Kensington DomeHub 7-port USB 2.0 Hub with FlyLight
by Kensington
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List Price: Our Price: $31.25 You Save: $7.74 (20%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $19.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Kensington DomeHub 7-port USB 2.0 Hub with FlyLight
Customer Review: Good customer service and good product
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this in Sept 08 and had no problems with my laptop. It was a plug and play and was recognized without issue. Recently I noticed that some of the lights hadn't been coming on consistently. I tried plugging it into another laptop and just thought the lights went bad because it appeared that the connection was still working. But then again the things it was connected to also had wireless capablility too. So i wasn't sure. But today I realized that 4 of the 7 usb ports had stopped working. So I unplugged it and set it aside to look for my receipt and book that came with it. I then went to the kensington web page and found the customer service phone number and called it. My call was answered almost immediately by a very pleasant lady. She took my info and asked me if I had tried plugging it into another computer and I told her I tried two laptops but if she would hang on i could try my desktop. Of Course, when I plugged it in there IT WORKED!!! Isn't that always the case. I asked her if from time to time it needed to be unplugged to clear and plugged back in. She said she never really heard that before but if it works then all the better. So, It is a good product. It has not had a problem connecting anything I have tried to plug into it, and if by chance you ever notice the lights go out on the front, just try unplugging it for 20 minutes and plugging it back in again. IT WORKED FOR ME. The thing I like the best about calling customer service was that (unlike many other manufacturers) I actually got through to a live person, who was pleasant, and very interested in helping me resolve my issue. because of that GREAT support, I would buy another product from this company.Customer Review: Excellent hub, useful design
Summary: 5 Stars
Darn good stuff, this is: a high-speed USB 2 hub with 7 ports.
The cool little LED fly light, and a USB extension cable just add to the value of this hub. The hub itself is fairly heavy, a bonus when you have a half-dozen USB cable gadgets hanging off of it. My previous hub, a small cigaret-pack size, was always sliding around on the desktop.... sometimes it ended up hanging halfway to the floor. With the Kensington, that's a thing of the past.
I also like the LED light... I often work at night when it's quiet, and entering my AV editing room/office it's very possible to step on (or trip over) any number of cables, instruments, what have you. With this little lamp lighting up the room dimly, I can see well enough to navigate around the obstacles. I often aim it at the keyboard so I can still glance at the keys to make out the characters... my monitor doesn't really illuminate the keyboard from its position on the desk. so it's been handy. I like that.
The attached USB cable concerned me at first. I thought it was wimpy (it's quite thin). However, it has not failed me after months and months of service, so no complaint there.
The ports are arranged at slight angles to one another, so USB cables and gadgets don't exactly plug in parallel to one another. They "fan out" some, so the hub requires a bit more desktop space (behind itself) than its own footprint. Plugging in cables takes a bit of getting used to because of the slight angles, but the connectors feel solid and I've had no troubles there.
The 7th port is on top of the dome, which is handy if you have PDAs or MP3 players; it's also a good spot for the fly light!
Customer Review: Great form but lacks sufficient power to serve power-hungry devices
Summary: 3 Stars
After reading all the reviews before purchasing this hub, concerned mostly with the reliability, I went ahead and bought it because it seemed be a stylish yet functional hub that was also weighted enough to keep from twisting and rocking off its base when its ports were all loaded.
As far as the form, it is perfect design and handles all stiff cabling connected to it without lifting off the table or being pulled to a particular side.
The USB cables stay tight in the ports. The power plug, however, tends to be a little loose and can accidently be pulled out when handling the hub.
The major drawback, however, is its poor power serving abilities. Hard drives, iPhone (3G) and iPod all seem to malfunction in weird ways when used with the hub. When transferring large data to hard drives, my USB speakers (Harmon Kardon) and other sometimes other ports disconnect and are no longer recognized, sometimes necessitating a reboot.
If syncing large data such as music, photos and/or videos to my iPhone 3G, iTunes will ALWAYS disconnect the iPhone 3G during the Sync.
Basically, this hub is only useful for low-to-no power consuming USB devices, such as flashdrives and printers.
To summarize, as just a "plain" hub, this works as expected. And its aesthetic design is beyond reproach, with its callout feature being a weighted base. But being sold as a POWERED hub, it fails miserably. And thus, even though this hub has more than enough ports to handle my current platoon of USB devices, for my power hungry USB devices, my search continues as I will be forced to have TWO USB hubs on my desk.
Customer Review: Good Hub
Summary: 4 Stars
This hub is very good, but I'm pretty picky, so I only give it 4 stars. It could use a little more weight - with 4 USB cords pulling down on the back of it, the front wants to tip up. It is on the top of my tower computer, so a little wire management took the weight off and allows it to sit flat now. This should also prevent the unplugging problem some people have mentioned. No problems with using it for my printer, scanner, or webcam. I have USB ports on the front that I use for hard drives & flash drives, or things that will only be connected for a short time. This hub is used for things that I leave connected, so I haven't tested it with any high-speed devices (I guess I need to take care of that).
Some people mentioned problems with the indicator lights being reversed - this problem is not present in the one I received (newer revision?). If something is plugged into the left-most port, the left-most light comes on.
The AC adapter is not one of the big bricks. It is more like a cell phone charger, and sticks out to the side instead of hanging down, so it doesn't take up 2 slots on the power strip. That is fine with me, but some people don't like it.
The silver finish is a little delicate, mine had some slight surface scratches from shipping. They can only be seen from about 1 foot away, so it's not a major problem.
The USB cord running into the hub is built-in, and looks to be about 3 feet long, but you also get an extension cable in the box, so you should have about 6' of cable to play with.
Overall, a good 7-port hub (6 in the back, 1 on top).
Customer Review: Almost!
Summary: 4 Stars
I haven't had the time to really test this product yet, so this review is first appearances. I will add to the review later.
I've just opened the box from Amazon and found that the package had already opened... someone obviously decided that the cords didn't suit them, repackaged and returned it. Amazon sold it to me as new - "SHAME ON YOU AMAZON"!
About the hub:
The wiring could be so much better! If they would just put a long connection wire with a cord retraction system (simliar to that used on a vaccuum cleaner) then we could all have the cord length that we want! The extra bulk wouldn't really be a problem because it would add weight and wouldn't need a larger footprint. This really does need a little more weight. I'm using it on my desk with printers and scanners and my telephone recharger all plugged into it on a permanent basis. The top port is useful for my card reader to download photos. I would actually like another easily accesible port; it would be more uesful configuration if there were say five at the rear and two ports with easy access. The power adapter is nice and narrow if you are plugging into an outlet in the wall, but use it in any power strip and it takes up two outlet spaces!
The lights do show where the USB cables are plugged in, and mine have a snug fit, I doubt they'll pull out as they will seldom be touched. Overall a good design. I just hope it is more stable and has a longer life than the Cables-to-Go 7 port hub it is replacing.