Iogear 5 Port Hi-Speed USB 2.0 PCI Card ( GIC251U )

Manufacturer:	IOGEAR
Our price:	$18.99

Iogear 5 Port Hi-Speed USB 2.0 PCI Card ( GIC251U )

Average rating: Stars

Faster than Firewire and installation is a snap

Remember the "old days" when installing a new piece of computer hardware meant 2 days of your life was lost trying to get it to work? What a pleasant surprise to plug this board in, turn the PC on, and have Windows XP automatically find the drivers and set everything up.

OK, OK, the ease of installation probably has more to do with Windows XP than with this particular USB card, but the upshot is nobody need fear buying this card and getting it to work.

I bought this board to use with my new digital scanner. Works great.

Iogear 5 Port Hi-Speed USB 2.0 PCI Card ( GIC251U ) - IOGEAR

easy installation and reliability

This product works exactly as advertised. After seating the card, my computer immediately recognized it and installed the required drivers (an installation disk is also supplied if needed). Works extremely well with my iPod. This product was purchased after I initially purchased an inferior Startech PCI card. The card is a great value!

IOGEAR - Iogear 5 Port Hi-Speed USB 2.0 PCI Card ( GIC251U )

A cost effective upgrade

Part of my continuing effort to update my Dell (Dimension 8200) was to add USB 2 connectivity. Hooked up to the USB 1 ports on the Dell were: photo printer, film scanner, flatbed scanner, PDA, Compact Flash reader, wireless mouse, wireless keyboard, flash drive and external harddrive. Needless to say, there were not enough ports, I had to plug/un-plug devices constantly and since these were USB 2 devices connected via USB 1, they were operating at a reduced speed. Considered buying an external USB hub but it would not have resolved the issue of connecting USB 2 devices to USB 1. I was finally compelled to buy a USB 2 card when I found out that USB 1 does not support Apple's IPOD.

I bought this particular unit simply because it was the best selling model here in Amazon. I chose the Amazon's re-seller, Office Depot because it listed the lowest price but after shipping and taxes it actually cost me more than if I bought from Amazon directly. So the lesson is: check the shipping cost and if there is a sales tax (if there's a store in you state, you'll be taxed) before clicking the purchase button. In hindsight, I should've just picked this up at a local Office Depot. A few people complained that they received a generic unit instead of an Iogear unit, technically I don't think it would make a difference however, it sure would bother me if a vendor did not deliver what I asked for, after all it is my decision and the vendor should respect that! Office Depot btw did deliver what was specified.

Installation was fairly easy. But if you've never opened you PC before I would recommend having someone with a little experience nearby, for moral support if anything. Luckily Dell's are known for well designed cases and allows for easy upgrades. You simply press the lever, open the case and insert the card in the first available slot and that's basically it! (fyi: on the Dell, the original usb 1 comes integrated with the motherboard) If you're running a recent version of Windows XP, the PC should recognize the new card and you're ready to go! In my case, I had to install via the CD since I have an older version of XP and never bothered with upgrades. It was still pretty simple. Also for some unknown reason I had to re-install one of the scanner's software.

I was very pleased with the increased speed of my printer and scanners. I no longer have time to make myself a cup of coffee while scanning or printing photos! Since performance was not an issue I left the wireless mouse, wireless keyboard and compact flash reader in the original USB1 slots.

Conclusion:
Most PC's older than 3 yrs come with USB 1, most peripherals manufactured in the last couple of years are USB 2, some are backwards compatible but at much slower speeds and in the case of Apple's IPOD, it won't work on USB 1 at all. For $20-25, this is an inexpensive, cost-effective computer upgrade. Especially if you've invested a substantial amount in or plan to buy peripheral equipment.

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