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Review on ORICO USB 3.0 Hub with 3-in-1 Desk Mount Clamp: SD Card Reader, 5Gbps Speed, Multi-Port Adapter, 2-Port USB Splitter for Laptop, PC, Camera, Keyboard, and More - Sleek Silver Design by Paul Rose

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Puts "handy " in "handy ports ". Avoid using with 2.4GHz peripherals.

One of the ZDNet reviewers mentioned this in an article and it gave me one of those A-HA! moments. After removing this object, I attached it to the bottom of my huge monitor, plugged it in, and suddenly, as if the clouds were clearing, pigeons descended from above and cheerful music began to play. OK, I'm exaggerating. a little. My new workstation doesn't have a built-in SD card reader, and the one I used to get around until I found something more ergonomic and user-friendly had its limitations. However, this little guy inserts the SD card right where I want it and gives me a couple of front and center USB ports. Like, like, something like. LG has a monitor slider in the center, I have to choose either right of center or left of center. I have a slightly left hemisphere so I placed it on the left side. The card reader feels a bit cramped, but I haven't had any connection issues so far. The transmission speed is quite good and above all stable. Write speed to a SanDisk Extreme SD card (nominally 90 MB/s) is approximately 52 MB/s. (The source is a Samsung PM981 NVMe SSD, so there was no read penalty in my test). The read test showed a speed of just under 90 MB/s and was about 88.2 MB/s. The power pass is enough to spin up my pocket hard drives without the need for an external (wall) power supply. Overall, the convenience of having those two ports where you need them without the "clunky" feel of a free-floating hub, despite the fact that there are only two ports, makes this a worthy device for the price. In my opinion most modern PCs have more than enough USB ports for any devices that tend to "stay in place" so this is perfect for your phone or digital camera so you don't have to fiddle with it . Your table for an open port to connect to. It's also good to have if you just can't get a reliable wireless signal for your wireless keyboard and/or mouse. Update: Two issues have recently surfaced with this product. I have two of these, each connected to a different computer, and they both behave the same. Problem one: I'm using Jabra wireless UC headsets with my computers, and lately when I try to speak on a conference call, people on the other end say: I sound like a garbled "talk and pronounce". Hearing sounds also tends to be intermittently cut off. The second problem: This problem has been bothering me for a long time. For a while, the focus of my application was haphazardly diverted. I was typing or coding and then my keyboard input was redirected to another application or just dead air. I noticed this more clearly when playing Minecraft because I would randomly get into the game menu as if I were pressing <esc> or alt tabbing to another application. Again, if I plug my nano receivers directly into the computer's USB ports, the keyboard would work correctly. This issue affects me regardless of whether I used the MK850 combo kit or the G613 keyboard. I struggled with this particular issue until I realized that the USB 3.0 signal speed could potentially collide with the wireless frequency spectrums used by the UC headset and wireless mice/keyboards. As it turns out, using my PC's USB 2.0 ports for a wireless keyboard/mouse works great. My work laptop's built-in 3.0 ports offer more or less consistent performance. Conclusion: If you've read my review up to this point, let me wrap it up for you. 1) Transfer speeds for high-speed devices like ultra-fast SD and flash drives, USB 3.0 SSDs and the like don't disappoint. You get what you paid for in this department. With this hub, you don't have to bend down to connect your storage devices for fast transfers. 2) If like me you want to use it as a pair of handy hubs so you can use a UC headset and wireless keyboard/mouse between PCs while still maintaining a minimalistic feel, this is NOT your product. It is too unstable to be used reliably with wireless peripherals in the 2.4GHz band.

Pros
  • Easy to read control panel
Cons
  • Updates