talkmagic.co.uk

ok, so we've got 2 USB ports on this laptop, and now it seems the 2 on the back have become a touch on the tempromental side! a bit of plastic or something has fallen out i believe, but whatever has happened has left the ports with some for of AI that lets them decide when they want to actually work.
anyway i can replace them?/fix them? without having to take it into PC world or somewhere?

Being a notebook you'll probably find it tricky as the USB's are usualy built 'on-board' with everything else, so if they are to be replaced you'll probably need to replace the main system board, which isnt cheap.

How old is the laptop and what manufacturer is it?

Rob

ACER, it's gotta over a couple of years old now.
i might just find a USB splitter thing and slap it in the remaining good port

yeah thats
d do the job, just make sure its got its own power supply the ones without arnt to reliable from my experience.

Well, as long as you get a good one it would be OK without a power supply - it's the cheapo ones you need to look out for I think.

Still, if that's going to be your only USB port I would get a powered hub - it costs more but a lot of things need power to charge or even just to run!

Kati

Whether you need a USB hub with a power supply depends on the type of peripheral you intend to connect through it. The USB ports will only supply a certain current, and connecting devices with high power requirements through unpowered hubs can mean they don't work (Especially with multiple devices)

eg. a memory stick probably will use minimal power, a USB keyboard with fingerprint scanner, flashing lights etc will use more, and a USB hard disk without it's own power supply will use a large current through the port.

I need a powered hub to download photos from my camera and I couldn't run my Broadband modem through an unpowered one either.

Of course it is possible to buy poor quality hubs of both types. Powered hubs are no guarantee of quality, however maybe likely to be better engineered as they are more expensive items.