Buffalo BSH4A02 USB hub loves switches, hates vampires
By Tim Stevens 
posted June 17th 2009 8:27AM
posted June 17th 2009 8:27AM
[Via GadgetReview]
posted June 17th 2009 8:27AM
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Actually kind of genius since my stupid external hard drive has no off switch of its own and as long as it is receiving signal from a USB port it runs.
Totally agree. I hate my FreeAgent external drive for the lack of one as well.
I have an external without power switch also, but when I use the windows disconnect thingy it nicely powers down, but of course each boot it wakes up again and so far attempts with utilities to reconnect it via software were not successful :/
I guess I should just make/get a switch for it.
Anything with switches is AWESOME.
Ice Cube feels you, Rebel.
Rollin through the hood,
when I see a bitch
I hit the switch,
she's on my dick
-jp
...if i dont want it to charge i simply dont plug it in. much less clutter makes for a much simpler life, ya digg :\
btw... what happened with that sony thing that was s'posed to happen at 4 this morning? skyblaze was sleep, but he thought itd be here for him in the daytime
Isn't a switch more convenient than plug and unplug?
Having cables strew around for you to step on is less clutter? Oh I see.
All my cables go directly from the back/top of the hub to behind my desk, so it's possible to avoid the clutter with the right type of hub. The Belkin that I'm using also has a nice little sidecar for holding loose cables in place.
"..if i dont want it to charge i simply dont plug it in"
Typical USB connectors aren't designed for heavy use. The plating on the contacts wears out after about 100 cycles and the connection can get flaky, especially in humid climates. The switch is a good idea if you otherwise had to disconnect daily.
I think 100 times is quite negative, a few hundred or thousand can be expected from an USB connector surely,
But yeah that's an additional issue, and as someone said, switches have a certain charm on itself.
Buffalo? Don't they usually make at least *decent* looking products? This thing looks like a reject from a Brando project (which is pretty bad).
I mean, the concept is nice... although, don't most of us unplug our devices and continue using them when they're done charging? Especially things like cell phones. Also, don't most cell phones have a circuit of some sort that automatically stops taking the juice to protect the phone anyway?
Maybe I'm just missing some specific market that this is targeted to, but I have quite a few USB devices and they either use their own power or it's something that I unplug when I'm done using it. >.
Well image you have many hard drives and so don't have switches and all hard drives are in the shelf....
so instead of going to them you can just switch it off...(if wires connected) don't just think phones and ipods, there is much more then that.
I suppose... although, I have 3 western digital externals (WD is all I buy) and the two connected to my desktop are next to my desk on the floor and have power buttons on the front (and auto-off with my machine).... and the one in the bedroom connected to my macbook has a power button and shuts off when I turn the macbook off.
I suppose if other manufacturers don't provide power buttons or auto-off features, this would be useful...
There is no super necessity for it obviously since otherwise it would not take until now to see it on themarkey.
But it can be handy for some uses and if people like it they can buy it.
I wonder though if it just disconnects the power or the data lines too, and if just the power don't you then get a floating circuit that might cause issues?
Ugh. Why is it so Windows 98 Desktop white?
You got a problem with beige?
I dare you to make less sense.
I like it now I can turn off my drives that I don't want running all at one time saving me some power usage and cutting down on the noise.
When I have stuff plugged in I want it to run.
But I guess it would be cool to play with
I don't know if it would be too engaging to play with...
Device goes on, device goes off, device goes on, device goes off...weeee!
http://www.fareastgizmos.com/computing/buffalo_usb_hub_with_onoff_switch.php says 4 colors, but all I see are 3. White, Silver, and Red.
The internets is so confusing!
I think this is great for hard drives as others pointed out. But I don't understand why more things like this don't have remote switches. I would like a strip of switches on my desk without having to run all my USB cables up.
Absolutely! And first can we have this functionality for internal ports please? I was trying to find a way to cut power to the USB ports in my mcmini but didn't come up with anything - very disappointing.
$40 is a bit high and it looks dumb. Heck what ever floats your boat.
is fugly...also, should be able to configure power output through a desktop app, set up timers etc. so you wouldn't have to rely on the switches
This is a pretty cool product. Does the switch glow in red once it's switched on?
Yeah, so you can see all the blood that "Blade" is drinking, right before they come take it to jail for tax evasion. And then you're out $40, and paying for this guy to be housed... Moral of the story is you don't try to stop vampires- they'll get ya one way or another.
Could've used better looking switches, but still, it's very useful.
wouldn't this be a breeze to make with another hub and a handful of switches?
I don't care what color it is, I want this for the functionality. Whenever I find a decent USB hub it has no power switch at all on it. I have to unplug the power cable so stuff shuts off, and this would allow you to just shut off what you want.
Now if they would have just used a normal USB port for the uplink instead of the smaller ones it would be exactly what I want.
Ok...if you wanted to save energy on a USB hub...couldn't one make a USB "switch". I'm talking about the difference between a traditional RJ-45 network "Hub" and "Switch"...or the analogous difference of a layer one and layer two device. It wouldnt even need to be as complicated as a typical Catalyst switch...you wouldn't need a MAC table...or STP or VLAN support...just a device that lets the USB "switch" that something is plugged in.
It would be sweet to have a USB Switch that can turn power off on a port/interface when a device is done charging like a phone...so it doesn't tear up the battery.
Something like this would be a cool feature to build into a DIY dock for a netbook.
Most of those laptop cooler things have a ton of room in 'em and are just begging to be augmented.
FINALLY! I'm always plugging and unplugging devices when doing data check-in from multiple devices using ActiveSync. Since ActiveSync doesn't allow multiple devices connected simultaneously this saves me physical exertion!
USD$40 for a powered USB hub?
The switches may or may not be necessary, but that price is laughable.
Otherwise, one of the nicer-looking understated, non-silver, non-embellished-kiddy-toy hubs I've seen.