Reviews for Adaptec 3-port USB 2.0 and 2-port FireWire Combo Adapter

Adaptec 3-port USB 2.0 and 2-port FireWire Combo...

Strengths: The clear-plastic clamshell packaging is quite strong & looks appealing

Weakness: Just one little thing (read below)

Some time in the last year Adaptec began replacing the PCI card from the old DuoConnect AUA-3020 package with this new cheap junk from an alternative foreign producer (starts with a C)--BAD ADAPTEC. The old card had 5 ports, vertically aligned to the bracket; it also had an NEC chipset on it--which I would expect to be pretty high in the compatibility lottery.

The impostor on the other hand is immediately identifiable by the 6 back ports (that's one more USB jack), and they're jammed together in the perpendicular alignment, so that you can't use the card in systems with a partially obstructed expansion slot opening. AND the physical connection is rougher (i.e. time to file down the jacket on your cable). AND now it uses an Agere PHY, instead of NEC. No offense to the fine folks at Agere, but this card is scarcely different from what you find in white-box knockoffs, or the built-in USB/Firewire on your average Taiwanese motherboard. So basically, why pay the Adaptec premium for a card you can get for $15 at Fry's? As you can tell I was very upset to have done so...

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