USB Accessories for your Mac

Written on November 27, 2006 by Nick Santilli and 16 people have commented

While I’m certain most of us would love to put that Mac/Book Pro on our wishlists this holiday season, they’re probably not the most realistic choices. Accessories for your Mac however, are much more realistic and can hugely enhance your computing experience. Obviously there are a crap-ton of accessories to choose from, but in an effort to narrow the focus [just slightly] I’m thinking of USB accessories today.

To start it off, here’s everything that’s hanging from a USB port on my MacBook:

Logitech MX1000 or Trackman Marble (depending on home or work office)
External Hard Drives/Thumb drives
Printer
Scanner
Headsets (look for a review coming soon!)
Postage Scale (for shipments)
iMic
Digital Cameras/Memory card reader
Jog Dial for video work
USB to Serial (for work stuff)
iPod
Hubs which allow all these things to be used….

With only 2 USB ports on my MacBook, the Hubs I list last are the most important things here. The most I’ve daisy-chained are 2 and it seems to work fine (the hubs I’m using are powered), but does anyone know the limit to this practice? Can I daisy-chain 5? 10? What’s the limit and what’s the effect that I’ll see as a user?

On the more useless but fun side of things are things like the missile launcher, drink warmer/cooler, lights, fans, and of course the Snowbot. The list is seemingly endless (but fun).

So I ask you - what’s your favorite (useful or useless) USB accessory, whether you have it or want it?

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#1 jrobcet says:
Theoretically speaking, it should be possible to daisy-chain multiple hubs to provide access to 127 USB devices. The only caveat is that each hub would need to be powered externally in order to provide a full 500mA to each port.
#2 Nick Santilli says:
Excellent - thanks for an answer on that. While I assumed the daisy-chainability (that’s gotta be a real word) was pretty extensive, I never [bothered to look it up] knew for sure. Appreciate the input!
#3 Steve says:
You probably know this, but make sure you buy hubs that support both speeds at once, because some hubs will drop *everything* down to USB 1.0 speeds if one USB 1.0 device is plugged into it, then your 2.0 devices won’t be running at full speed.
#4 Steve says:
Or substitute the word “high-speed” for “2.0″. My brain is still drowsy from turkey and I can’t remember which is what.
#5 Daniel Brauer says:
Unfortunately, the missile launcher is not Mac-compatible.
#6 Chris Ryan says:
Useless: USB Cup Warmer.

Most Productive would be an external hard drive for backups….
#7 Nick Santilli says:
Daniel, you have just destroyed my Christmas dreams!!!

I’d hope that some enterprising individual fixes that problem. Until then I’ll have to plan on using it (because SOMEONE I know better get it for me! haha) on Windows under Parallels…
#8 Honza says:
Just a caveat… USB 2.0 != High speed. 2.0 is a specification that contains Low, Full, and High, speeds, but a device or host controller can be 2.0 without having to support all of them!
#9 j.Lee says:
You can safely assume that you can hook up 2 hubs without much problem. Add ing a third hub can cause issues, especially if you have harddrives on that third hub.
(YMMV)
#10 Nick Santilli says:
j.Lee - I’ve had that thought (groundless though it’s been) and have always kept my hard drives on the first ‘hop’ of my usb daisy chains. I like my data like I like my women, fast. (haha, sorry, honey, just joking around…)
#11 Darbie says:
I own the mother of all useless USB-powered devices - a mini glitter lamp. It’s so cheesy and awesome at the same time.
#12 Sojourner says:
Rechargeable batteries, Plug into your USB port to recharge. God, I love Technology.

http://tinyurl.com/y8nk7d
#13 Nick Santilli says:
Sojourner -
Totally! I’ve been wanting to pick some of those up. Great one.

Darbie -
there ya go. The thing I never understood were the goofy usb drives everyong was selling - sushi, puppies, etc, etc. huh???
#14 Jordan says:
My favorite useful USB item is a drink warmer and cooler. It’s perfect for the office. Keeps my coffee warm in the morming and keeps soda cold the rest of the day. I bought mine online at http://www.vat19.com/dvds/usb-warmer-cooler.cfm I might give in and buy a “useless” USB Cannon just because it is so cool.
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