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USB Discards
USB Discards
So far, we’ve gone after the low-hanging fruit of obviously out-of-date stuff you probably haven’t used for years. While USB has replaced serial, parallel, mice and keyboard ports, some USB devices are better than others. Consider disposing of the following
- USB 1.1 hubsUSB 1.1, the first real USB standard, is limited to 12Mbps. Almost all recent USB devices other than mice and keyboards are designed for USB 2.0 (aka High-Speed USB), which runs at speeds up to 480Mbps. Plugging a USB 2.0 device into a USB 1.1 hub usually triggers an error message telling you your device will function at reduced speed – up to 40x slower!
- USB 1.1 cablesUSB 1.1 cables are often thinner than USB 2.0 cables because of thinner shielding and power lines. They could cause some bus-powered devices (such as card readers and flash memory sticks) to fail. USB 2.0-compliant cables are sometimes tagged as such, and are often a bit thicker than USB 1.1 cables.