Don't buy a Transcend RDP7 USB card reader + USB hub if you're on Windows 7. They aren't compatible.

Transcend has a very interesting product, named RDP7. It supports almost all kinds of cards, and, in the same time, it's also a USB hub. As it's written on the official website, external hard drives shouldn't be plugged in the USB hub (probably because the hub does not get any external power so it isn't able to handle external hard drives), and this should be the main disadvantage on this product.

The extremely short cable might also be a problem, because if you don't have the computer on the desk, you won't be able to use the hub very easy.

You can also consider connecting this product into another (externally powered) USB hub, which should allow you to use the RDP7 in a comfortable way. That's what I did, on my Windows 7 based computer, and....surprise, try to shut down the computer, if you can.

When connected through the other USB hub, my computer gives, in most cases, blue screen during shut down and it restarts by itself. When connected directly to computer, it doesn't give blue screen, but, however, Windows fails to shut down and restarts by itself. The problem isn't, most probably, caused by the product, but by the excellent poor drivers included in Windows 7. I came to this conclusion after seeing that Windows XP shuts down just fine, on the same computer, with the RDP7 connected.

So, if you consider buying this product, or a similar one, make sure you check if it's compatible with your OS (don't read only on official website, there was written that the RDP7 is compatible with Windows 7), and, in any case, ask at the store if it's possible to return the product within a few days (this will help you in case you're not satisfied with your product).

Impressive. Ubuntu 10.04 supports most mobile broadband USB sticks out-of-the-box.

Ubuntu shows again how an excellent operating system behave in normal activities. I have a HSUPA mobile broadband modem from a carrier from Romania (I don't mention its name), and I wanted to connect it to my Ubuntu-based computer, just to see if it works and if there are any additional steps that need to be done in order to get it working.

So I connected it, and after about 10 seconds (after the modem has been initialized), I was really surprised to see that Ubuntu supports out-of-the-box this kind broadband modems. As Ubuntu documentation says (here), the operating system supports most 3G sticks and even phones with HSPA/UMTS/GPRS data connections. I was asked to answer a few things only (country and data plan, where I selected "default") after I connected it for the first time.

I mention that I use Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 2, with Network Manger 0.8 and the USB stick is a Huawei MF110.