For my Mac Book Pro, 10.7.1, I need additional USB ports to connect an external hard drive and a label printer. Is the Plugable USB 2.0 10 Port Hub (with Power Adapter) the best product for my my application.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for posting your question here! We have two USB 2.0 powered Hubs that can be used with your system.
The Plugable 10 Port Hub is a standard USB 2.0 Hub that comes with a 2.5 Amp AC adapter, which assumes a typical mix of high and low power USB devices will be used, consuming 250mA average. So for scenarios where the devices are known to need or use the maximum 500mA each, only 5 devices can be charged at the maximum rate.
The Plugable 7 Port Hub is a premium 7 Port High Speed USB 2.0 Hub that is designed to maximize compatibility with USB 2.0 devices, including power-hungry USB-powered hard drives, scanners, etc, with its provided 3A power supply. It supplies up to (but not more than) the 500mA per port/device specified by USB 2.0. So for scenarios where the devices are known to need or use the maximum 500mA each, almost all ports supply 500mA.
To summarize, the main difference between the two is that with the power adapter plugged in, all ports on the Plugable 7 Port Hub provide 500mA power to the attached devices, while although the Plugable 10 Port Hub has more ports, if you use more than four high powered devices like external hard drives, iPods, iPads, scanners, then some of the devices attached to the hub may not work.
If the external hard drive and the label printer are bus powered ( i.e. they do not have their own power adapter but power up from the USB port on which they are plugged in to) then they are definitely high powered devices. So, if in future, you are planning to plug in more high powered devices I would recommend the Plugable 7 Port Hub. Otherwise the Plugable 10 Port Hub would be the best product.
Hope the above information helps! If you need additional information, feel free to post back here or shoot us an email at support@plugable.com. We are here to help!
Regards,
Roze
Roze,
Thanks for your prompt response. The email was extremely helpful, I especially liked the referenced usage scenarios.
I am going to check out both units. I liked your suggestion on the 7 Port Hub.
Thanks again,
Michael