hub Archives - usatoday24

I have tested the Logi Dock, the combination of USB-C hub, speaker and microphone for video calls. It’s a sum that makes a lot of sense.

May 18, 2026 by usatoday24

I have been working from home for nine years. It wasn’t long ago that I realized that my laptop, a 2021 MacBook Prois the answer to a question that no one has ever asked me: “what do you want, power or flexibility?”. I answered flexibility, but I didn’t know until it was too late. The MacBook Pro is always on the table, but sometimes it also travels or I take it to the cafeteria when my head demands a different environment. It is a desktop computer that from time to time has to go outside. Logitech, who knows a lot about peripherals and how we work, has understood this very well. The Logi Dock is not just a hub of ports to compensate for the fact that recent laptops are not as generous in ports. It is a value proposition that goes beyond: it is an operations center that stays on the desktop while the laptop comes and goes. One USB-C cable to connect everything when you arrive, one to disconnect everything when you leave. That, in practice, has a higher value than what appears on a specification paper. Behind the dock there…: HDMI 2.0 (4K, 60Hz, HDR). DisplayPort 1.4 (4K, 60Hz, HDR). 2 USB-A (USB 3.1 at 5 Gbps). 2 USB-C (USB 3.1 at 5 Gbps) 1 extra USB-C on the side with 7.5W fast charging. and USB-C upstream dedicated to 100W for the laptop. All in a single connection strip that you never touch again. What it does not have is Thunderbolt, Ethernet or card reader. View of the ports of the Logi Dock. A side USB-C is missing, designed primarily for charging the mobile phone. Image: Xataka. There’s that USB-C on the side. Image: Xataka. Immediately the most important question about this product appears, which deserves a completely honest answer. A hub USB-C generic costs between 30 and 80 euros. This dock right now it costs from 276 euros on Amazon. What justifies paying five or ten times more for the Logi Dock than for a simple hub USB-C? That’s the gist. The short answer is that it depends on whether you need what’s extra, not whether you appreciate what’s equal. Ports are ports. What sets the Logi Dock apart from any other hub random are two things: the speakers and the microphone. And that changes the equation… for a specific user profile. In my case, I have had it connected to the MacBook Pro M1 Pro and the Huawei MateView 28 inches. Keyboard, mouse, Scarlett 2i2 interface with the Rode PodMic for the podcastand charging the laptop at 100W. A cable from the Mac to dock. Everything resolved. I start with what does not have a hub anyone and it does have the Logi Dock: the speakers. My Huawei monitor has a built-in speaker that does the bare minimum. And those on the MacBook, which stays closed to one side, are “trapped.” With a hub Generic would have solved the connectivity, but not the audio: the Logi Dock provides good speakers and a microphone designed to not sound boring during video calls. The buttons are designed to be used as quick access during video calls, and also to join them directly with Logi Tune. Image: Xataka. Image: Xataka. The Logi Dock’s 55mm drivers with their side-mounted passive radiators produce full-bodied sound, some bass, and enough clarity to listen to music while working. It is not an audio monitor. But it doesn’t pretend to be either. In the video calls in which I have used them, giving up the headphones, the microphone beamforming six capsules works well. My interlocutors do not complain and background noise is reasonably attenuated. The real argument for the Logi Dock is not that it is the best at anything, but that He’s good enough at everything at once. The texture of the fabric mesh, in macro photo. Image: Xataka. Three months of use have also shown me where it is weak. No Thunderbolt, no Ethernet, no card reader… The touch buttons on the top panel work fine, but calendar integration via Logi Tune is the most dispensable part: with the Mac you already have your notifications, and join a meeting with a tap on the dock It is a shortcut that in practice you almost never use. It sounds like a function forced in to reinforce its proposal and better justify its existence. In my opinion that value is not there. What you do use, every day, is the most difficult to quantify: the absence of friction. He dock It’s been plugged in for months and has never given me a single problem. does not ask drivers to reinstall or annoying updates, the ports work well and there is no audio that is lost when waking the Mac from sleep. Is it worth paying five times more than a hub generic? If your desktop already has good speakers and a microphone, or if you simply prefer using headphones, probably not. Buy the hub cheap and you will save. But if in your case the Logi Dock becomes the only real speaker on the desk, the microphone in meetings and the only cable that connects and disconnects the laptop every day, then the comparison is no longer with a hub of 60 euros. It is with “a hub “more speakers, more microphone, plus the convenience of everything coexisting without conflict in a single block.” And that last comparison is won by the Logi. Featured image | Xataka In Xataka | The Nike Mind 001 are the strangest shoes I have ever tried. And that is precisely why they are being sold This device has been provided for testing by Logitech. You can consult how we do reviews in Xataka and our relations policy with companies.

If your hard drives disconnect on their own, an underpowered USB Hub may be to blame. With these you won’t have that problem

April 12, 2026 by usatoday24

If you usually use a hub to connect hard drives, mice, keyboards and other accessories or peripherals, perhaps at some point it has happened to you that they disconnect randomly. That’s especially worrying with hard drives, because you can lose data. Today we are going to tell you why the problem is not the hard drive, but surely the hub USB you have. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links How does a hub Hub without external power. The hubSpeaking of models that do not require external power, they are accessories that generally have fairly low prices, although it depends a lot on the brand. They act like port multipliersince connecting them to a single port on the computer (generally USB-A or USB-C) allows us to connect two or more devices to the hub. They are usually quite cheap, small and there is a wide variety to choose from, with different formats (elongated, square and even round). To use them you only have to connect them to a USB port on your computer, without the need to also connect them to a power outlet. AND here is its main limitation. The energy required to use it comes directly from the computer, so the power will be limited to what the port offers. Furthermore, the maximum power is always divided by the hub (so that it can work) and the number of devices that we connect. To give you an idea, a standard USB 3.0 gives 900 mA. A mechanical hard drive can require almost all of that to boot. If you add a keyboard with lights, the system collapses. How does a hub with external power Hub with external power. The hub with external power they are less frequent, more expensive and often larger. Here we can identify the hub assets, which are usually cheaper, and Docking Stationwhich are larger and come with more ports, including some video ones. With this type of hub We are not so limited to the power that the computer’s USB port can offer. In practice, this means that in many cases the power does not have to be divided when connecting two or more devices, although there are exceptions: some USB ports of the hub Active devices require so much energy that they prioritize these ports, something that we can see in those USB-C (Power Delivery) that are aimed at charging devices such as mobile phones compatible with fast charging. It is worth mentioning that the hubs assets come with a USB-C PD (Power Delivery) port. They don’t come with a transformer, but if you connect the laptop charger to them, they become “powered.” And… what are they for? Both the hub assets like Docking Station They are ideal if you are looking to connect devices that require high power, such as mobile phones, monitors or hard drives and SSD drives. By way of differentiation: It’s a hub passive if: It just has a short cable coming out of it and nothing else. It’s a hub active if: It has an extra port that says “DC 5V” or “USB-C Power Delivery (PD).” It is a Docking Station if: It is large, heavy, has its own power brick (like that of a laptop) and has video connectors such as DisplayPort or several HDMIs. The good and the bad of both options, face to face Hub without external power hub with external power THE GOOD 🟢 They are cheaper, more compact and lighter. They offer better stability when connecting many devices and usually have a greater number and variety of ports. THE BAD 🔴 The power is limited to what the computer’s USB port offers, so you may experience power outages in certain cases. They are more expensive and tend to be larger and heavier. Ideal for: Keyboards, mice, microphones or flash drives (pendrive). Mobile phones with fast charging, hard drives and SSD drives and monitors. We do the math to see which one can compensate you more. Both options have their positive and negative points, so the choice lies in how we are going to use them. If it is still not completely clear to you, let’s see it with an example. If you want to use a hub sporadically because you are not going to connect many devices at the same time, it may be worth it to buy a hub without external power. Actual use: Let’s say you want to connect two low-power devices. The accounts: You save between 70 and 80 (or more) euros between the cost of a hub without external power and another with external power. Also, if you chose this second option, you would not be squeezing it, since you are going to connect low-power devices. So? If you want to connect a mouse and keyboard (because they are wired or because you want to recharge them) and you still have a free USB port on your computer to connect a hard drive, this type of hub It can serve you very well. However, if what you want is to connect several devices, low or high power, and you do not have any more free USB ports on the computer or they are in an area that is not easily accessible to use them, it will be more useful for you to go for a hub with external power. Actual use: Let’s say you want to connect many devices to the hubsome need more and others less power. The accounts: You pay more for this type of hubbut it allows you to connect practically any device. So? You can have a greater number of connected devices (depending on the hub), and it will give you “the same” what to connect, whether it is a keyboard or a hard drive because it will offer a stable connection. Also, as a utility, if you have the computer under the desk or in some area that is difficult to access, you will not have to bend down to … Read more

This is how Andalusia is becoming a strategic mining hub

March 17, 2025 by usatoday24

If you wonder how your mobile is done and what elements are used for it, I can tell you that they use a common mineral with the computer screen, solar panels and even magnets. This element is making the province of Granada a strategic hub of Strontium. Short. Granada is charging a very large prominence in the mining sector of essential minerals for Europe. As The Granada medium has advanced Idealin the province, Celestina deposits (strontium sulfate) and fluorite have been found. In fact, the Andalusian province has covered 35% of the world production of strontium. The extraction. Both necessary elements in the world of technology, chemistry and renewable energies are found in different mines. On the one hand, Celestina is obtained through two active mines: the listen mine, operated by the German multinational Kandelium mineralsand the Montevive mine, at the intersection of the Gabias, Alhendín and La Malahá, exploited by CANTERAS INDUSTRIALES SL. On the other hand, the fluorite is extracted in the Alpujarra Granada, in the Minera de Órgiva SL. Without impact. The approach to perform the extractions are being made of a sustainable mining approach, especially in the Montevive mine. In this type of deposits the dumps are used and no blasting is used. In addition, the Government of Spain has announced Plans to finance the search for strategic minerals with 400 million euros of the recovery, transformation and resilience plan, also supporting sustainable mining. More in depth. Sustainable mining It consists of balance the protection of the environment and the well -being of local communities. In Spain, projects such as Granada and other regions are adopting the use of the aforementioned dumps, that is, the reuse of excess material in mining extraction. Also, the reduction of explosive use and Implementation of technologies that minimize the environmental impact. The only one in Spain? And the only one in Europe that Celestina obtains. However, Andalusia concentrates about 90% of national metal mining production, highlighting the extraction of metals such as copper, zinc and lead. However, this is not like that, because in the rest of Spain other important minerals such as rare lands are also extracted, we have already seen the different cases of Ciudad Real either Estremaduraalthough there are many more. Also, Rubidio and Lithium In the province of Salamanca. Or the case of the Spanish potassa, which He has resurfaced Spanish mining. Finally, although still paralyzed, Underwater mining of the Canary Islands. Together, Spain is a country with a great mining capacity in this new technological era. Forecasts. Granada has aspirations to become a strategic point for Europe. The revaluation of resources in a context of global energy transition and Geopolitical conflicts They make the Andalusian province thanks to copper, strontium and fluorite. Image | Pexels Xataka | Spain, with a treasure under his feet: how his mining potential makes him a key pawn from the EU in front of China

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