StarTech 3 Port Portable USB 3.0 Hub With Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

StarTech brings back what Ultrabook makers left out.

For those that can afford Ultrabooks they're great, right up till you realise to make a system that thin and powerful, some parts were intentionally left out. Optical disks were annexed a while back, and these days' even USB and LAN ports are being banished in an attempt to be ever thinner and lighter.

The ST3300GU3B by StarTech aims to add back both a selection of USB 3.0 ports and a LAN port back, all packaged in a neat aluminium cased accessory. All this is done with portability in mind, I presume, as the adapter is just 87mm long, 40mm wide and 12mm high (excluding the short integrated USB cable). Alongside this in the packaging are a driver CD, multi-regional power supply, and some basic instructions.

Ashampoo HDD Control 3

Keep your hard drives in good condition with this set of utilities from Ashampoo.

I think it's fair to say that very few computer users give much thought to their hard drives. They just sit there passing data back and forth and last forever... right? No... wrong! They have a life expectancy like everything else, and have a habit of failing at the most inopportune moment. This means that investing in some software that can keep them in tip top condition, while possibly warning you of impending disaster, seems sensible. This latest product from Ashampoo will do all that, and a whole lot more as well.