R**P
Amazingly versatile OTG Adapter!
ADDED 05/14/2012OK, I am starting to feel silly going on so much about this device, but I just can't stop pushing it. I discovered I do have another power supply with the correct tip so I decided to see what I could wring out of this little thing. With supplemental power plugged in I commenced to experiment. First I inserted a micro SD card in the trans flash slot. Then I added a 4-port mini-hub. I proceed to insert a variety of USB flash drives plus a keyboard and mouse. In the end I had a total of FIVE USBDrives A through E, plus the keyboard and mouse! Alas, while an external HDD worked fine with the base OTG adapter with supplemental power, it would not work at all with the additional hub plugged in even when it was plugged into the base OTG with only the other hug and no other devices. I don't really care about that, but I thought I might as well report everything I had learned.ADDED 05/13/2012I have more info on the power jack. An Enercell AdaptaPlug Tip "H" fits. That plug is 3.4mm outside diamter (OD) x 1.3mm inside diameter (ID). It just so happens I have a USB power cable from a laptop cooler that fits so I am able to provide some info about what you get. The Graybean OTG adapter by itself will power all the devices I mention in my original review so you can use a mouse, keyboard, and two flash drives or a flash drive and an SD card all at the same time but not an external HDD. However, if you plug in an external hard drive you will get a warning "High-power USB device connected", but the power LED on the OTG adapter will go out, and you will not be able to access the drive. Plug power into the power jack, and you will be able to access your hard drive! Alas, it does not charge the device. I knew it was too much to expect, but a guy can dream, can't he? Anyway, the power jack is useful since it does give you access to hard drives in addition to flash drives, keyboards, etc. I have to correct something I said in my original review below about only being able to access two USB drives. I just plugged in one SD card, one micro SD reader with card, one USB flash drive, AND one 160gb external hard drive. Guess what, with supplemental power my Galaxy Tab 2 recognizes UsbDrive A, B, C, AND D! Caveat: It appears that the external hard drive must be formatted FAT32. This is not a limitation of the adapter but more likely Android. The HDD that worked is one I had formatted FAT32 for use with my home theater system that will only read FAT 32. I tried two other external HDDs with the now standard NTFS. The device seemed to start to recognize the drive but then notified USB mass storage device safely removed in both cases without ever actually recognizing them. So if you want to be able to use a larger external HDD with your device you will have to choose one you do not mind dedicating to FAT32. Again, not a limitation of the device but of Android.Since there is hopefully some allowance in the specs. I have ordered a USB cable with a fairly standard 3.5x1.35 barrel tip. I will report back if it works.ORIGINAL REVIEWI was not sure what to expect from a device like this. I mean, how many USB devices can an Android device handle? I have to say "Wow!"I am typing this on a USB keyboard attached to the Graybean OTG adapter. But wait, there's more. I also have a USB SD reader and a flash drive attached. My Galaxy Tab 2 recognizes BOTH as UsbDrive A and UsbDrive B! Who knew an Android device, even running ICS could recognize TWO USB drives? Alas, it did not recognize an SD card inserted in addition to the 2 USB drives. Don't get me wrong; it does read SD and micro SD cards fine. It may have a limit of 2. It does recognize on USB plus on SD or micro SD. It gets even better! I now have one USB drive, one micro SD card, one keyboard, AND a USB mouse. ALL are working fine! I am blown away! With my Tab 2, this adapter, and a flash drive, who needs a laptop? OK, sometimes you do need a larger screen, but this will handle 99%.The only thing I have not figured out yet is what type plug fits the power jack. I have a LOT of different plug tips for numerous universal chargers, but none quite fit. I have written to the vendor and will report back. It would be fantastic if the power input would charge the Tab 2 while using all the other USB devices. I will report back if I find out more.This adapter works beyond my wildest expectations. If you want to attach USB drives and an SD/micro SD card AND a keyboard AND a mouse to your Tab 2 at the same time, this is what you need.
G**E
stopped working after less than a dozen uses
Update 19 Sep 2012:The device has stopped functioning. When plugged into the tablet, the blue light comes on, indicating it is receiving power. When I insert a USB stick, the tablet briefly flashes the USB symbol and then announces "USB media mass storage removed safely." This happens whether I attach the reader with the media already inserted, or if I attach the reader first and then insert the media. The TF slot has never worked. Prior to total failure, the connection had become finicky after the first couple of uses, and I had to be careful not to move the tablet or the reader, or I would get a message about disconnecting USB media improperly. I've used the reader less than a dozen times.Original review:This is a review of the Gray Bean Card Reader + USB hub for Samsung's seven-inch Galaxy Tab 2 tablet. The hub came in a "zip-sealed" plastic bag. There are no directions, but there is a diagram on the bag that identifies by icon the various connections on the device. There is one port each for T-flash (microSD), SD(HC), MMC, MS/MS Duo, and M2. For USB 2, there are three ports. The ports are labeled in white text on the device. There is also a power port on the hub -- presumably to provide power for USB devices, such as a hard drive, if needed -- but no indication as to any voltage or wattage requirements/limitations. According to the description on Amazon, you can't charge the tablet through this device. Shame, that; it could come in handy if you needed to recharge but had to keep a flash drive plugged in via the hub.The oddball Samsung-style connector is not labeled as to which side is up, like many other third-party connectors for this tablet. If you can see the little gray tabs at the side of the connector, that's up. I suspect most people will find some nail polish or paint and put a spot on that side to make it easier get it right in low-light conditions. It takes a bit of a tug to remove the connector, but that just makes me feel better about it not inadvertently coming loose during use.I plugged an older USB Mac keyboard and a Kensington trackball into two of the USB ports; I'm using them with Polaris Office on the tablet to write this review. The tablet immediately recognized both devices and didn't require any extra work to start using them. As soon as I moved the trackball, a cursor appeared on the screen and I was able to move to and click various icons on the home screen. There are no problems with typing in Polaris Office; the screen displays what I type with no stuttering or spurious characters. (Annoyingly, whenever I use the trackball to click in the middle of text for editing, Polaris throws up the on-screen keyboard, which I then have to "put away." I guess the application doesn't recognize that there's a real keyboard plugged in. This doesn't happen when using the keyboard's arrow keys to move around through the text.)I plugged a USB flash drive into the remaining USB port. After reading the drive, the tablet displayed the My Files window, showing a directory hierarchy that includes the USB drive, as well as the tablet's internal storage and the 32gb microSD card I had in the tablet. After opening the flash drive, I was able to click on any of the enclosed files to launch them; the tablet asks what application to use if more than one is available for that file type. Music and videos played from the drive with no hiccups; ditto for opening and reading .epub, .pdf and text files.I plugged a 32gb microSD card into the T-flash slot; it was difficult to get it in the slot. I waited more than 60 seconds, but the card was not recognized. I removed it and tried again with the same results. Then I put it into a full-sized SD adapter and put that in the SD card slot. Within a few seconds, My Files popped open and showed me that I had access to files on both the USB flash drive and the microSD card; both are called USB drives in My Files. I was able to read files on the microSD card without difficulty. Repeated attempts to get the hub to recognize a microSD card -- I have 3 -- in the T-flash slot failed. This is a problem if you need to have both a microSD card and a full-sized SD card mounted at the same time.Like most apps I have, Polaris Office won't allow me access to anything but the tablet's internal storage (I have not rooted the tablet), so I can't write this document onto one of the flash drives in the hub. I went back to My Files and copied a text file saved in internal storage. I then went to the USB flash drive and saved it there. At first, I was unable to do the same on the microSD card; the option to save the copied file was unavailable. I copied the file that I had just saved to the USB drive, and then went back to the microSD card. I was then able to save the file. To rule out some issue copying from internal to external storage, I went back to the original file on internal storage and copied it again. This time, I was able to save it to the microSD card. Call it a minor glitch in software, I guess.You should be able to plug in a USB hard drive provided it has its own power supply and it's formatted in FAT32. ( Being a mostly Mac shop, I don't have a powered external drive formatted in FAT32 to try it out). The only time I can see this being practical is if you need to move files at home from the hard drive onto a flash drive or into internal storage for use on the go.I don't use Sony Memory Sticks, so I can't try out those slots.My main reason for buying this device is to attach additional flash media without removing the microSD card slotted into the tablet directly. It definitely covers that base, although the T-flash/microSD slot seems to be nonfunctional.Being able to connect and use a keyboard & mouse/trackball is nice, but not something I'll do often (possibly never again, after writing this review). I'm not going to lug a keyboard around to use on a tablet; for that much typing, I'll use my laptop.Generally speaking, I'd say the hub is worth the purchase price. Points off for no documentation of any kind and the apparently nonfunctional microSD port.
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