Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Ctrl-Alt-Del => Topic started by: slope on 25 February, 2021, 04:23:06 pm
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Fed up with scrambling around the back of my iMac to access the USB ports, so want a 4 port external hub.
Is a powered one recommended rather than the cheaper non-powered? Do powered ones mean power cables and plugs? I have both a USB 3.0 and a USB-C Apple mains power adapters knocking about - would they help?
Would a hub with a USB-C out be useful? Don't need any SD card readers or suchlike.
Have seen a couple (Sabrent and Satechi) that secure to the underside of the iMac case - but that means stuffing prongs up into cooling/air intake vents which seems a bit daft!
The choice is rather overwhelming and I'm not very ofay with such things. Apple UK have a £60 Belkin. Does one need to spend that much?
https://tinyurl.com/7w9n4h85
I'd be very grateful for any recommendations and advice
EDIT#1: I do manual backups using an SSD and spinny disc external drives and it would be convenient to charge an iPad and iPhone too
EDIT#2: Does it make any difference if the hub is connected to a USB-C or USB 3.o port on the back of the iMac?
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Powered depends on what do you want to plug into it? If you want to use external hard drives, or CD drives, or charge your phone, probably worth getting a powered hub. If just a few flash drives, they won't need much power.
Anker have some quite cheap options. I've got one of these, works fine. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00O0L2NWI
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I have an Anker powered USB hub. Problem-free, I have three external disks and a scanner plugged in (which all need power from the hub). It also charges my phones at the same time, powers a magic levitating lamp and, in summer, a desk-top fan.
It wasn't the cheapest, but it wasn't that expensive either.
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Thanks fuaran. Should have said - I do manual backups using an SSD and spinny disc external drives and it would be convenient to charge an iPad and iPhone too. Will edit my post, forthwith.