If you have a multitude of USB devices then the Asus P4B 266 is a board you should seriously consider, as it comes with support for both USB 1.1 and 2.0 standards. Add to this a couple of nice design features, well laid out architecture and good performance, and the P4B 266 starts to look like an interesting motherboard.

Because the 845 chipset doesn't natively support USB 2.0, Asus has implemented USB 2.0 support in the P4B 266 via NEC's D720100A USB 2.0 controller. Since both the 845 and the NEC controllers both support up to four devices, the motherboard can theoretically support up to eight USB root devices!

To accomplish this the P4B 266 ships with two USB ports on the back of the motherboard, a 2-port bracket for the USB 1.1 controller provided by the 845 chipset, and an external 4-port USB 2.0 bracket. Both brackets must be connected to the P4B 266 via headers on the bottom of the motherboard.

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As mentioned previously the P4B 266 comes with some neat design touches. If you want an 845 motherboard but don't have an ATX 12V power supply, no problem - the P4B 266 comes with Asus' EZ Plug feature, a connector on the board which accepts one of the 4-pin power cables from your ATX power supply.

To prevent damaging the AGP slot on the motherboard, Asus has integrated a red LED on the P4B 266. The AGP warning LED shines when the end user attempts to install a 3.3V or SiS 305-based AGP card in the AGP slot. As most of today's newer AGP cards are 1.5V boards, this shouldn't be a concern to most users, but it's a nice feature to have just in case. When the red LED is on, the system can't be powered on. The slot also has an easy to use locking latch.

All in all, the Asus P4B 266 continues the line of well made, good performing boards recently launched by Asus.