[CUBE] [CUBE]

[TonVanHest]

Op 6-aug-04 om 13:42 heeft Eagle het volgende geschreven:

> You guys act as if there's something nefarious going on, and it's 
> probably not that at all.  Consider that the typical Apple user 
> probably uses Apple products "because they just work."  He expects 
> them to "just work" -- and to "just work" as advertised.  Apple can 
> guarantee that their products "just work" -- but only if you only use 
> Apple products.
>
> That Cube speakers work on other USB hubs is not surprising to me, but 
> the "YMMV" ("mine worked on XYZ USB hub." ... "well, mine didn't work 
> on that hub.") aspect of it is probably why Apple recommends only 
> plugging them into the Cube or an Apple-supplied monitor with built-in 
> USB hub.  Apple recommends this because those configurations "just 
> work" -- while others might not.
>
> Ditto for all other Apple-supplied hardware, be it an 802.11 base 
> station, DVD-R burner, or whatever.

Oke, but the point is that (according to standards) any USB device is 
supposed to use more than 500 ma. If it exceeds that value that it must 
have its own powersupply.

The standards sya that a bus (the outlet from the system) should 
produce 500ma.

The standard also says that USB maybe cascaded (i.e. hubbed) and here 
all devices after the hub should (totalled) not use more than 500ma. 
That means that if there are devices connected to a hub which total 
more than 500 ma (and have no own powersupply) then the hub should be 
powered.

If you go to 'this mac', you will see that both busses prodice just 
this 500 ma. They are _not_ allowed to produce  _more_ than that, since 
there might be chances of frying connected devices.

All this ends up to the fact that the speakers cannot and are not 
allowed to eat up more than this 500ma. Meaning they can be connected 
to any USB outlet that has this 500mw available!

One of the problems is there are USB hubs around that "pretend" (aka 
lie) and say they do not need an external powersupply. Well this is 
wrong and causes often problems when too much devices are conected (and 
used) on the same hub. Besides this, there are a lot of hubs around 
that are plain rubbish, when the price is too cheap to be believable 
the product somewhere stinks.

Apple likes to give people the idea that only with 100% use of their 
equipment (and they try forcing that by using their own interfaces) 
they will have problemless systems but that is simply not true.

As long as ones buys brands that adhere to standards they will work.

Anyhow, I don't see much use in further discussing. I use Apple (Cube, 
iMac 17') mainly because of the design but the moment design is 2nd 
than I buy at the PC stores for at least 30% less.


Met vriendelijke groeten,
Ton van Hest