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Palm Discovery would like to extend a BIG THANKS to Thomas of USB Fever for providing the product for this review.

Although it’s great that a lot of peripherals and accessories now come in the universal connection format also known as USB (Universal Serial Bus), one of the problems that may plague many of us with USB peripherals is that the cable that they normally come with are not long enough. I have personally encountered this problem myself as I was searching for a way to originally connect my old Palm Zire 71 with Clievideo’s Palm Webcam program installed and use it as a home monitoring webcam device. At the time, which was last year, it was difficult to find any USB extension cable never mind one that is long enough for me. Eventually I purchased one at Staples but that was only 10 feet. It did work, but I still wanted a longer extension cable and it seems it’s very hard to find. That is, until USB Fever came into the picture, well over a year later.

USB Fever’s 2.0 usb extension cable (5 meters/16.5 ft) is simply that, an extension cable for USB 2.0 (with backward compatibility for 1.1) peripherals that simply works. Simply plug one end of it into your computer’s USB port or USB hub and plug the other end into the USB peripheral (eg. webcam) and it works. Unlike many other USB extension cables out there, this cable comes with a booster at one end which helps to boost the signal as a result of the attenuation risen due to the cable’s length. Normally, extension cables for the USB, in order to be effective, would require external power (simular to USB hubs) so that there is no loss of power or data during data transfers. With the booster, the need for external power is not needed.

For those who want to skip over all the detailed review and just want a summary, you can jump to the review summary

As mentioned already, it’s so nice to be able to extend the length of a USB peripheral or accessory so that it doesn’t have to be within a foot or so of my computer or USB hub. Let’s face it, if we are cramped to fit all our USB peripherals like scanners, printers, webcams within a foot of our computer, we wouldn’t have much space left for our desk or computer. This is where having an extension cable comes handy, as it allows us to still access those peripherals and still put it somewhere else, away from the computer.

The cable is fully shielded to prevent data loss during transfer. As well, there is a booster located near the female end which helps boost the signal also helping to minimize data loss due to the extended length of the cable. This allows you to be able to utilize the maximum length of the cable saving the hassle of having to plug any additional adapters or access external power.

You can choose from between a cable of 5 meters/16.5 ft in length or a much longer 35 meters/115.5 ft cable. Keep in mind that the 35 meter cable supports only USB 1.1 not 2.0.

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More details (taken from USB Fever’s website):

Features:

For the item of 35 meters, it is USB1.1, NOT USB2.0.

Here are my observations:

This is quite simply, a USB 2.0 extension cable. With it, you can extend the length of the USB accessory or peripheral so that you don’t need to have that scanner or printer or other USB device to be right beside your computer or hub, but at a more convenient location and still be able to access it without any difficulty.

The cable feels very sturdy and looks well shielded and with the length of 16.5 feet, it’s normally long enough for most people.

It works very well and the booster seems to do its job of preventing data loss. I did a quick test using HDTach on a 2 GB Kingston card on a card reader connected to the extension cable and when directly connected to the computer’s USB port. There were no difference in the speed. Again, keep in mind that I’m not a “technical” reviewer so obviously, I’m not concentrating on technical tests but more on a functional perspective.

So, in my limited and non-technical view, this seems like a great solution for those who simply wish to be able to extend the length of their USB peripheral so that it’s not right next to their computer. For me, this is a great solution to enable me to connect my webcam which I use as a home monitoring device without having to move my computer. And with the booster in the cable, it gives me an extra piece of mind that there’s less of a chance that I may lose any data while using it with whatever USB peripheral.

Review Summary

This 2.0 USB Extension cable does exactly what you expected. It offers you the ability to have your USB peripherals like scanner, printer, webcam, etc at a certain distance away so that they aren’t all cramped around your work area, yet still easily accessible at the click of a mouse. The 5 meter/16.5 ft USB cable supports both USB 2.0 and 1.1, offering up to a rate of 480kbps. The cable is very well shielded to prevent data loss and there’s also a booster at the female end (far end where you connect your USB device to the cable) to help boost the data transfer, also to minimize data loss during transfer.

It’s simple to use. Simply plug and play. No drivers are needed. You are simply extending the distance your device is with respect to the USB hub or the USB port of your computer. I love it when things just work without much tweaking, or installation of drivers. Check out the 2.0 USB Extension Cable here.

Palm Discovery again thanks USB Fever for its continued support by providing the product for this review.

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