The world of gaming peripherals is filled with specialized devices and niche products, but even among the diverse, the Roccat Apuri is unusual. It's a USB hub! It's a cord bungee! It's both! At this point, a few readers are probably scratching their heads. But don't discount a product just because it looks different or has a funny name?it's a surprisingly useful device, both for gamers and neat-freaks.
Mouse Cord Bungee
What is a cord bungee? I'm glad you asked. A mouse cord bungee is a cable management device, with a small arm to hold the cable from your wired mouse up and out of the way. This helps prevent the tangle that results when a mouse with a four-foot cable is used 10 inches from the USB port it's connected to. It also has the benefit of reducing any drag or friction from the cable, letting you move unhindered. Perhaps most importantly, it helps tame the snarl of cables that accumulate around any gaming rig, not only by getting your mouse cable out of the way, but because the design and extra hub functionality also help reduce clutter.
It's not necessarily a device that everyone will need, but after a week of testing?both at work and at play?it became obvious that even outside of gaming, a bungee can be useful to anyone who does a lot of work with a wired mouse.
Like other bungees, the Apuri does have a springy cord boom coming up over the top of its three-legged base. Unlike other spring-loaded models, however, this design uses black rubber for both the boom arm and the cord channel, giving you a secure spot for your cord and accommodating irregular cable thickness and sheathing.
USB Hub
While most cord bungee devices are little more than a spring-loaded arm with cable clips, Roccat has added real functionality by outfitting the base of the Apuri with a 4-port USB hub, similar in function to the Satechi Ultra Portable 4 Port USB Pocket Hub. The $39.99 price tag is similar to that of the Targus Ultralife USB Hub, but the Targus hub includes an Ethernet port. Plain USB 2.0 ports are often much cheaper, like the aforementioned Satechi Pocket Hub.
Like other hubs, the Apuri turns one USB port into many, splitting off into four separate ports. That's four times the devices, four times the accessibility, four fewer reasons to reach in back of your PC tower to plug something in for an hour, four slightly easier connections to disconnect or reconnect from a laptop. And, for applications that need a bit more juice, such as charging a smartphone, or powering several devices at once, the hub also comes with an AC adapter.
The hub is a plug-and-play device, so there are no additional drivers to install, and the hub should be compatible with any current USB port. It's OS-agnostic, compatible with Windows (XP/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8), Mac (OS X), and Linux. The hub offers USB 2.0 connectivity, but not USB 3.0?for that, you'll need something like the Satechi 3.0 4-Port USB Hub. Roccat covers the Apuri with a one-year warranty.
Design
The Apuri sits on a base of three wide rubber feet. Between those feet and the Apuri's weight?4.2 ounces, or roughly a third of a pound?the device should stay relatively stationary, even through the wild mousing of a frantic firefight.
Measuring 5.1 by 2.5 by 2.5 inches (HWD), the hub will take up a bit of space on your desk, but the raised tripod design also allows cords to pass underneath it, providing another potential element of cable management. And, with two five-foot cables (USB and power, respectively) you can connect the Apuri to your PC, and multiple devices to the Apuri, letting you relocate some of your cable mess to one central location. And, if you just want the cool lighted USB hub on your desk, the bungee arm is removable.
The base of the Apuri is black plastic with a matte finish, accented with glowing blue LEDs. It will definitely blend in when set next to a gaming rig, gaming keyboard, and gaming mouse?glowing accents and backlight are pretty common in gaming gear. Sadly, the LED color is not adjustable, nor can it be turned off. As a result, this probably won't be so inconspicuous on a regular desk.
While it may not be quite like anything else we've reviewed, the Roccat Apuri is two helpful devices in one: a mouse cord bungee, and a 4-port USB hub. Either one would be helpful, but combining the two into the Apuri's solid tripod design makes it a niche product that could be pretty helpful beyond the narrower gamer market.
COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Roccat Apuri with several other USB devices side by side.
More USB device reviews:
??? IronKey Workspace W300 (64GB)
??? Roccat Apuri
??? PocketDesktop (16GB)
??? LaCie XtremKey USB 3.0 (32GB)
??? Victorinox Swiss Army 16GB Jetsetter Flash Drive
?? more
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/SW7vdC1Szts/0,2817,2415951,00.asp
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