Ok....I'm trying to keep calm. I have had about enough of computers playing up for no reason and now I can't even find what I'm looking for to buy.

I broke two of my USB ports when I don't even have enough to start with. All the ones on the back are full and I need some more. The ones under my monitor have conveniently stopped working with no logical explanation so now I can't plug my ****ing mouse in. It's currently hanging out the side of my machine, but funnily enough, I don't want it there.

What I would like, what I'd really really like, is a usb on a little wire, with a few more USB sockets on the end. Like a simple extension with a multi socket, like you can get for normal plugs. It would seem that you can get such a thing....with a 12v adapter ont he end?!?! WTF?!?! MY PC ISN'T IN MY CAR FFS!!!!

Now, if some lovely person could tell me where I can buy such a thing, I would be eternally grateful and much more calm.

Thankyou

Here you go Loz ...for some reason the pink one is cheaper

Buy the Advent 4 Port Tubular USB 2.0 Hub at cheap prices from PC World

Thankyou everytime I googled it I was getting car ones, so I thought I would stop looking before I exploded

how many usb devices do you have?!

Hundreds. Everything I get seems to have one. keyboard, mouse, printer, scanner, monitor, 2 external HDDs, phone cable (but I put that in side of monitor) Erm, possibly some more that I can't think of right now...

I have external HDD & DVDRW, cameras and various dongles, loads of small USB storage devices, and chargers.

Got a few 7 port extenders with power blocks at the office as we also have USB printers, barcode scanners and keyboard/mouse all on USB.

The only thing is, make 100% suree the hub is actually USB2 and not just USB2 compatible, as otherwise it will be slow as hell.

Oh, got a bluetooth dongle too lol.

Just went to maplin and bought this.....is this ok WW?

4-Port Multi-Position Hub > Maplin

its full usb 2.0 apparently so should be ok.

Hya - as Bengie says, it is USB2 - however I read it a little and it appears there is no power supply with it.

This means you'll overload your USB and it wont power up some of the devices.

To be more precise, it will fail to power them as it will not allow overloading of your port.

13-Port USB 2.0 Hub > Maplin

This one has loads of ports and is powered

Or this one, depends what kind of look you're after:

7-Port Vertical USB 2.0 Hub > Maplin

There are loads of alternatives available though

Yeah I saw some with a separate power supply but thing is all my plug sockets are full. I thought maybe it would use a lot of power, but figured if it didn't work they wouldn't sell them. But what would be too logical I guess. I haven't opened it yet, so can always swap it.

A lot of the devices mentioned will have there own power source so not having a powered USB hub wouldn't matter. Would it?

USB has a max power of about 500mA (of the top of my head this) per port. So if you run external hard drives etc without their own power then it will not power that many, if more than 1.

Keyboard & mouse draw some current, but not *that* much. Cameras again usually just use it for data transfer and are powered by their own chargers so no worries.

No harm in trying, and worst case, you can always buy a powersupply for the one you have, or buy a small powered one - you can use the hub you've bought without problems

Yes you'll really need a powered hub, otherwise you risk brining the whole USB down, and overloading your pc PSU.

Also remember, some devices dont run well on a hub. Phone USB data cables being prime example.

Yes you'll really need a powered hub, otherwise you risk brining the whole USB down, and overloading your pc PSU.

Also remember, some devices dont run well on a hub. Phone USB data cables being prime example.

Why would you need a powered hub if a lot of the USB devices have their own power supply? Surely its just the data that will be getting transfered. The devices (that have thier own power supply) wont be taking any power from the USB port.

Why would you need a powered hub if a lot of the USB devices have their own power supply? Surely its just the data that will be getting transfered. The devices (that have thier own power supply) wont be taking any power from the USB port.

You're right, as long as the current of all devices as drawn from the USB bus don't exceed the max spec

I've got powered devices (hard drive & burner) and unpowered ones (web cam, keyboard, mouse). That combo works fine. If I add an external 2.5" bus powered hard drive, it takes it over the edge unless I power the hub, but you could be just fine

if its a base unit pc (and not a laptop) could you get a pci slot card for it that had extra usb ports? just my 2 pence worth.

You can, and it is not a bad idea - you can also do that for laptops, but you'd need a PCCard version of it, would work though

i did see a 4x usb2 pcmcia slot one, but mine has 2 x usb2 and 2x usb1 and most stuff is done on one usb2 and ipod on the other as i rarely have anything more than one of the following ever plugged in: talex, tomtom, printer, scanner, ipod, hdd, phone, vag com

If it can't be changed then USB is 500mA per port, but many let you pull up to 1mA without issue.

If you put anything you think is going to draw a reasonable amount of power directly into the PC and then you can hand the mouse and other such things off the hub.

If at all possible try and put the keyboard directly into the PC as while it should be fine off a hub, I've seen issues where the BIOS just won't see it unless it's plugged into the back of the PC.

if its a base unit pc (and not a laptop) could you get a pci slot card for it that had extra usb ports? just my 2 pence worth.

I wouldn't know how to do that.

It would be things I'm not likely to move that I'd be plugging in - ie printer, scanner, keyboard, mouse. I hardly want to faff about with camera cables that I need to unplug and plug in! I still dont know why my monitor USBs have stopped working either

women and technology eh

Another yes for a hub that's powered externally -my extender runs off one port -ok till you try to run something (like usb scanner ) off it -then you've got problems .BTW - anyone needing an USB extension -look at Amazon -Maplin price circa £7 +p&p ,Amazon circa£1.5, post paid .

women and technology eh

My work colleagues have an macho acronym for that: "can't understand new technology"

If you still get stuck finding a solution, don't worry, our system architects can help you. They "Architect Real Solutions Everywhere"

or for the ultimate in "posh" computing... or if your a fan of pink floyd lol....

the Art Lebedev "Spectrus"

I much prefer this version...