[krapht]

Sorry I was not clear in my comments. The dollar solution is for some type of crowbar circuit. This is the most robust solution.

The 3-4 cents is for specifically, reverse polarity protection when somehow, a -5V differential is applied to device power inputs.

This cheaper solution only narrowly addresses this particular power fault, and no others.

[mikeash]

I see! A dollar per port for robust protection against a wide variety of faults sounds pretty good to me, but I know that sort of stuff doesn't sell well when people compare primarily on price.

Do I assume correctly that a fuse for overcurrent protection wont act quickly enough to save the hardware in the event of reverse polarity?