IOGEAR GIC250U 5-Port USB 2.0 PCI Card (USB 2.0) Reviews

• Worth the money. Solved my problem and makes life easier.

  
  By A3GMCD34BOXSXY on 2002-09-17
  I got the card to add off board USB support to my Dell computer. It had difficulty handling a 4 port USB hub attached to the computer supplied USB ports. The card went in with no problem. The instructions worked as provided for Windows XP Home Edition.

  Once installed, the goal was to move a 4 port USB 1.1 hub off the main ports and attach a CD-RW that could take advantage of the USB 2.0 speed. All of this was done simply and effectively. I'd get use product again in an instant.
  
  

• USB 2.0 Its worth paying a little extra

  
  By on 2002-07-25
  There are cheaper IOGEAR cards out there, but it is worth paying more for more ports. The two port cards get kind of crowded when you try to plug in a USB yoke, and foot pedals (for flight simulators) the joystick and the mouse. Decisions, decisions. The small amount extra to go from 2 ports to 4 or 5 is well worth it, and I can justify the upgrade, because I want to be able to do faster scanning. If you have no free PCI slots, and have to choose between USB and Firewire upgrade but do have a free drive bay, consider a joint tray card with both firewire and usb slots.
  
  

• The fine print for XP Users

  
  By A3U68HUN3QZRB6 on 2003-06-20
  I bought this card because the PC I assembled was quickly running out of USB Ports for my peripherals. The other reason was I wanted a USB 2.0 card, which was claimed to be much faster than USB 1.1. When I checked comatibility, I saw that it was compatible with Windows XP, so I bought it. Only when I installed it, did I come to know that I needed to upgrade to XP Service Pack 1 in order for XP to be compatible with this card. This was an upgrade that I did not want, but was forced to do becuase of compatibility issues. So unless you plan to upgrade or if your system came pre-installed with XP SP1, you may want to think again. BTW, this is not IOGear's fault, but Windows XP (Home and Professional) is not compatible with USB 2.0 unless you upgrade to Windows XP Service Pack 1.
  
  

• Very nice PCI card!

  
  By A29J88METMJRJU on 2002-08-22
  I bought this PCI card because I was getting a external hard drive that used USB 2.0. The installation instructions were very good and when I turned my computer on and inserted the driver cd everything installed without having to do a thing. I would recommend this product to anyone that is upgrading there USB.
  
  

• Did not work in my computer

  
  By A3O1QZQ36HL7ZP on 2002-10-09
  I run an amd k-6 500mhz with win98se and I could not get the card to install at all. It caused my system to lock up and even restarted itself during installation (that wasn't supposed to happen). I called iogear's tech support and was told it was a bad card. So, I sent it back and got another (Amazon.com's customer service was great!) and the second card did the same thing. I guess it was my computer, but I put my old usb card back in (2 port 1.1) and now I run a 4 port hub off that and it works ok. Maybe my system is just too old to run a 2.0 card so I'll just have to wait till I upgrade.
  
  
• Easy To Install and Use
  By on 2003-09-04
  I Checked the Dell site and printed out Safety and Installation instructions (after checking the card's compatibility with my computer and XP system)
  
  The IOGEAR PCI card installed easily and was recognized right away. Noticed a definite increase in speed with the new USB 2 port. I'm ordering another one for my other PC.
  
  
• iomega usb 2.0 bad experience
  By A1V1J7FRLYBNOF on 2003-07-28
  when installed on a dell gx 240 running windows 2000 professional, my iogear usb 2.0 card did not function properly. it did not support my sandisk sd card reader or iomega 52x disk burner (both usb 2.0 compatible) but did work with my dell axim. when i called iogear's support desk they ended up telling me that these usb 2.0 items would just not work with the iogear card. then i reimaged my machine with xp professional, and all the usb 2.0 peripherals began to work, if only for a few days. finally, the iogear 2.0 card gave out altogether and died.
  
  
• Works great with XP Pro
  By A181WZ2IC9JQNC on 2002-11-10
  I use this card in several desktops and it works just fine.

  I got them mainly for backups and also bought the Maxtor 120GB 3000le USB2 external hard drive.

  USB 2.0 is pretty impressive.
  
  

• Warning to older Mac users!!!
  By A2OOT0T81PNDGM on 2003-08-05
  Don't take the fact that it works with Mac OS 8.6 to mean that it will work with all Macs! After installing it in my PPC8500 with Mac OS 9.1 I found that although it was registering as installed it wouldn't function as a USB device. After calling tech support I learned that only Beige or Blue and White G3 and newer machines ran this card! This is not mentioned anywhere on the box!!! It only mentions that USB 2.0 works with OS X only. I'm never purchasing from Iogear again!
  
  
• More older Mac compatibility problems
  By A2UZJX6VDN4U9P on 2003-09-12
  Just like Joe, I read the box and thought this card would work with my Mac G3 All-In-One because the only requirement was OS X. It did work fine, with my printer and keyboard.

  Then I tried to use an external USB2 hard drive, and it was really slow (USB 1 speeds). Then IOGear told me my hardware isn't supported.

  I even have a G3! But they don't support Beige, only Blue & White. (All-in-one is like Beige.)

  Read carefully!

  ... we're supposed to check the website before buying any of their products? Well, no big deal, I probably won't buy any more of their products.

  ...
  
  

• USB all the way
  By A2YAZOMQ8386VW on 2002-09-01
  I installed the card in a matter of minutes and it was up and running. This makes everything easier since I recently bought a new printer, scanner, card reader and finally found a USBa/m--USBa/m cable to hook up my digital camera to USB. My webcam is also USB so I've got plenty of ports.
  
  
• A snap with XP Pro SP1
  By AJR4ZCSZA6PFJ on 2003-03-08
  Didn't have to do a think except seat it in place and turn it on. XP Pro SP1 recognized it on reboot and had everything installed without me lifting a finger. I'm using it right now with a scanner and printer hooked up and it works great.
  
  
• Buggy with OS 10.4.2
  By A3QT49A5TGSC6U on 2005-10-03
  Bought this card for my Dual 1ghz G4 Mac. The card caused all kinds of USB voodoo and problems when the Mac was put to sleep. When it worked, I was only able to get USB 1.1 speeds thru the hub on my Cinema Display. I'm going to do more research and find a USB 2.0 card that works with my Mac and put this one in my PC. Looks like the card has getten positive reviews from PC users.
  
  
• Unusual Problem
  By A5YGYV8D2FHC2 on 2003-01-29
  I purchased the Iogear GIC250U and installed it with no difficulty. However, when I shut down my PC, about 90% of the time, there is a heavy pulse that activates my Microsoft Force Feedback 2 joystick and some of these pulses badly jar the joystick. I contacted Iogear and they sent me a new driver for Windows ME. However, I still have the problem and Iogear has told me to return the card because they said that there may be an incompatability problem. The problem only happens on the Iogear card and not with the USB ports in my PC. I will try a different brand of USB card. You may want to see my review under the Adaptec AUA-5100 USB 2.0 6 port card in a few days or so.
  
  
• Works, but does it really
  By on 2003-06-12
  I got this card, installed on Dell Optiplex GX1p with XP-Pro. Did not recognize the card. So, installed the latest driver from the IOGear web site. Everything looked till I tried using a USB 2.0 external hard drive. Windows XP notifies me the USB connection is not USB 2.0. When I tried putting the computer in the hibernate mode, USB 2.0 controller prevented from doing so. Only thing I could do was to totally shut it down. For those of you who are all very happy, check it is USB 2.0 or USB 1.0.
  
  

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