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So everyone's talking USB this, and USB that.
Well, if you're like my brother-in-law, you're still
chugging along with a 486, and can't hop on the
bandwagon just yet. Or how about that P233 in the
corner? It's USB-ready, and though the motherboard
has the hardware, it doesn't have any ports. Either
way, Belkin Components has got you covered.
The Belkin USB BusPort is a PCI add-on card with
dual ports that is capable of 12Mbps. It's a good
idea if you don't have existing USB ports, or, if you
already have USB ports and have PCI slots just
hanging around, you can add more ports to your
system with this card. Installation was no more
troublesome than dropping in the PCI card. Win98
automatically detected the card and installed drivers
via the Win98 disk. The BusPort also has a lifetime
warranty and is compatible with any PC with PCI
slots.
And if you have a motherboard that's
USB-ready--which means that it has two sets of
four or five-pin connections on the board, but is not
connected to a square-shaped port to plug in USB
devices--then you'll want the Belkin USB Pro
Series Motherboard Cable. Two ports are
mounted on a bracket, which slides into a slot in
your case with the two wires going into the sets of
five-pin connections. Installing the Pro Series Cable
requires a bit more work than the PCI card. You
should have the motherboard manual handy to
make sure you know what you're doing, because
Belkin warns that incorrect insertion of the wires
may damage your system. The included
instructions show several diagrams of what the pins
on your board might look like, and you're supposed
to match up the correct one and plug it in. Once
that was done and after a reboot, Win98 detected
the connections and loaded the drivers.
We tested several USB products, from joysticks to
USB network-connection kits and every one of them
passed with flying colors. For those who've been
using a parallel- or serial-port cable connection for
your gaming, pick up a product like Anchor Chips'
EZ Link, which utilizes the USB ports on a PC, and
watch your games fly. Note: With both products
you should ensure that the USB function is
"enabled" in your system BIOS. And if you're
considering the Pro Series Cable, definitely follow
the directions in the instructions sheet or you could
find yourself with more problems than you bargained
for.
So now that you're hooked-up, put that
gameport-joystick away and start USB-ing.-- Danny Lam / GamePro
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