NEW DELHI: Going from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0 sounds like a significant upgrade, but getting a standard upgrade can be a costly affair.
Desktop users will have to at the very least invest in a new motherboard; whereas laptop users are pretty much stuck with what they’ve got, since upgrade and replacement options are limited with the portable variety.
Seeing opportunity in this economic adversity, D-Link has released USB upgrade option that is relatively cheap.
The D-link (DUB) 1310 is a PCI-Express card that works similar to a riser card and comes with two USB 3.0 ports. D-Link has a similar option for laptop users with the DUB-1320 which also slots into laptop’s Express slot. Before you invest in one of these, ensure that the desktop motherboard has a spare PCIe slot and the laptop has a slot for an Express card.
Alongside these two, D-Link has also release a USB 3.0 hub that can be used to extend the cards capacity to connect to four additional devices simultaneously. We haven’t tested these or any similar devices, but we guess that there will be at least some reduced performance when compared to native USB 3.0 hubs that are integrated with the motherboard.