PCWorld makes a mistake

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 3:16 pm

I don't know why I subscribe to PCWorld (Oh wait, those 238957295687234 supposed "miles" that I gained are paying for it.). They choose the WEIRDEST products for ranking, and compare the products even when they are not at equal performance/quality/category levels. And what's more is this:

In the October 2004 issue, look on page 84, on the lower right. Does that case look familiar to you? No? Try turning it upside down. That's right. THAT'S A PICTURE OF AN UPSIDE DOWN BQE. I don't care about the whole USB powered/not powered part (well actually I do, anyone know?

), but to make a photo mistake, geez.

Ergh, maybe I'm just making a big deal over nothing. ~.~

DryFire · Post by **DryFire** » Thu Sep 16, 2004 4:59 pm

I used to get PC World for the miles too. I never learned anything from it.

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:06 pm

What's an unpowered USB?

I couldn't decipher exacly what you were critisizing? The upside down picture? or the lack of vision that completely misses the fact that that case is among the very few that puts the front panel somewhere OTHER than the direct air intake path?

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:10 pm

Just the fact that the case is pictured upside down.

Unpowered USB means that no power is provided to the USB port. Some USB devices need a lot of power to operate, i.e., USB hard drives. Instead of using an external power plug, they can draw power from the USB. My SmartDisk FireLite, for example, draws its power from the USB port. However, older, unpowered models cannot power it because they dont have USB-powered ports.

mai9 · Post by **mai9** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:12 pm

so black cases provide unpowered USB

ok, the real question, how do we know what usb ports are powered?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:14 pm

Aren't all USB ports powered by some basic level of voltage? That's where the device get's it's juice from. I've built about 50 gazillion computers and do not remember ever seeing any of the mobo's touting "powered" USB ports.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:15 pm

I didn't say black cases have unpowered USB ports. I just said that they were pointing out on an upside-down mounted BQE that the ports are unpowered. I cannot confirm this, though, since those same ports managed to power up my USB hard drive.

How to find out if it's powered or not? I would guess stick a high powered USB device that draws power from the USB port and if it works it is.

EDIT: Yes, they ALL provide some level of power. However, some USB devices that get their power from the USB port have higher power requirements than those of non-USB-powered devices. Back to the FireLite, for example - on my Shuttle XPC that my parents use, it wont go on without me using the external power adapter. On my BQE, however, it doesn't need that.

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:46 pm

USB ports are required to provide up to 500mA at 5V, but of course not all devices require that much juice. That's why you can have unpowered hubs working with devices that supply their own power (or draw little, such as flash drives).

I never realized that an upside down USB port is supposed to mean that it doesn't provide the full 500mA. Can anyone confirm this?

I don't think PC World made a mistake with the photo - they probably just need a photo of USB ports upside down, and the easiest way of doing this is just to rotate the photo 180 degrees.

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:51 pm

I never realized that an upside down USB port is supposed to mean that it doesn't provide the full 500mA. Can anyone confirm this?

That is not what I'm complaining about, and that statement isn't true at all. What i'm complaining about, is that the picture of the BQE is upside down in the page. That's all, it has nothing to do with the USB ports being powered or not. ~.~

Straker · Post by **Straker** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 10:44 pm

neat coincidence, acaurora hit 666 posts the same time lenny hit 888

sorry, couldn't leave thread without mentioning that

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 7:36 am

*grows demonic horns and a tail and a satanic trident spawns in his hand*

wtf is this? *Stares at the trident*

mai9 · Post by **mai9** » Sat Sep 18, 2004 9:26 pm

acaurora wrote:
mai9 wrote:so black cases provide unpowered USB
I didn't say black cases have unpowered USB ports. I just said that they were pointing out on an upside-down mounted BQE that the ports are unpowered. I cannot confirm this, though, since those same ports managed to power up my USB hard drive.

acaurora wrote:
I never realized that an upside down USB port is supposed to mean that it doesn't provide the full 500mA. Can anyone confirm this?
That is not what I'm complaining about, and that statement isn't true at all. What i'm complaining about, is that the picture of the BQE is upside down in the page. That's all, it has nothing to do with the USB ports being powered or not. ~.~

very funny, very funny

davidstone28 · Post by **davidstone28** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:57 am

Those people at PC World really are complete muppets......

Interitus · Post by **Interitus** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 9:26 pm

umm it's only hubs that are powered and unpowered...all usb ports are powered. it's up to the device's power needs whether it's supplied by the bus or externally

I get the same feeling reading that mag as I do when I read PC Magazine's reviews of hardware....a whole lot of type and a whole lot of brain cells dead afterwards

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Fri Sep 24, 2004 10:21 pm

PCMag is somewhat more informative than PCWorld. Both categorize products in their "Top 10" sections totally wrong. They dont even test the Dell Dimension 8400s/Inspiron 600ms in their high class desktop/laptop sections. -.-;;

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Sat Sep 25, 2004 10:36 pm

davidstone28 wrote:Those people at PC World really are complete muppets......

Please don't insult the muppets