USB Hubs Powered or Unpowered?

Q: I am out of ports on my laptop. I have 3 ports and 5 devices... The devices i have are 1. webcam 2. mouse 3. mini usb that downloads info from camera and charges Zen mp3 player 4. External HD (it has its own power chord) 5. USB Flash Drive I see all sorts of hubs, some are unpowered some are powered. Do i need a powered one? Is there really a difference?

A: Unpowered means the hub is powered by the USB port, so if you connect too many devices to an USB powered hub, they won't function correctly. However, from what I can tell, you don't have many high-demand devices. I'd go with an USB powered hub and use it to connect the web cam, mouse, and hard drive.

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