Is it safe/ok to plug both usb leads for an external hdd into a hub running off a single usb host?

I want to buy a sumvision cyclone micro (media player with TV-out that plays from separate usb storage device) and use it to play movies off my Hitachi NESO external disk drive. The HDD needs two USB connections for power, but the cyclone only has one. Can I use a USB hub to provide the 2 sockets it needs? It worked when connected to a PC in this way which surprises me as surely it would draw too much current through the single host socket?