Laptops with powered USB

Steoob

just found out today that the laptop im buying (inspiron 6400) doesn't have powered usb so for all i know the things im buying for it wont even work... i knew that an external portable harddrive wouldn't work, but now it wont even work with a y connector

according to dell none of the inspirons have powered usb ports, are there any laptop that have powered ones?

also what works and doesn't work on non powered usb ports???

MarkR

I have a 6400 and haven't had any problems with usb devices. I've used mp3 players, cameras, usb powered hard drives, powered usb hard drives, phones. Pretty much everything!

You could always get a powered usb hub but I doubt you'd need one. What were you trying to connect?

Steoob

well i know for a fact that a western digital passport external harddrive wouldn't work because they need 650 mA to power them and 6400's appear to have 0mA... have you tried dongles for wireless devices? do they work ok?

overall hows the laptop by the way coz im getting it next week and wouldn't want to make a bad choice

MarkR

Haven't had any problems with it, and have tried usb dongles with no bother. I would be pretty surprised if a hard drive wouldn't work. I use one of thse

Has a double usb connector so you plug into two usb ports to get the required power.

Steoob

jesus theyre a bit pricey for 40/80 GB aren't they?! i was looking to buy a 250GB passport but i doubt it would work without powered usb

MarkR

I only used the pic as an example, I got the case off ebay and I had a spare notebook hard drive.

MarkR

I see someone moaning on komplett's site about this. It needs a double usb cable like on mine which can be purchased as an optional extra. What a load of monkey spank! If it doesn't have to be that specific one look elsewhere and make sure it has a double cable.

Steoob

ya that guy was a real moaner alright but still tho if it didn't work he has a right to be pissed off they dont say anything about the double cable in the documents you have to look for it yourself...

anyway so if i buy a 2.5" enclosure and some 2.5" drive (ive heard of issues with drive height with bigger capacity drives) will i be able to power that through the usb on a 6400?

MarkR

That's what i'm doing right now.

Ghost Train

I've a usb powered harddrive rating is 5v, 1500mA(just checked the rating, eek that seems very high)
Anyway works fine with the Inspiron 6400

Steoob

eolhc wrote:

I've a usb powered harddrive rating is 5v, 1500mA(just checked the rating, eek that seems very high)
Anyway works fine with the Inspiron 6400

iiiinteresting

Ghost Train

just to give more info, the drive is a 2.5" with media player function

The rating of 1500mA might be for when the drive is in playing media

The drive came with a dual usb lead, so it can get more power from the usb port

with the inspiron 6400 it works with a standard single usb lead, but with my more light weight 2003 sony vaio it needs to use the dual cable plugged into two usb ports

Tom Dunne

Steoob wrote:

have you tried dongles for wireless devices? do they work ok?

I have set up at least Dell laptops with external wireless dongles without problems.

Tony H

i have a 80G 2.5 SATA in a http://elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=MMEV690007&productID=S2697803

running no problem on a 6400 , the enclosure also has the option of adding external power if needed