Hi-Speed USB 2.0 7-Port Hub product reviews

I bought one of these a short while ago through an online auction site. It worked really well for about 3 months then the case started to have issues with staying sealed. I had to do some handyman work on it a-la-Macgyver to get it to hold together.
After much mucking around the case is now sealed shut forever, I hope, so if it faults I will just have to biff it to the curb. Functionally it is still an excellent unit and one I hope to get a few years of use out of.
I am wondering if they will ever bring out a serious USB hub, one that has like 20 ports, so I can hook up all my USB gear at once, like my webcam, camcorder, 2 printers, a couple of external hard drives, my remote foam dart launcher, media card multi-reader, my Ducati pendrive as well as my Cruzer flashdrive for work, my mediaplayer, of course my laser mouse and my main backup drive, plus all the other toys I plan to buy once I have seen the reviews on here if they stack up.

OK, so I have a LOT of USB connective equipment, and 4 ports was simply not enough. With more plugs than sockets, I needed access to something with a little more oomph.

Entrance, stage left, the 7-port USB 2.0 hub from Belkin. This little wonder quite took me by surprise. With the five ports on the back, and utilising the smaller USB-b minisocket and a smaller power plug, this sleek little unit gives a nice low profile.

Added to this are the extra two ports embedded in the small stack that pokes up from the top. In front of the stack is a hole. Wondering where I am going with this yet? Simple... the hole allows access to the vertical stack of another hub, underneath! That's right... it's stackable! Put a second unit on top and you can access all 14 ports easily.

The positioning of these extra ports is such that despite the 5 ports located at the rear, devices such as USB pendrives, bluetooth adaptors and the like can still be slapped in without having to move equipment around, shuffle cables so you have room, or otherwise fluff around.

I have even mounted mine on the wall behind the monitor, giving me easy access to everything, but it does cut off direct view of the port indicator lights... not a bad thing if you plan to leave the machine on all night for backups or maintenance.

Setup took mere moments on a Win2k-based machine, with all USB devices easily relinking when reattached. And though I couldn't prove it, I could swear to a performance enhancement, even from the older USB 1.1 devices.

Overall, this is a very impressive little unit. The price is perhaps a little on the steep side for the average home user, but very much worth every penny invested by the professional or home user who wants quality and style.