The first cheap USB 2.0 card

Iogear is a company that I had never heard of until I looked for some USB 2.0 equipment on buy.com. I needed some USB 2.0 ports for my laptop (I got a new iomega cd burner - check out my other review), so I turned to PCMCIA cards. The first company which came to mind was Belkin. Belkin, however, sells their products at high prices, probably becuase they are so well known. So I needed an alternative. Iogear was the first one, and the best one.

Installation
This card is the easiest install ever. Just plug it in, and Windows does the rest. Then you restart your computer, and plug in whatever you want. I hooked up a Belkin USB 2.0 hub to this, and the Iogear card was able to recognize it and set it up immediately. Windows XP can actually tell the difference between USB 1.1 ports and USB 2.0 ports, so when you install it, make sure that the ports are listed as "HI-SPEED" or something like that.

Price
This is a CHEAP card. I got mine for $70 at buy.com, while most alternatives are over $100. Don't be deterred if you haven't heard of Iogear, after doing a little research, my fears were silenced. This card has the most ports-per-dollar that there is, so far. Great price.

Other stuff
Unlike the Belkin USB 2.0 card, this one does not require an AC adapter or any power source other than the computer. You may notice that there IS a power plug in the front of the card, but that is only optional if your device requires it. This is good, as most people will run out of plugs - if they already have so many peripherals that they need this card, another big AC adapter isn't going to do them much good.

What I don't like
This is a 2-port card. I could do better with a 4-port, but I guess that's OK, if you consider the price. My main problem with this card is the design. Though others might disagree with me, I prefer the type of card which is just a card with a "dongle" attaching to the side. When you have a card like this sticking out the side of your laptop, it is a very easy thing for something to get caught on, and I would prefer to be able to leave the PC card inside the computer, attaching and detaching a separate cable. But, again, if you consider the price, the design is OK.

Conclusion
Basically, if you need USB 2.0 ports for your laptop, this is the way to go. You'll save nearly $50 by forgetting about better known brands. I can live with the design.

Thanks for reading.