Do I need a usb 3.0 hub?

[Cobb]

Im looking to setup my surface 2 as a desktop. I got a hmdi cable, a usb keyboard, usb mouse and of course a few usb thumb drives and a few hard drives. All of my current accessories are usb 1 and 2. I know the surface 2 has a 3.0 usb port and want to make sure I prepare for the future. Of course, wasnt there an article not too long ago about a new plug for usb altogether? :crying:

Thx

 

[xandros9]

Im looking to setup my surface 2 as a desktop. I got a hmdi cable, a usb keyboard, usb mouse and of course a few usb thumb drives and a few hard drives. All of my current accessories are usb 1 and 2. I know the surface 2 has a 3.0 usb port and want to make sure I prepare for the future. Of course, wasnt there an article not too long ago about a new plug for usb altogether? :crying:

Thx

If the possibility of getting a USB 3.0 hard drive (or other piece of hardware) and wanting maximum performance outweighs the cost when compared to a USB 2.0 hub, I would get it.

Personally, my laptop doesn't have USB 3.0, while my external hard drive does and I live without it. It's not as speedy as it could be, but I make do.
I personally wouldn't buy the hub, even if my laptop had one.

There was a rumor a while back about some new USB standard, but that's far off and I don't think we have enough information to act on it.

 

[a5cent]

Im looking to setup my surface 2 as a desktop. I got a hmdi cable, a usb keyboard, usb mouse and of course a few usb thumb drives and a few hard drives. All of my current accessories are usb 1 and 2. I know the surface 2 has a 3.0 usb port and want to make sure I prepare for the future. Of course, wasnt there an article not too long ago about a new plug for usb altogether? :crying:

Thx

1. Your HDMI cable has nothing to do with USB.
2. If your current accessories are all USB 1.0 and 2.0 devices, they will benefit nothing from a USB 3.0 hub. Keyboards and mice are also very unlikely to switch to USB3.0 anytime soon, as that just increases cost without providing any benefit.
3. Finally, using a hub causes all the connected devices to share the bandwidth of a single USB 3.0 connection, so using a hub might not be what you want, particularly since you care about USB 2.0 vs. USB 3.0 transfer rates. In general, it's very much preferred to connect each device to a separate USB port.

From the list of accessories you provided, the thumb drive is the only device where you'd notice any difference, and then only if you regularly copy large amounts of data to and from the drive, and only if you upgraded to USB 3.0 capable thumb drive.

If you already have a hub, it sounds to me like getting a USB 3.0 hub might be overkill. That might be money spent on very little real benefit, but that ultimately depends on how you use those thumb drives.

On the other hand, if you want to use your SP3 as a desktop, and you don't want to go through the fuss of plugging/unplugging cables each time, you really should get the docking station. That solves all your problems at once in the best possible way.

 

[AV2RY]

On the laptop HDMI and USB 3.0 ports are must have for me. I have Western Digital USB 3 portable drive and it's upload (to drive) and download (to PC) speed is incredibly fast compared to USB 2. So, I would def recommend getting one especially if you got huge size files (ex. movies)

Btw. Your USB 1 & 2 devices wont get any benefit from USB 3 but u can still use w/o problem
ps. I never seen anything that is UBS 1, must be oold

 

[Cobb]

I mention that incase someone gave me a hard time that I needed it to use an external monitor or the fact usb couldnt be use for video output.

The docking station works with the surface 2 or just the pro? I thought it only works on the pro? Seems rather expensive if I can already use my pre-existing hub and monitor to make it a desktop?

1. Your HDMI cable has nothing to do with USB.

 

[a5cent]

I mention that incase someone gave me a hard time that I needed it to use an external monitor or the fact usb couldnt be use for video output.

The docking station works with the surface 2 or just the pro? I thought it only works on the pro? Seems rather expensive if I can already use my pre-existing hub and monitor to make it a desktop?

Darn it, sorry, for some reason I was thinking about the SP3 the whole time. Probably because it's currently a hot topic here at WPC.

You are right. The docking station is only for the Pro (different versions for the Surface Pro 2 and 3).

If you already have a hub, and you are fine un/plugging the hub and monitor each time, then by all means, do that. It's the cheapest option. If you aren't regularly copying large amounts of data to/from USB 3.0 enabled thumb drives, you aren't missing anything.

The docking station is the route to go if you convert between desktop/mobile modes one or more times a day. It also gets around the bandwidth issues a hub has, but if that doesn't affect you, then who cares.

Good luck!

 

[Cobb]

Any experience with the wifi storage units? I saw a few on gizmodo today. They had a stick as well as hub like you inserted an sd card to. I think elsewhere I have seen commercials about wifi clouds for personal use at home. Thinking using wifi for storage and usb keyboard n mouse.

 

[a5cent]

Any experience with the wifi storage units? I saw a few on gizmodo today. They had a stick as well as hub like you inserted an sd card to. I think elsewhere I have seen commercials about wifi clouds for personal use at home. Thinking using wifi for storage and usb keyboard n mouse.

I'm personally not a fan of using WiFi for everything. WiFi bandwidth is another one of those things that is shared by all devices hooked up to the rooter. In our household, we have over a dozen mobile devices connected to the same AP. I wouldn't want storage running over that channel as well. Anything that needs to function consistently and reliably has an Ethernet connection.

However, if you are the only person using your AP, then it's entirely under your control, so not really an issue in that scenario. Then sure, why not.

 

[Cobb]

Good point about over loading the traffic on the router. Although most can do 254 devices, the date is limited to like 50mbs.

Me, I got several ip cameras covering the castle inside and out. Those are on another router to themselves. rly:

 

[Will6371]

Good point about over loading the traffic on the router. Although most can do 254 devices, the date is limited to like 50mbs.

Me, I got several ip cameras covering the castle inside and out. Those are on another router to themselves. rly:

You have a castle?

I'm not jealous, well not much.

 

[Cobb]

A mans home is his castle?

You have a castle?

I'm not jealous, well not much.

 

[onlysublime]

get a usb 3.0 hub. at this point, there's no real reason to get a 2.0 hub unless you really really really want to save a couple bucks. the speed difference is enormous especially when transferring large batches of files.

it's backwards compatible so you can still plug in all your older USB devices.

this is the one I use with my Surface RT and my Surface Pro 2 and it's been fantastic:

 

[Cobb]

Thanks, that my thoughts. Go a head and buy it like I did cat 6 cables, so Ill be ready anyways. Got to make sure it has the blue ports too.

 

[DalekSnare]

USB 3 is the way to go if you want to use multiple monitors and don't have brand new DP 1.2 ones that support daisy chaining. Then you can have excellent usb3 to hdmi out. I do that with my SP2.

 

[Cobb]

Ordered a 7 3.0 port powered hub. Also order a 128 gb 3.0 usb memory stick and a 3.0 usb bluray/dvd reader writer while I was online. Im assuming we can at least read cds if not play a dvd or bluray?

 

[onlysublime]

I recently picked up a combo Ethernet / USB 3.0 hub. works fantastic...

Still use my other hub but now I go back and forth, depending on need...

 

[Cobb]

Will it work with a cd, dvd or bluray usb drive? Im guessing so, but Ive been surprised before. Be nice if you can watch bluray, but dvd would be fine. I have to attend classes from time to time and have supplemental material on cd that is nice to see in real time vs back at the office. Now I no longer have a laptop, just the surface 2.

 

[onlysublime]

you could always make an image of the CD, then mount it for viewing. I find that a lot more convenient than hooking up a DVD drive. It only takes a couple minutes to rip a CD/DVD image with today's drives.

 

[Cobb]

Can I do that with the surface? Sometimes the boss says go to room xxx at noon and sit through this meeting. When I arrive at the meeting they hand out a cd with copy of the presentation, handouts, etc and for the next hour they talk about it. Wouldnt be too difficult to toss a hub, brick and cd drive in the bad with the surface. I should get my hub and drive by the 4th, will see how that goes.

you could always make an image of the CD, then mount it for viewing. I find that a lot more convenient than hooking up a DVD drive. It only takes a couple minutes to rip a CD/DVD image with today's drives.