 Hub For (Work) Life in the Fast Lane

Too many peripherals and not enough USB ports. Sound familiar? That is what I had been facing in my home computer station on a daily basis with my iMac, until Inateck sent me its new Portable USB3.0 Hub, which has an integrated SD card reader. This device works with PCs, laptops, Tablet PCs and Ultrabooks, and it works great.

Inateck HB4008 Portable USB3.0 Hub For (Work) Life in the Fast Lane

Inateck HB4008 Portable USB3.0 Hub/Images by David Goodspeed

The Universal Serial Bus has become the industry standard for wired connectivity since its development in the mid-90s and has seen significant data transfer speed improvements throughout its life. USB 3.0 was released in late 2008 and defined a new SuperSpeed mode bringing data transfer speeds up to 5 Gbit/s and recently USB 3.1 and Type-C have been introduced making data transfer even faster.

What this all means is our larger digital files will no longer create a bottleneck as we try to work efficiently with them between devices, provided we have the right equipment to do so, and that is where this Inateck HB4008 Portable USB3.0 Hub comes in.

Inateck HB4008 Portable USB3.0 Hub For (Work) Life in the Fast Lane

Let’s take a scenario I find myself in quite often where I am working with my laptop on location and I have a digital camera, smartphone device, and USB press kits and during some down time I want to get caught up on my work. With the Inateck hub I can connect everything to transfer the digital files, digital images, and HD video to my laptop via the hub, and I do so quickly thanks to the USB 3.0 technology. I can also slip the SD memory card from my DSLR camera into the card reader slot on the end of the hub for added convenience and keep shooting with my camera as it supports dual cards.

At my desktop workstation I have a wired mouse (yes, old school style) plugged into the Inateck hub along with the data cable for my digital cameras. The hub is not self-powered so it cannot charge devices but by clearing up the USB ports on the rear of my iMac I can keep an Apple cable plugged in back there all the time.

Inateck HB4008 Portable USB3.0 Hub For (Work) Life in the Fast Lane

By the numbers the Inateck HB4008 hub weighs a mere 50 grams and is very compact in size (100x30x20mm). It has a foot-long USB cable (with attached OTG adaptor) to connect to your computer or other device, has three USB 3.0 ports on the top of the unit and the Secure Digital card reader slot on the end and Inateck supplies an adaptor for microSD cards. It works with most Windows and Mac OS operating systems and perhaps best of all it can be found at Amazon.com for just $19.99.

The Inateck HB4008 Portable USB3.0 Hub is an impressive little device that works right out of the box to get you working more efficiently immediately. Expand your desktop, laptop, or device at home or on the go and watch your productivity accelerate.

Inateck HB4008 Portable USB3.0 Hub For (Work) Life in the Fast Lane

What is it: Inateck HB4008 Portable USB3.0 Hub w/SD Card Reader.

What I like: Portability, fast data transfer speeds, integrated card reader.

What can be improved: Its lightweight has it flopping around sometimes at the whim of twisted, stubborn USB cables.

More information: www.Inateck.com

Price and where to buy: $19.99 at Amazon.com

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About the Author

David Goodspeed
David was editor of AutoworldToday at Today Newspapers in the Dallas suburbs until its closing in 2009. He was also webmaster and photographer/videographer. He got started doing photography for the newspaper while working as a firefighter/paramedic in one of his towns, and began working for the newspaper group full-time in 1992. David entered automotive journalism in 1998 and became AutoworldToday editor in 2002. On the average, he drives some 100 new vehicles each year. He enjoys the great outdoors and as an avid fly fisherman, as is his spouse Tish. He especially enjoys nature photography and is inspired by the works of Ansel Adams.