StarTech 7 Port PCI Express Low Profile High Speed USB 2.0 Adapter Card Model PEXUSB7LP

Pros: 6 Ports in a low-profile slot; both Low-Profile and Full-Height slot adapters included

Cons: Very hit & miss. We've bought A LOT of these cards - probably 250 of them in the past 2 years. Out of the box, the failure rate is at least 20%. The failures are typically stability-related, where devices will disconnect then reconnect by themselves. Sometimes when one device disconnects, it takes 2 other devices with it. Upon close inspection, the cards fresh out of the package are very dirty, and in some cases the PCIe header is oxidized. The soldering on the board is very mediocre. Unfortunately, when we've had problems, cleaning the cards didn't fix the stability issues, and we still aren't sure what's failing that makes these cards unstable. Some of the cards work fine out of the box and never hiccup.

StarTech claims to have a "lifetime warranty" per page 5 of their owner's manual. If, however, you attempt to get service from them for your defective cards with intermittent failures, they'll tell you "it is highly unlikely that you would have such a high failure rate and you would need to test each card in a known good machine and confirm the failures...and if you were to return the cards to StarTech and we found no failures, we would send them back as good without replacement."

Since the problems are stability-related and only occur intermittently, I'm sure they would "pass" whatever lame test(s) they use (if they actually test them at all).

So in other words, they have no plans on honoring that warranty for stability-related problems.

Remember that when making this purchase and clean this card's PCIe interface with 99% Isopropyl before inserting it into your computer.

Other Thoughts: The top three USB ports and the internal 4-pin USB header on this card are connected to a FEI USB 2.0 HUB Chip (U8) that connects to the VIA VT6212L USB chip. The bottom three external-facing USB connectors go directly to the VIA chip and are not hubbed. If you get a problematic card, you may find that the 3 ports on the bottom work better (or worse) than the three ports on the top (which are hubbed together).

Also note that the card uses a 4-pin mini Molex (Floppy Disk Drive-style) header for power, and some newer PC's may not even have that kind of plug. You may need an adapter.

Pros: none

Cons: new build, z77 motherboard, windows 7 pro 64 bit. The machine will not boot with this card installed. Take the card out and everything runs great.

Pros: none

Cons: new computer build with z77 motherboard, windows 7 64 bit. The computer would not boot with this card installed. Remove the card and everything runs great.

Pros: To "Kaerukun" Nowhere on newegg does this say its Mac compatible, did you think that may be why it didn't work for you. Macs are VERY particular about what USB cards work in them and even then most aftermarket cards require a driver package.

That said this card works great in a PC if you need a low profile card with lots of ports.

Cons: Way too much $$ for a USB card, low profile gear always seems to fetch a premium price usually for no good reason, 9 times out of 10 all they have to do is include a smaller bracket.

Pros: 7 ports

Cons: Non-functioning port

Other Thoughts: I installed this card in new Mac Pro, and connected an external USB fax-modem to it, but the Mac Pro could not see it. I connected the same USB fax-modem to a Sonnet Allegro, and it was recognized immediately. I saw saw no value in checking the other 6 ports, and removed the card. This may be a single defective unit or indicative of something more.