Computer Reviews

I purchased this hub along with Griffin's PowerWave; they recommend that you use this hub with the PowerWave and the iMic. I'm told that most hubs are asynchronous (irregular) but the USB-Audio hub is isochronous (at regular intervals) -- a must for USB-audio devices.

The hub works as advertised (but two tips: if you are using a Mac and OS 9.1, you should update to 9.2.2; and if you are using the PowerWave or iMic, you should download the PowerWave Control at ...

BONUS: I have a thumbnail drive made by Lexar; it did not work in my old hub (yes, it was a powered hub). But it does work with this hub -- so I don't have to plug it directly into the computer's usb port.

SIZE: you may not be able to tell, but this thing is smaller than most hubs. The four ports are along the back, but the USB upstream connection and power supply are on the side -- so that gives you a sense of scale. The footprint is much smaller than my old hub.

If anyone had told me I'd be excited enough about a hub to write a review, I'd have said they were crazy.

Often, cheap gadgets are loaded with flimsy, unnecessary features -- AKA 'gimmicks' -- that reduce the usability and degrade the quality of a product. The Hakuba lens pen does not suffer from this problem.

About the size of a writing pen, the lens pen contains three tools: two are important and one, though common in such products, could be considered pointless. The two important tools are the felt-like cleaning tip and the antistatic brush.

The cleaning tip, which is more useful than the brush, excels at removing fingerprints from camera lenses and from the LCDs found on digital cameras. The brush, when used in a sweeping motion, removes dust and other, generally quasinonadherent particles. The brush is retractable.

The pen's unnecessary component is the pocket clip, which, according to its namesake, allows one to clip the pen to their pocket. This is easier said than done, because the clip's tension when attached to a pocket is often insufficient to maintain its hold upon the pocket, resulting in the pen's departure from the pocket.

One might be fussy and say that the Hakuba lens pen contains three additional devices. The cleaning tip has a removable cap. The brush, because it is retractable, has a movable handle, which is recessed into the pen's body. In addition, the cleaning tip cap contains a reservoir, which contains, according to Hakuba, some sort of cleaning fluid. When the cleaning tip is rotated -- either clockwise, counterclockwise, or both -- into the cap, the cleaning fluid adhering to the cleaning tip is replenished. The cleaning fluid's composition is somewhat of a mystery.

The Hakuba lens pen is constructed entirely of synthetic materials. The pen's body is plastic. The cleaning tip and brush are not plastic, but they too are constructed of synthetic materials, but probably not the *same* material, upon closer inspection. However, it might in fact be the same material in a different form. Yet, however, that may mean it could no longer be considered the same material.

It is generally considered that the cleaning fluid in the cleaning tip cap is synthetic in origin.

The body of the Hakuba lens pen is primarily dark gray in color. At the place where the cleaning tip cap separates from the pen body, the color becomes black. The black color extends to the end of the pen, which is the cleaning tip itself. This is stylistically attractive, but may be confusing for some people because when both the end of the pen and the cleaning tip are black, they are not easily distinguishable.

The handle for the retractable brush is a refreshing aqua color. This color may also serve a functional purpose because it aids in distinguishing the handle from the rest of the pen. However, the way in which the handle's aqua color appears when placed next to the gray of the pen body and the black of the brush and cleaning tip may be distracting to some people.

Two areas of the Hakuba lens pen contain text. On the face of the pocket clip, in multiple fonts and an off-white color, is a description of the product. The multiple fonts make reading the name of the product more difficult that reading the name would have been otherwise. Roughly adjacent to the pocket clip, in a single font and the same off-white color, is the Hakuba logo, and, in capital letters, the name 'Hakuba'.

Several other structural peculiarities of the Hakuba lens pen are worth noting. Adjacent to the black plastic which separates the cleaning tip cap from the pen body is an area of gray plastic with a texture slightly rougher than the surrounding plastic, both black, gray, and aqua. Presumably, this added texture is intended to aid in removing the cleaning tip cap from the pen body.

Another useful addition is a large raised surface at the end of the brush's retractable handle. The purpose of the raised surface is to assist in sliding the handle, a feat that would be impossible otherwise. Also, upon the raised surface is an additional, smaller raised surface, which allows the handle to be adjusted with greater ease still. Also, at either end of the recessed area in which the handle is placed is a pair of small indentations, which assist in locking the handle into place.

When the Hakuba lens pen is viewed at an angle encompassing only one end, the primary visible features are the pocket clip and a darkness in which the retracted cleaning brush is contained.

The end of the cleaning tip cap is strange. Instead of ending in a cylinder, the cap suddenly thins to about fifty percent of its original width, ending, finally, in a cylindrical point. Speculation regarding the purpose of this structural peculiarity would likely be fruitless.

In conclusion, the Hakuba lens pen is an excellent product. It is worth purchasing.

A must have accessory if you carry a small camera and like to keep it in a shirt pocket.

(A color choice would have been nice.)