Demand and supply, supply will raise a lot because of these ASIC miners
I think my head just exploded.
Btw I was wrong
you don't need 4 USB ports, you actually need a better computer
So 5v, 500ma (aka 2.5W) is THE spec for USB. That means if you've got a laptop, I absolutely guarantee that's what it is and it's usually in pairs. That means 2.5W over 2 adjacent USBs since they use the same wiring. Trust me, I use external hard drive enclosures and hard drive adapters all the time and this is a big problem on hundreds of laptops.
If it's a regular PC from Dell or HP or one of those losers, it's very likely also exactly those specs. The Jalapeno allegedly draws 4.5W. That means it'd draw 90% power from both USBs combined if they combine perfectly and don't overheat and don't share a circuit (that's not real common) and that's if you connected a y-cable connector with the data pins removed from the 2nd USB head. So then your quite possibly 28 gauge cables feeding the USB port have to not melt so I hope your case was expensive if you're using the front USBs.
Then you have to never vary the usage of any part on the motherboard other than the CPU which has its own dedicated power circuit. Every board is different but a sudden draw on the sound port for example to play an song at full amplification could dip the voltage down below 5V for a split second and disrupt the Jalapeno.
JUST KIDDING! You can't play sound at all
at that power draw level, the Jalapeno will send electrical noise back down the USB line and amplify the crap out of it on the audio circuit that it leaks into on even medium end boards, turning all music into crap. Anyone who's ever used USB powered speakers knows what I'm talking about. Theoretically the speakers can send interference back down the same line and affect USB power but that's less likely. I might shoot a video of just how bad this really is on one of the brand new computers I built with a high end motherboard.
Then you better not have a cheap codegen or Gigabyte case for example or they like to build up static along their improperly grounded front USB ports which causes voltage variation and noise and other chaos that would affect such a sensitive chip as the Jalapeno's.
New MSI motherboards, most ASUS motherboard, some Gigabyte ones too I think have a "supercharge" feature that can run like 5 amps through a USB port to charge a phone or other device so that at least takes away the melted wire and electrical limitations problems. Hope your computer is brand new! lol.
Oryou can just use a powered USB hub that guarantees 2.5W+ per individual port. In other words, order one