Product Details
- Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 12 x 3.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
- ASIN: B002GWJ7YU
- Item model number: NK398AAABA
List Price :
Price : $12.59
You Save : $87.40 (87%)
Product Description
Amazon.com Product Description
Reduce desktop clutter and increase expansion for your HP or Compaq notebook with HP's Essential USB Port Replicator (model NK398AA). Connecting via one of your laptop's USB ports, the Port Replicator expands your peripheral reach to 5 USB ports and also includes an Ethernet port for connecting to your network as well as headphone and microphone jacks.
The NK398AA can be arranged either vertically or horizontally to accommodate the space requirements of your immediate work environment. Of the five total USB ports, it features two Always-On USB ports that can be used to power or charge your portable music player, external hard drive and other similar devices. Additionally, this pair of powered USB ports is housed within a swivel top that can be turned 90 degrees to provide easy access and prevent larger USB devices from blocking other available ports. This item has been tested with all compatible HP notebook PCs.
Key Features and Specifications
- Connect multiple USB peripherals, like a printer, external storage device, and camera, as well as a cabled LAN for faster data throughput--all via one cable
- Charge and power USB peripherals from the port replicator, with or without the notebook present
- Warranty and support: one-year, limited
- Compatibility: Any notebook with an available USB 2.0 Port
- 5 USB 2.0 ports (plus 1 USB port for connecting to your laptop)
- 1 Ethernet port (10/100 Fast Ethernet speed)
- Headphone and microphone jacks (1 each) on the front
- 1 Kensington lock slot
What's in the BoxPort replicator, USB cable, AD adapter, set-up poster
The HP Essential USB Port Replicator with five USB ports (see pop-up compatibility chart).Integrated 5 powered USB ports Network Connection, and Speaker/Headphone ports connect you to all your external PC devices with a single connection to your notebook.
HP Essentials USB Port Replicator in Retail Packaging
Technical Details
- Connect your laptop and stay connected to peripherals, Internet, and audio through a single cable
- Access printers, keyboards, mice, and external hard drives via the 5 USB 2.0 ports
- Two powered Always-On USB ports can charge phones, MP3 players and more without being connected to PC
- Also includes Ethernet port for networking and headphone/micorphone jacks
- Compatible with any notebook with an available USB 2.0 Port
Costumer Reviews
I bought this port replicator because I have more devices than I have ports on my laptop. I have a an HP dv4-2045dx running Windows 7 64 bit.
Pros: It works well after installing the drivers on the CD. Need to install drivers because Win 7 didn't recognize as plug 'n play. Have had no problem with any of the devices plugged in: keyboard, wireless mouse, fingerprint detector, cooling pad, et al. Can use Skype without a problem.
Cons: connecting iPhone to it does not open iTunes and syncing; cannot hear audio from any source while it is plugged in. If want to see YouTube video, play music on iTunes, play videos or listen to music locally using Windows Media Player must disconnect the port. That means that I lose keyboard, mouse and fingerprint device. Bummer!
To be fair, if I plug in headphones to the port replicator, I can hear the audio...but, I do not want to use headphones all the time. I work from home and I love to play music loudly while I work.
It may be an operating system problem I am experiencing. However, for the price, I had expected that I would be able to have complete use of the laptop functionality with the port replicator plugged in.
I wish I could give this product a good rating, because it's a nice physical design, compared with what's on the market for port replicators. But if a device will not operate as advertised, it cannot receive a good rating.
Let me start with my equipment, in case you have something similar, and it can be of help. I wanted to connect all the devices to the laptop, via this port replicator:
-- HP ProBook 4530s
-- Dell USB keyboard
-- Dell USB optical mouse
-- Logitech Orbit AF camera
-- Brother MFC-7340 multifunction printer
-- Canon Pixma MP-130 printer
What was in my box:
-- HP Essentials USB Port Replicator (PR for short)
-- weighted stand
-- power cord with AC adapter
-- cracked CD with software drivers
-- brief instructions, warranty, etc.
I'm not the only one who has received a cracked software CD with this product. When I was searching online for replacement drivers (no luck), I found someone else who had received a cracked disk, which got me thinking. My disk was more than just "cracked." It looked like something hard and pointed had been dropped on it. You probably know how hard it is to crack a CD. This must be a severe handling issue at the manufacturer.
As I said, I searched online for software drivers for this product, and could not find them. HP DOES NOT HAVE THE DRIVERS ON THEIR SITE, and HP's support/download site is absolutely horrid. Their product search engine could not find this model number or name, and constantly took me to a different product which was clearly not the same. Extremely disappointing, HP.
I opened a case with Amazon about the cracked disk, and the seller promptly sent me an email reply and sent a replacement driver CD via priority mail. The replacement CD worked just fine, but the content on the CD (drivers) did not. This is HP's fault, not the seller's.
After installation, the drivers said they were installed correctly, but the USB 2.0 to LAN driver did not work correctly, nor did my printers or camera. I tried turning off my wireless adapter, but the wired connection could not be established. I restarted the PC, with the PR connected to the laptop, and was able to get the LAN to work...once. But as soon as I connected via the wireless adapter, I could no longer connect to the LAN, even if I disabled the wireless. The only driver this CD contains is for the LAN adapter, and it simply...doesn't...work.
After I got the replacement CD, I found the name of the LAN driver, for those of you wanting to search online: AX88772-HP. The version on the CD is 1.00.0000. That was not a good sign. So I went to the chip manufacturer's site (ASIX) and looked up the driver for the AX88772 chip. I downloaded version 3.14.3.5 for Windows 7 64-bit. I uninstalled the HP driver, and tried this new one without consistent success. It works once in a while.
As I indicated above, Windows 7 will recognize most of the devices connected to the PR without installing new drivers. My mouse, keyboard, and audio came right up, and the Renesas USB 2.0 hub inside the PR was also recognized. Somewhere along the way, I got the Orbit camera working, too.
Printer installation was only partially successful. Here's what you have to do:
-- Uninstall your printer software.
-- Disconnect the PR from the laptop (but connect the printer's USB cable to the PR so it's ready to go).
-- Install the printer software, waiting until the software instructs you to plug in the printer cable and turn on the printer. At this point, plug the USB from the PR into your laptop and turn on the printer.
I was able to get my Brother printer to install this way, but I could not get the Canon printer installed. I guess the Canon cannot connect through a USB hub. It's an older printer.
Here is a key point with the printers: once you choose one of the USB connectors on the PR for your printer, do not change it. I was unable to get the printer to come online after I switched USB ports on the PR, but once I went back to the original port I used during the printer software installation, it worked fine again.
Aside from the LAN, it looks like I am able to disconnect all the peripherals just by pulling the PR's USB out of the laptop, i.e., without turning off any devices or doing any ejecting of devices in software. The peripherals come back after I plug it back in (multiple "USB beeps" each time). And by the way, I'm using a separate DVI-to-HDMI cable for the video. This product does not have a USB to video adapter.
Somewhere, I saw someone ask if this PR could be used with other laptops. I don't see any reason why not. I don't see anything specific to HP other than the name.
Switching gears to talk about the physical design, I'm using the PR in the vertical position. The little stand it comes with has a bayonet mount for the vertical position, but no method of locking the PR to the stand when being used horizontally. That means you're going to be fiddling with the tension on the cords to try to get the PR to stay in the stand if you plan to use it horizontally. (Just figure you're going to use it vertically.) The stand has a little bit of extra weight to it (steel plates on the bottom), so if you lock the PR using the bayonet mount in the vertical position, there should be fewer problems with stability.
Watch the price on this item; it goes up and down, dramatically. After I bought ours, I saw the price increase about 40% the next day. Now I see it's come back down some, but not as far as when I bought ours.
I have not decided yet if I will keep this product. I looked for alternatives, but the physical design of this product is better for my use than what I've seen, and I wanted five USB ports plus LAN and audio. I can probably do without the LAN, since I can connect wirelessly, but it is still annoying that the product does not work as advertised, and is not really supported by HP.
Long-winded review, but maybe it will save some of you some time in the long run.
HP Essentials USB Port Replicator in Retail Packaging
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