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    Wireless USB Necessary?

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Stunner, Feb 22, 2008.

  1. Stunner

    Stunner Notebook Deity

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    Ey guys, my brother is about to buy his very first notebook tomorrow (a 1530 Dell XPS) and has everything planned out spec-wise so far, except for one thing he is not sure on. He is wondering what exactly wireless USB is and will it become much more popular in the next 4 years? Is it worth getting for about $100(bundled with something else)? As of now he has no wireless USB devices and doesn't really know what it does or is.

    Any help before tomorrow evening time PST would be greatly appreciated! :D
     
    Stunner, Feb 22, 2008
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  2. crash

    crash NBR Assassin

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    I don't think it's worth the extra cost. For me, I have 2 things always plugged in to my USB ports: an external hard drive and my wireless receiver for my mouse. I occasionally plug in a USB stick or two. So, I only have 1 additional wire sticking out of my laptop, which doesn't bother me.

    I suppose if you wanted to avoid extra wires and had a lot of USB devices, a wireless USB device may be nice. However, I think you'll get lower speeds by using wireless USB than wired USB.
     
    crash, Feb 22, 2008
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  3. L.Rawlins

    L.Rawlins Notebook Evangelist

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    I think it worthwhile. But then the notebook I'm looking at (M1330) has fewer actual ports than the M1530.

    It simply means I do not need to waste one of those precious real ports for an external hub, and if W-USB were to be intergrated into such hardware as cameras, mobiles and external HDD's in the not too distant future, then your brothers machine would subsequently be able to dial straight into them with no cabling required at transfer speeds much faster than current Bluetooth technology.

    At present it is definitely more novelty than necessity, but it does show potential I feel.
     
    L.Rawlins, Feb 22, 2008
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  4. dave56

    dave56 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I got it and it was a waste of money. You don't need Wireless USB devices to use it. It works with regular USB devices. But not all of them. Speeds cap out at about 4MB a second (32Mbit p/s vs USB 2.0's 480Mbit p/s).

    Basically it's good for storage devices and printers. But it's better to get a Network Attached Storage and a print server and put them directly on your network. Not only is it cheaper not to use WUSB, but you'd be able to use them with any computer on the network rather than just the one computer the WUSB hub is paired with. If you have an wireless-N network, it's also faster not to use WUSB.

    It does not work with webcams, tv tuners, audio devices, etc. Also, with a Network Attached Storage device, you won't get file system corruption if you lose your signal.
     
    dave56, Feb 22, 2008
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