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IOGEAR GPU202 2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA CardBus Card

IOGEAR GPU202 2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA CardBus Card

List Price: $99.99
Your Price: $40.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: misleading and flawed
Review: After tinkering around with this product and trying almost everything recommended by tech support, it still does not perform at USB 2 speeds. I am trying to use an external CD-RW drive with this card. I have tested the drive on other computers that have USB2.0 ports and it works without any problems, but when I use it with this card I only get a speed of 7x when the drive should be working at 16x. Also, no where on this website does it mention an external power supply you might need, the only place it is mentioned is in small print on the installation manual. The power supply will set you back another 17 USD and is next to useless. Overall it is a very poorly designed product that needs more refinement.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: i am IOGear's complete lack of customer service
Review: causes system hangs 100% !!! of the time, when PLUGGING IN USB 2 devices like my ipod. 100% !!! support says "we cannot replicate your problem"!!!

this card is worthless; this company's response has been worthless; the time and trouble this thing has cost me LONG AGO blew away the $20-40 i saved not buying name brand.

suffice to say i will never buy another IOGear product again.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not really very good at all....
Review: Dastardly IOGEAR...Having downloaded hundreds of updates from the Windows website including the new 2.0 drivers necessary for this device. Having spoken for hours with technical support. Having reinstalled the device on a number of occasions. Having used an external powersource for the device, the blooming thing still fails to work with my spanking new CD-RW (an IOMEGA Predator). In fact all it does is cause my computer (a Sony Vaio) to freeze up when burning CDs. Perhaps it is the fact i have an XP system, perhaps it is the fact that i have failed to chant some mystical arcana over a blood drenched pentagram, perhaps it is the fact that this is just a very poor excuse for a piece of computer hardware made by a swinish company who care not for their poor trodden-upon consumers. If you can suggest any way to resolve these problems, please do tell. If you have not yet bought this chappie I cannot help but advise against it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: not recommended
Review: Does not work on my Inspiron 4100 with XP. I get the indication that drivers are not installed despite repeated attempts using the installation cd. Product does function with my mouse, but not any other devices. I have to unplug it when using any device attached to my laptop usb port or else everything locks up.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A modest upgrade at low cost
Review: I bought this card for my 18-month old Dell Inspiron 4000. I am running Windows 2000 Pro.
Installing the card was very easy. Just plug it in and Windows will guide you to load the driver. You need at least Win 98 Second Edition to use this product.
Works OK with all my older USB 1.1 devices. I don't have any USB 2.0 devices yet so I can't atest on the speed. I am looking forward to use it with an external CDRW soon. Their prices are quite reasonable now.
The product is Hot-Swapable under Windows 2K. But you NEED to stop/remove before putting the system in standby/hibernate. Otherwise your system may behave erratically.
Alex.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not worth the effort
Review: I bought this product with high expectations to get my external CD-RW drive to record at faster speeds. This product, not only conflicted with my Windows XP performance until the release of the first XP service pack, but also doesnt work at all with my CD-RW drive. Ive tried everything, sending the product back, tech support (which wasnt that helpful), and using other products with it...and let me say that this product is in no way worth it. I have had no success with it and am unable to return it and am now forced to eat my loss and purchase another. Avoid my fate and by a different card.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy Installation, works great, and cheap!
Review: I didn't have any problem installing it in my Windows XP laptop, it was truly plug and play and didn't need any software. I can hot-swap the card or USB devices while the laptop is on without any problem. It's a great way to add USB 2.0 ports, and it costs less than other available adapters. All the negative reviews almost made me not to buy the product, but I bought it and very happy with its performance (480 mbps).

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Caused lock-ups with my machine
Review: I didn't see any reviews here that addressed Mac compatibility, so I thought I'd toss my hat in the ring....

Prior to OS X 10.2.8, the GPU202 worked, but only at USB 1.1 speeds. Not very helpful, since I already have built-in USB 1.1 ports on my TiBook 400. I then installed the drivers for this device, and got mixed results. The bus was definitely running at USB 2.0 speeds, but I couldn't find a consistent way to remove the GPU202 from the slot without causing system instability. :( I decided that the card-removal hassle wasn't worth it, so the GPU202 sat in a drawer unused. :(

Then along came the 10.2.8 update, and it was good. Now it works flawlessly, without the need for any extra drivers! (I uninstalled the IOGear driver before upgrading to 10.2.8.)

This is all moot if you buy a new Apple system, as they all have USB 2.0 ports built in now. But for pre-USB2 PowerBook users, this card should work great. Also, I imagine that it will work fine in Panther, although I haven't had a chance to try that out....

Here's the order of operations that I follow:

1) insert GPU202 into slot.
2) plug USB cable into GPU202.
3) do whatever you need to do.
4) unplug USB cable from GPU202.
5) use menu item to "Power Off Card."
6) remove card.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Works great with Mac OS X
Review: I didn't see any reviews here that addressed Mac compatibility, so I thought I'd toss my hat in the ring....

Prior to OS X 10.2.8, the GPU202 worked, but only at USB 1.1 speeds. Not very helpful, since I already have built-in USB 1.1 ports on my TiBook 400. I then installed the drivers for this device, and got mixed results. The bus was definitely running at USB 2.0 speeds, but I couldn't find a consistent way to remove the GPU202 from the slot without causing system instability. :( I decided that the card-removal hassle wasn't worth it, so the GPU202 sat in a drawer unused. :(

Then along came the 10.2.8 update, and it was good. Now it works flawlessly, without the need for any extra drivers! (I uninstalled the IOGear driver before upgrading to 10.2.8.)

This is all moot if you buy a new Apple system, as they all have USB 2.0 ports built in now. But for pre-USB2 PowerBook users, this card should work great. Also, I imagine that it will work fine in Panther, although I haven't had a chance to try that out....

Here's the order of operations that I follow:

1) insert GPU202 into slot.
2) plug USB cable into GPU202.
3) do whatever you need to do.
4) unplug USB cable from GPU202.
5) use menu item to "Power Off Card."
6) remove card.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Mostly bad results
Review: I had an earlier IOGear 1-port card for a Dell Inspiron 2650 (XP), and I never got it to work. I just got the GPU202 2-port card for a new Dell Inspiron 300m (XP), with the same results. This time I downloaded the newest driver - still no luck. The laptop recognizes some peripherals plugged into the GPU202, but they won't function.

In any case, this is the last time I will waste any money on IOGear.


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