Compared to USB-A, not really that much of a game changer (it’s still the most common for me). Though I do not miss the three rotations to get it in.
Compared to Micro-USB? Holy fuck, I almost refuse to buy anything still using Micro-USB ported now. Mainly because I can’t never find the fucking cable for it.
But like.. not always. Wall adapters (at least US ones) can be plugged in upside down, so if that's upside down the holes face down. I have a 3d printer who's motherboard is mounted on the top of the chassis, flipping the USB port so that it's "upside down". A lot of cheap dual-USB chargers that have the two USB ports right next to each other have them mirrored, so one faces up and the other faces down.
Granted, I've always found the "argh USB!!!" frustration to be more a meme than anything; when I'm plugging in a USB device, I likely know what orientation the male side is (flash drives and the like are usually oriented the same way), and it takes half a second of paying attention when going to plug it in to look at the female port to see what direction it's meant to go in.
I think the real game changer here is the USB-PD. I now only bring a single charger for both my laptop and my phone. Also, a lot of different laptops now charge with USB-C, getting rid of the need of different plugs.
Props to the Thinkpad USB-C retrofit hack. Granted they only work with 65w, but it is still great! My Anker Nano GaN charger is only a little bit larger than an ice cube, definitely smaller than most traditional USB charger, yet it packs 65w.
Fucking awesome, it is. When I travel, I take 1 laptop power cord. Charges my phone, laptop, Switch, and backup battery. (The backup battery’s output ports are USB-A, but it’s got a lil converter cable that stays in the lil bag that the backup battery is stored in.)
It's the best. So much so that not having usb c, has become a deciding factor if i buy something or not. It also seems a bit of a quality insurance, even if it's just a little. But electronics with micro or even mini usb is usually just some cheap shit or that old and they are still selling it.
Usbc-pd is an absolute game changer as an off grid person. The fact a 100w charger can act as a dc to dc converter with up to five output voltages, at up to 100 watts is crazy. And that the protocol automatically detects and communicates the proper voltage is very convinent. The problem is that usbc-pd 100w chargers are expensive and you need to know what you are doing if you want to diy power appliances with it.
Its really nice to have a standardized cable that just works and can be plugged in both ways. We really are approaching a Universaal Cable after a quarter century of RnD.
Im happy to explain pastermil. So first off let's talk power.
Electrical Power Systems
Most off-grid electrical systems have a few major components.
A device that generates electrical energy
A battery that stores excess electrical energy for later
A charge controller which regulates the incoming raw electrical power from the generator as it charges up the battery, and smooths out the battery energy output
A power distribution interface which allows for connecting appliances to the batteries in a safe standardized way.
My particular electric system has a 200w 28v solar panel for power generation, two 20ah lifepo4 batteries connected to double capacitance, and the charge controller doubles as a very basic interface with two usba slots and a car cigarette port.
AC vs DC
Now let's talk about AC and DC. Theres essentially two kinds of electrical power people deal with.
The difference between Alternating Current and Direct Current is in the way the power flows. Direct current moves in a straight path. Alternating current moves power back and forth in three perfectly spaced cycles.
AC
The one most people are more familiar with is AC power. it comes to your home from power plants through power lines and transformer boxes. You move around extension cords and plug the three prong outlets into a wall.
Alternating Current (three phase) power is very easy to transmit long distance however its very high voltage. So only certain power hungry devices like kitchen appliances, washing machines, dryers and AC compressors use it directly. Most of your consumer home devices need to convert AV power down into more manageable DC power.
DC
Offgrid electrical systems with batteries are Direct Current by nature. All your power comes from the battery banks. The power moves straight from battery terminal negative to positive. It flows right through your appliances in one way out the other.
The battery banks tend to be arranged into 12v, 24v, or 48v depending on the systems power draw and transmission needs.
The popular standards for delivering direct current are:
5v 2.4a usb (15 watts)
12v 10a car cigarette plugs (120 watts, can be rated to supply 24v fused 15a I believe though not common at all)
circular dc barrel plug connectors, the most common size is 5.5mmx2.5mm but there are dozens if not hundreds of slightly different barrel plugs. Part of what makes usb so great is reducing arbitrary manufacturing complexity like this.
usbc-pd various voltages depending on charger, cable, and device at up to 100w for current protocol.
solar quick connects tend to be for connecting and transmitting high voltage DC power to charge controllers and power banks. Its worth mentioning but not that relevant to what were talking about.
Most consumer devices in your home dont actually use wall outlet AC power directly, it uses wall power thats been converted and stepped down to DC power.
Desktop computer power supplies, Laptops, monitors, vaporizers, led lights, DVD players, audio speakers, your phone. everything that can powered by usb and batteries. Everything that has barrel plug inputs and power bricks plugging into it.
If you look closely on the power bricks plugged into the appliance you'll see that it has an input and output voltage rating. The input tends to be 120vac here in america 240v over the pond, and the output tends to be either 5v, 9v, 12v, 15v or 20v DC usually up to 5 amps.
Device vs Voltage Examples
Laptops and computer monitors tend to be 20v, fast charging smart phones and the Nintendo switch docked are 15v, very bright home LED lights can be bought that are powered at 12v directly, the ps2 could be powered with 9v, and most usb devices charge at standard 5v. Would you like to guess which voltage profiles the USBC-PD protocol is capable of? Its all of them.
Energy Conversion Efficency Losses
Now let's discuss energy efficiency. Converting from AC to DC eats up some of your power. So does converting from DC to AC. And its not small losses either, each time you convert its about a 15% total loss in efficency.
This loss through conversion doesn't matter when you pay cents on a kilowatt and have unlimited power at the tap. It adds up very quickly when you have a limited power supply and every watt hour counts.
Let's say I want to power a laptop on my offgrid DC system and my only means of powering it is the AC power brick cable that it came with. I would need to:
Convert the DC power of the batteries to AC through an inverter. 15% efficency loss.
Then convert that power right back down into slightly different DC with the power brick plugged in. 15%% efficency loss.
The inverter and power brick are both parasitic draws. They eat a bit of power just sitting there even if nothing is being powered. Lets add 5% total system efficency loss each.
Add these up and you get 30-40% of your power eaten away by this needless double converting. Wouldnt it be really nice if we could convert the battery DC voltage directly to the appliance DC voltage without those power hungry inverters and transformers?
What DC-to-DC Converters Are
Thats where dc to dc converters come in. They can convert one DC voltage to another. They still introduce efficency loss but way way less only 10% total.
Traditionally you would hope your device had a commercially available 3rd party travel adapter for 12v car batteries. The dc to dc converter is built in and uses car plug.
If you were SOL you has to wire up boost converters to raise up voltage and add resistors in series to lower it. You ever try to wire and solder your own circuts before? Its a tedious experience. Imagine doing that for each device voltage. Oh wait, you dont have to. Here's what that looks like.
A USBC-pd 100w charger that plugs into a cigarette port or is built into a power bank can convert a batteries 12vDC into 5v, 9v, 12v 15v, and 20v dynamically depending on the device.
Do you know how magical that is? How much trouble that saves when it comes to mcguyvering a DC appliance that only came with AC cable to supply proper power directly? All I need is a 10$ usbc-pd to barrel plug cable that manually selects the voltage needed and some barrel plug adapter bits to fit into the appliance. Energy efficent and simple wiring. All the dynamic controller stuff is abstracted away in a safe way. Powerful enough to deliver 100 watts of power, and its going to be more powerful over time.
Hi! You seem knowledgeable about this stuff, so if you can answer a question. I have an older Jackery power station that has a single USB-C PD port. I need more when camping and I have been plugging a AC USB-C charger into one of the AC ports on the power station. From what you wrote that make me think that is not an efficient way due to the conversion from DC to AC to DC. Would I be better off using the DC “Car Charger” port or maybe a USB-C hub of some sort?
Hey there panicnow! I would be happy to help give some input. It is better to avoid firing up the AC inverter whenever possible. If you have a car travel adapter for your devices that plug into the jackeries cigarette plug port that would be better. If you absolutely need more usbc-pd ports for your devices, there is a way to do that given your jackary has one or two of those circular barrel plug outputs that output 12v. Most powersttions should have one or two of them.
If you have one of those barrel plug inputs youre in luck. Go on amazon and buy one of these to turn those jacks into car cigarette plug inputs.
Then get a really nice usbc-pd car charger. I don't actually have one but I like anker and trust their 100w pd charger would be high quality. You can go cheaper if you only need 65w or lower.
Thanks so much! I was kind of on that line after I read your earlier comment, but thought I would just ask. My jackery doesn’t have barrel plug outputs—just inputs. But it does have a 12V, 10A cigarette plug port. I’ll get an anker car charger like you suggested and use that.
Is DC why my 12V water pump doesn't run but the LED bulbs on the same circuit are fine? The pump is by the creek and I'm thinking it can't pull enough amps over the length of the run. Working on that today.
One of DCs main issues is transmission distance. Its hard to say for your case without details but its a good possibility. If you have a volt meter and know how to use it check the voltage at the start of the run and compare it to the end of the run and see how much the voltage has dropped. If your trying to push 12v over 20-30ft I would say theres a good chance of it being too little voltage over too far a length. Wire diameter is also a factor if its very small gauge wiring.
Did you measure voltage drop across the pump while it's trying to start up? The voltage will only drop when there's current being drawn. So with the pump off you would see full supply volts even on a highly resistive line. You could try lugging a battery down to the pump, and jump it to get it started, then remove the battery jumpers but keep the pump running on your main run, then measure the volts across the pump.
Or you could try to measure the resistance of your wiring with your meter. You would disconnect it from your 12v source, then short the pump side, then measure the ohms across the pair at the source side. Also measure the resistance across your pump windings when it is disconnected, but with the switch on.
I'll throw out some example numbers. Say you have a pump that says it needs 6 Amps. Chances are the inrush current is more like 12A. If you measure across the terminals with the pump disconnected from power with the switch closed, you might measure around 1 Ohm. Now if you measure your very long supply line and get 2 Ohms. Then you would only get 12V/(1+2 )Ohms = 4 Amps through the whole system. With the pump drawing 4 Amps you would only see 4V at the pump terminals when it is already running.
Hey aubeynarf think you are talking about something like this.
Its a special usbc-pd to 5.5x2.5 barrel jack with manually selectable voltage. You just plug it into a pd charger and select the voltage of the device. The rest is finding a barrel plug to barrel plug adapter that plugs into your device. Hope this helps.
If your device happens to be 18-20v you can get a usbc-pd laptop connector with a dc barrel jack output. It has the USBC-PD chip built into it to tell the charger to output 20v and you can probably hunt down barrel adapter bits. Your regular 65-100w rated usbc cord plugs in like anything else.
The other voltages are tough theres not really a consumer market for 15v or 9v specific usbcPD to barrel things.
I appreciate that you're really thorough, both with that explaination as well as the implementation in the first place.
I guess I've never give it much thought. I mean, I'm familiar with electricity, but I'm paying dirt cheap for it.
One more question: How do you do your lighting? Most light fixtures I know are using e27 bulbs, which are AC powered. I know the LED panels requires driver circuits between them and the main, theoretically they probably could live off your DC straight-up, but they're generally a pain to work with.
Thanks. Lighting has been an ongoing puzzle I'm figuring out. I originally went with rechargeable Luci light it was really nice warm bright lighting but expensive and failed within a season. Currently I'm using a cheap 5v plastic led light bulb that plugs into regular usba slot. Its enough to see what you are doing comfortably. But really the average person whos used to house bulbs including me wants the luxury of bright lighting. For now I've been firing up the AC inverter to run a nice lamp. However I have been considering making my own 12v light fixture with 12v e26 bulbs that plugs into either car cig plug or usbc-pd.
In this picture is marked all the parts of an LED circuit that convert AC Into DC. It takes up about 40% of the board. Its much easier to power LEDs directly.
Hey entropicdrift good question. Those kinds of lanterns are expensive and complicated electronics with a definitive life expectancy. The lantern you linked is over 20$ for a single unit.
Most of those kinds of lanterns use a non replaceable rechargeable lithium battery built inside it that will only last about 500 charge cycles give or take before degrading. That is, if you are lucky and one of the other cheap mass produced quickly assembled electrical components doesn't fry first.
In the long term I deem its more cost efficient to take a page from the home lighting industry. Simply create a light fixture with easily and cheaply replaceable bulbs. A pack of 4 12v-24v bulbs cost less than that lantern and I like the warm lighting.
Its also a simple matter to convert any lamp fixture into one that can interface with my power system. Cut off the AC plug and replace it with a male cigarette plug. The trick is knowing thst you have to buy the right kinds of bulbs.
So when the 12v led bulbs do eventually burn out its a cheap single 5$ bulb that and a minute to replace it. I would rather put a broken bulb than yet another expensive lantern in the landfill.
Apotential benefit if I choose to power it with usbc-pd instead is variable dimmable lighting based on voltage level if the bulb is 12-24v.
I’m still in the messy stage, but I’ve made preparations for C. Pretty soon I’ll get a newer used phone and tablet, and they’re both going to be type C.
Currently I have a few things that use C, so I’ve already got some cables and chargers for them. Once the transition is complete, I’ll get rid of a bunch of old cables.
Yes, you can. The charger and the device communicate between one another what they can support, and pick the highest one they both agree on.
E.G. my laptop charger can charge at full speed (100W) for my MacBook, but only at 20W for my iPhone.
That bit is pretty straightforward and transparent to end users (there are a few rare conditions where devices might not agree on the fastest, and have to fall back to a slower one); the issue is more with cables not having sufficient gauge wire, or missing connections that prevent the charger and device from communicating their full functionality.
The deck charger uses USB PD. It will charge anything that supports the standard as fast as possible (up to its rated 65W) and use normal 5v USB for everything else.
It's even more annoying that there are different possible pinouts in the port itself without clear labling. So always use the one cable that came with the peripheral, or you have a chance to fry it
For the power matter, you don't. The device being charged, the charger, and cable does.
If you mean what is the maximum wattage that will actually be used, that should be the maximum possible between the charger, cable, and device. So look at their specs. Whichever has the lowest maximum, is what the others will match.
USB PD defines a protocol for the device and charger to determine max safe power. If the cable is replacable (not attached to the charger), it must be rated for PD and be able to tell the charger it can handle more than just the usual 5 volts at 2 amps.
USB PD chargers only output the maximum safe amount of power. That's why I can use my 65W steamdeck charger to charge my phone if I want to. It just outputs normal USB charger power if the device on the other end can't verify it can handle more.
It's also why my SteamDeck charger is what I use to fast charge my phone, because it can actually talk to it using the USB PD protocol to request the voltage and amps it needs to fast charge.
To clarify; I have a 100W Ugreen Nexode 4 Port USB Charger that I use to charge my laptop (~60W), Steam Deck (~40W), iPhone (~20W) and AirPods (~5?W).
The problem is if my original product cable has gone walkabout temporarily and I need to use a random one to stand in - there is no clear way of telling if I’m accidentally using a 5W-max cheap cable to try and keep my laptop charged while working.
Obviously there are some context clues depending on cable thickness etc., but with how common cosmetic braiding is becoming a thing - even that’s getting harder to rely on.
Just recently I had a tech store guy gently but repeatedly insist to me that a certain USB cable was a USB 3 cable because it was type C on both ends. I didn't wanna argue with him, but the box clearly said "480 Mbit", so it was just a type C charging cable.
Of course the box designers were hoping you'd make that mistake so they didn't write USB 2 on there, just the speed. And most boxes won't even have that, you'll just have to buy it and see.
But I mean if someone who spent their whole life fixing computers can get something that basic wrong, then it's really a hopeless situation for anyone who isn't techy.
And of course once it's out of the box it's anyone's guess what it is. It's a real mess for sure.
A big one. No more brittle micro usb, which would eventually become loose and start falling out when charging. Being able to charge my laptop using my phone charger is also good.
That's impressive, how many watts is your phone charger? I would have assumed you could do the opposite but thought the laptop would have laughed when you attached a small stream to it.
I use an old phone charger, when working outside my home. My goal when using it is to keep the charge/uncharge ratio positive. Tho when at home my devices share a 100W charger.
With a laptop and phone which both can use it my backpack while travelling is so much lighter and less bulky. For me it absolutely was a game changer, I just don't like that I need to carry a USB a to C adapter for all the legacy USB A ports.
Works great, rarely have issues with the port breaking unlike prior small usb standards, it's nice how ubiquitous it is so I have way less random cable connectors around.
Oh wow, yeah that must indeed be a pain to solder. Though I guess there's some redundancy built-in, such that if one wire goes down the cable can still deliver something?
Though I guess there's some redundancy built-in, such that if one wire goes down the cable can still deliver something?
You guessed wrong! If one is misconnected the whole thing breaks down :) It's a nightmare for repairability, as the plug is often the first thing to fail
The receptacle is the issue - it can have up to 24 pins (though usually it's 12ish), all bunched up in just a slightly larger space than on a micro usb receptacle which has 4 pins. So it takes some good skill to replace.
Last week I found out that there are off-brand batteries for my DSLR cameras that can be charged directly through USB-C so I don't have to pack a different charger for every camera. Let that sink in!
Overall pretty great, in a pinch I can charge my laptop on a Nintendo Switch power supply. Now if I could just upgrade the last few remaining Micro-USB and Lightning devices without spending a fortune...
Not as much as going from coax to RJ45, or from PATA to SATA, or from PC/AT to PS/2 to USB or Bluetooth, or from D-SUB to DVI to HDMI or Display port, or from the old serial and parallel ports to USB or Bluetooth (I mainly skipped SCSI), and I sort of miss having to turn the connector 360° around for it to fit...
I went through all of these, and honestly plugging in a single cable into your laptop and having power, external display, network and input peripherals all connect instantly is pretty damn cool.
Like others, USB-PD is amazing. My monitor has 90W which is plenty for my laptops. Gaming laptop, not so much. The only device I have that isn't USBC/Thunderbolt is the damn mouse. I rarely ever need a USB A port for anything other than charging. Even my flash drives are all USBC.
I have been able to use 1 charger for almost everything for several years now. Sometimes I have a finicky device that doesn't like the high wattage PD chargers and will only trickle charge, but work fine with my other smaller charger. The GaN chargers are nice and compact. I break USBC cables a lot less often, but that is because I am a walking disaster most of the time. I would break micro USB cables constantly, or rip the ports to pieces.
One note though on USBC ports on a monitor. Beware using the really really stiff cables on ports that are positioned where the cable would be parallel to the table instead of the port pointing down. That port will definitely wear out or break entirely from the constant downward force and lack of support of the cable in the port. This is especially true if you use a monitor arm and the cable gets moved. Seen this on both Samsung and LG. My Dell points downward. I really like the pro PS5 controllers as it comes with a little cage that holds the USBC cable in place and protects the port from exactly that scenario. These monitors absolutely need something like that, especially with how expensive they are.
I was pretty fucking disappointed how flimsy the jacks are.
I've had 3 phones and a laptop I had to replace because the USB-C jack started to wiggle and wouldn't connect anymore.
Is it the jack itself that’s wiggling, or the plug won’t stay in the socket and wiggles too much?
If it’s the latter, take a staple and bend it straight, and VERY GENTLY drag it round inside the port, avoiding contacts, scraping out the lint and dust that has almost certainly become impacted at the base of it over time. I do this whenever cables don’t want to stay in anymore and it’s amazing how much of a difference it makes.
I have had one example of the port itself becoming loose, but mostly I’ve run into the lint/dust problem.
Toothpicks aren’t usually thin enough in my experience, and I’m more worried about the tongue getting bent by the toothpick than I am about the bottom of the port getting scratched by a staple. But I agree a staple isn’t ideal, it’s just the common item I’ve found that works best. I’m sure there are better tools.
I find the plastic floss picks work really well because they are flatter than regular tooth picks. It has to be the type where the back part is a pick as that's the part that I use.
The lint problem! The first time when my phone started acting up when charging I thought it was the USB jack that have worn out. Then I tried cleaning it with a needle. Still can't believe how much lint can fit in a USB-C socket.
Really hasn't been much of one. I still own devices that charge from MicroUSB, a lot of peripherals are still USB-A, there hasn't been any significant movement by the industry overall to move everything to C, so mostly it means I just need to carry more cables.
True, but keyboards, mice, wireless adapters etc. haven't moved to C yet. I use PCs and desktop peripherals and industry adoption if USBC has basically stopped 1/4 of the way in.
I've actually had the opposite experience with USB-C. It seems to break all the time. I've talked about it online though, and it appears that I'm the only person experiencing that. Perhaps I just had a rush of bad luck with cables and devices.
USB-C ports are especially prone to dust/lint buildup that can prevent the plugs from seating properly in the ports. Worth trying to scrape them out if they stop working right. I like to use a staple that I’ve unbent, but it has been pointed out this probably isn’t the safest tool. Just avoid the contacts and only scrape the bottom and sides of the port. It’s amazing how much crap comes out if you’ve been using the device for a while.
I've done that using a floss pick, but nothing ever comes out. I think the cables are just crap, or this Pixel Phone has an issue with the port which shorts out all of the cables eventually. I had to exchange my first Pixel phone because the USB port completely stopped working. This one seems like it might have some other issue.
I could get rid of a lot of "extra" cords. I can just keep one usb c and charge my phone, my mouse, and headphones with one cord. Shoot, I can even charge my controllers now too. I like that they're becoming like outlets. Like, this is just how you get power to the device(S). Without searching for the "right" cord all the time.
I mean, it's just another and one more type of cable. Sure, in theory it's simpler than many various cables and it's even less stupid than the previous USB types, but it's still a mess.
At least, for non-geek me, those cables are a mess as I need to be able to distinguish between the exact same cable to find which one is USB-C or Thunderbolt, between the various versions of USB-C itself, and then between USB-C that comes with or without power delivery, and with what power limitation? And then, despite USB-C supposedly being a standard there are still too many cables that just won't work with certain devices because reasons.
Add to that the many USB-C docks (and dongles) that work... more or less reliably and more or less as marketed (even more so under Linux, but those issues exist under Mac and under Windows as well).
Older cables and ports were cumbersome, and thick and whatever but, as far as I'm concerned, for the most part they just worked like they were supposed to. And I never had an issue knowing which cable to plug into which port as they all looked, you know, different.
Nowadays, I have to label each one of my USB-C cable with some masking tape so I can identify it in a glimpse without wasting my time trying them all one by one.
Now I have to buy an USB-C to USB-A adaptor to plug USB-C stuff into my already standing devices. Honestly, no idea why didn't they make it connector-compatible. Wasn't that the entire point of the "U" in "USB"?
They did make USB-A cables that had a universal (up and down) connector near the end. Got one with my JBL Flip. There is a middle piece that moves to one side or the other depending on how you plug it in.
What are those benefits? The only potential one I have direct experience with (besides speed) is that the connector is reversible, but even that's small-time and a flat out objective downgrade compared to the circular connectors of the 90s, which could be plugged in regardless of orientation.
IIUC USB-C puts less mechanical stress on the port and more on the cable connector, so instead of the port breaking the cable should break.
Circular connectors wouldn't be backwards-compatible either, and would be much harder to manufacture at the size of USB-C. I actually can't think of circular connectors with more than 2 data channels that can be plugged in in any rotation - do you have an example? All the ones I can think of (PS/2, XLR) have a set orientation.
Nah, the point of the “U” in “USB” is so that devices communicate in a standardized way through a standardized bus. The port itself doesn’t need to be universal—after all, USB-C is I believe the first time that the host port and the device port are the same, previously there was always an A for host and B for device, even with mini-USB and micro-USB.
I certainly like it better, it's an improvement, but "game changer" is strong. I'm slowly replacing gadgets to USB C through attrition. The charge port has ceased to be the failure point for any of the gadgets I own. My pile of spare cables is still excessive, but moving further back in my storage closet because I need them less and less.
For charging, it's fine, I have equipment to do some mid level testing of how much power a USB cable can transmit, I can also verify if a charger supports quick charge and other charging protocols.
For data transfer, it's frustrating, you gotta find the cables that are not just USB2 with a USB-C connector.
Then you have thunderbolt, which is even more expensive....
I like its reversibility and faster speeds compared to MicroUSB. Being in the USA where everyone has iPhones though, it was hard to bum chargers from other people (before the iPhone 15 anyway)
Versus earlier versions of USB, it's reversible. This isn't a game changer, I guess, but it's definitely nice to not have to fiddle plugs around all the time.
I don't know if it's the only form of USB that does USB PD -- I'd guess not -- but in practice, it seems to be pretty strongly associated with USB PD. Having USB PD isn't essential, but it makes charging larger devices, like laptops, a lot more practical. I can lug around a power station that doesn't need to have an embedded inverter.
I still feel that it's kind of physically small and weak compared to USB A. That's an okay tradeoff for small portable devices that don't have the space for larger connectors, but I'm kinda not enthralled about it on desktop. I worry more about bending connectors (and I have bent them before).
So for me, I'd say that it's definitely nice, but not really in a game changing sense. I could do the things it can do in somewhat-worse ways prior to USB-C.
Personally, I like the iPhone charging port better as there's less that can go wrong with it, but USB-C is pretty good too.
I like that I don't have to orient the cable plug-ins just right. I can flip it over and still plug it in just fine. That's why I don't like mini USB, micro USB, or USB-A
Yeah Lightning was really nice. I was surprised how much I liked it after switching from Android to iOS. If only it weren’t proprietary and had too few pins to be very useful outside of charging.
I still hated that my phone didn’t use USB-C though, since everything else I own does. Glad the new iPhones do.
Lighting’s port is fantastic for its positive fit and finish but USB-C is pretty close as long you don’t get super cheap cables and gear, then they just break after a bit. You get what you pay for.
Total game changer. Plug all my peripherals into my monitor. USB C from my monitor to my work laptop. After work I plug it into my home desktop. Also just having one charger and one cable for my phone, steam deck and laptop is amazing especially for work trips.
I had been pretty well consolidated to just lightning cables for everything. It did what I needed, the connector is small, reversible, easy to use, and it fit most electronics for my family of four. I had built up a nice stable of accessories like power banks and charging blocks that fit everything and hadn’t needed to buy anything new in years.
The switch to USB-C came with great fanfare and seemed like a good idea. However it really doesn’t give me any direct benefits and I have to buy all new accessories. Now I’m in a transition mode for a few years where I need usb-c, usb-a, and lightning cables and chargers. Worst of all the market that I kept being told was leaving behind still has more support for usb-a - my laptop has mostly usb-a, even new model motherboards for building my kids gaming computers are mostly usb-a, I don’t see a good selection of usb-c chargers, power banks are still mostly usb-a, keyboards and mice are usb-a, kvms are usb-a, etc
Trying to switch to usb-c has meant more cable types rather than fewer. It has meant buying duplicate chargers and it has meant less convenience where usb-c is not really mainstream yet. Hopefully the market will more fully adopt usb-c quickly but I meant to be a late adopter to this transition and feel almost like an early adopter
USB-C is pin-compatible with every single other USB plug, so you should be able to get away with all USBC cables and some adapters for whatever plug type you're trying to plug in.
There are only 3 types of pin sets, USB-C(USB 3.0 pins + 3 extra pins), USB-3.0(USB 1.0 + 5 extra pins) and USB-2.0 and lower. Everything else version wise is the controller on the actual board, not the cable.
Cable-wise you only need one to get the benefit of every other plug on the market.
Except maybe some devices (like IoT) that are powered up by an always plugged micro-usb, my cellphone is USB-C for a long time now, and my laptop has 3 USB-C/TB (no A), so it's easier for a couple of stuff.
But I have a usb-c hub with multiple USB-A outlet because I still have a couple of devices to plug like keyboard, trackball, webcam, headset, UPS, FTDI stuff, etc.
No more micro-USB plugging/unplugging for phones.
The prob with usb-c is mainly for powering hungry devices, you need 60W cable, 100W cable, 240W cable, etc.
JSAUX makes a great 240W cable that’s fairly priced and has 240W printed on the ends. It’s stiff but that’s because it’s actually gauged for 240W. I just decided to buy those in blue for anything that required more watts than mobile devices. Then I get at least 30W rated cables in red for all the mobile stuff. Super easy to know which is which at a glance.
The stability of Mini USB I liked most. Plug a PS3 controller in 100 times and it always seemed solid. Micro USB was flimsy, but I wish the would have done usb-c like the lightning connector and made it solid. I would think it would last longer that way, but I never owned an iPhone so I could be wrong. Those could be more prone to snapping, like palm trees vs pine tree.
I broke 1 mini USB on my Blue Yeti over a decade ago, but no port would have been able to survive that torque, lol.
Other than that, it's usually rock solid
I work in a school with a 1 to 1 Chromebook program. I see them pretty regularly, mostly they are just bent hard and stop working, but I’ve seen some pretty impressive destruction.
Yeah, nothing's unbreakable. I once saw a kid shove a whole ham sandwich into a cd/optical drive. People do weird stuff. It probably would have worked afterwards too if someone cleaned the mustard off the lens. Never checked, as even back in 2006 it was rare to put CDs in school computers. The age of flash drives has already arrived.
Now that I upgraded to an iPhone with USB-C, I enjoy the convenience of having one cable for everything. Charging, connecting a display temporarily, data transfer, one cable. Never had a Mac so I didn’t get in on the Lightning to Lightning shenanigans, but I do prefer Lightning over USB-C. At least a Lightning port is easy to clean.
Not a game changer at all. In fact most of my peripherals still use the older style usb connectors. I’m not planning to run out and buy new everything.
I would like to see appliance chargers switch to USB-C. All these stupid wall warts for electric toothbrushes and shavers are ridiculous.
Now I need to deal with USB-C to micro USB and USB-A for my old devices. Things will be better eventually, I guess, but it's just shifted the annoyance around for now.
To me it mostly just meant having to buy more cables. The old ritual of trying a USB connector one way, then the other way, then retrying the first way never took all that long and was actually kind of amusing. And I still use the old cables because I haven't thrown away my old devices that still need them. I only have a few new things that need type C.
Not at all, the "biggest change" was with fast charging, but Li-ion batteries hate being at 0 or 100% all the time and fast charging makes it too easy to ovrtcharge to 100, and I've only got 1 device that can do "fast charging speeds" (over 9w). Most of my electronics are a mix of type c and micro to type a. A c - c cable is like with my fast charger is overkill for my application and is inconvenient when the vast majority of charging bricks and plugs have type a charging.
I bought a high quality USB C charger with a couple nice cables to keep plugged in in my living room. I use it to charge my phone, my girlfriend's phone, my tablet, my laptop, my Switch, and my vape pen. I never have to go looking for another charger and it charges all of those things at a very acceptable rate. I'd qualify that as a game changer.
USB-C has changed the entire game. It's a completely different game now. It's like Yahtzee vs Uno. Or like Call of Duty vs Microsoft Flight Simulator. Remember playing freeze tag or dodgeball? Well it's not like that anymore. Now it's like playing soccer.
I despise micro-USB with a passion. Even more than mini-USB. It is so flimsy, it's always been the first thing to die on my wireless devices, including my older phones.
If a device charges through USB, I consider not having USB-C to be a deal breaker. Right now I'm waiting for a USB-C socket breakout panel because I want to convert my Xbox One controller from micro to C.
A lower strength more pinned Magsafe type of adapter would have been cool. They would be more costly though so I assume that's why we don't. Reversible, solid, and don't have lose pins to break
I like it, but not enough stuff uses it yet to be a true game changer. I still have to keep multiples of different types of cables to charge everything.
I like it, I was a USB-micro B cable guy for almost all my electronics. It was a yearlong transition for me to phase it out in favour of USBC, but it was just with upgrading electronics, not because I wanted to ditch the cable format specifically.
Charging and data transfer aspects weren't much of my concern, until I learned about USB-PD and video via USB, that was pretty cool. I like the reversible connector, too many times I jammed the cable in the port the wrong way.
Depends on if it is still using USB 2.0 or 3.0+ standard for data transfer. I love the mostly plug it in way you like option Ivey micro usb, but trying to do photo file transfers from older/cheaper USB C with 2.0 is brutally slow if needed.
I like that I can plug it in both ways but it feels really insecure in my devices. I also don't like that people are trying to replace USB A with it bc the smaller, flimsier USB standards are only needed for small devices like phones. Anytime you have the space for the more robust version you should use it.
I regularly, accidentally, grab a USB-C>USB-C cable instead of USB-A>USB-C. And then I think by myself, I've never had this many cables that don't fit.
Good thing is, I have plenty of USB-C cables of different lengths, most of which I don't know the origin. At least they're in a box in my home and not in a landfill.
My house has always lagged behind in the newest tech for one reason or another. Usually it's because I end up adopting everyone's old electronics, but sometimes it's because we have old devices for kids.
USB C is better for me because I'm no longer fumbling to connect the charger late at night. I also appreciate that the charger works for other devices, but that was common for me with micro USB. There were also devices I had that took mini USB.
Now most of the different mini USB devices are gone, but I still have devices that need micro USB. Right not, that's my third party Xbox controllers I inherited and use for PC games. Tandem's T-slim insulin pump was also behind when we got them. Charging the pumps or using the controllers now means we are scrambling for an "old charger."
The letters correspond to the physical connector. The rectangle one everyone knows is A, B is the square connector usually used with printers and other accessories. C is a small, oval connector, and the first one that can be plugged in “upside down” because it’s symmetrical.
C is now common on phones and tablets and other smaller devices. If the connector is ovalish but even smaller and weirdly shaped, that’s one of the mini/micro USB variants and you need to find the right cable to match.
(If you have a USB C cable and i won’t fit into the oval connector because it’s too big, that’s Lightning made by Apple before C existed and is only found on their devices. You have to get a cable with Lightning on at least one end.)
Not much. There was USB 3.0 even before the USB-C, so bandwidth-wise it's hasn't been a game changer. Over the years I've used a bunch of phones and other devices with Micro USB Type B and I've had one or two cables fail, but not at the connector. In fact the mouse I'm still using has Micro USB for charging and it's been fine.
Edit: I'm not saying it's not good; it is, but I consider it an incremental improvement, not a game changer. A game changer for me would be a standardised interface with a magnetic connector for example.
166 Comments
Amputret@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 65 pts · 1y
Compared to USB-A, not really that much of a game changer (it’s still the most common for me). Though I do not miss the three rotations to get it in.
Compared to Micro-USB? Holy fuck, I almost refuse to buy anything still using Micro-USB ported now. Mainly because I can’t never find the fucking cable for it.
superkret@feddit.org · 1 pts · 1y
The holes point up or to the right.
papalonian@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y
But like.. not always. Wall adapters (at least US ones) can be plugged in upside down, so if that's upside down the holes face down. I have a 3d printer who's motherboard is mounted on the top of the chassis, flipping the USB port so that it's "upside down". A lot of cheap dual-USB chargers that have the two USB ports right next to each other have them mirrored, so one faces up and the other faces down.
Granted, I've always found the "argh USB!!!" frustration to be more a meme than anything; when I'm plugging in a USB device, I likely know what orientation the male side is (flash drives and the like are usually oriented the same way), and it takes half a second of paying attention when going to plug it in to look at the female port to see what direction it's meant to go in.
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 1y
so many of my devices have the ports installed upside down
pastermil@sh.itjust.works · 56 pts · 1y
I think the real game changer here is the USB-PD. I now only bring a single charger for both my laptop and my phone. Also, a lot of different laptops now charge with USB-C, getting rid of the need of different plugs.
Props to the Thinkpad USB-C retrofit hack. Granted they only work with 65w, but it is still great! My Anker Nano GaN charger is only a little bit larger than an ice cube, definitely smaller than most traditional USB charger, yet it packs 65w.
iii@mander.xyz · 6 pts · 1y
What does GaN stand for in that context?
pastermil@sh.itjust.works · 17 pts · 1y
Galium Nitride. It makes high current DC stuff more efficient (i.e. generates less heat) and requires less circuitry (i.e. smaller devices).
iii@mander.xyz · 4 pts · 1y
Thank you
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 1y
QuarterSwede@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
I have that GaN brick it’s fantastic and makes the original Thinkpad one look huge.
RagnarokOnline@programming.dev · 43 pts · 1y
Fucking awesome, it is. When I travel, I take 1 laptop power cord. Charges my phone, laptop, Switch, and backup battery. (The backup battery’s output ports are USB-A, but it’s got a lil converter cable that stays in the lil bag that the backup battery is stored in.)
BruceTwarzen@lemm.ee · 11 pts · 1y
It's the best. So much so that not having usb c, has become a deciding factor if i buy something or not. It also seems a bit of a quality insurance, even if it's just a little. But electronics with micro or even mini usb is usually just some cheap shit or that old and they are still selling it.
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 29 pts · 1y
Usbc-pd is an absolute game changer as an off grid person. The fact a 100w charger can act as a dc to dc converter with up to five output voltages, at up to 100 watts is crazy. And that the protocol automatically detects and communicates the proper voltage is very convinent. The problem is that usbc-pd 100w chargers are expensive and you need to know what you are doing if you want to diy power appliances with it.
Its really nice to have a standardized cable that just works and can be plugged in both ways. We really are approaching a Universaal Cable after a quarter century of RnD.
pastermil@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 1y
I'm curious as to what exactly you do with it as an off-grid person, and what you mean by DC-to-DC converter.
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 1y
Im happy to explain pastermil. So first off let's talk power.
Electrical Power Systems
Most off-grid electrical systems have a few major components.
A device that generates electrical energy
A battery that stores excess electrical energy for later
A charge controller which regulates the incoming raw electrical power from the generator as it charges up the battery, and smooths out the battery energy output
A power distribution interface which allows for connecting appliances to the batteries in a safe standardized way.
My particular electric system has a 200w 28v solar panel for power generation, two 20ah lifepo4 batteries connected to double capacitance, and the charge controller doubles as a very basic interface with two usba slots and a car cigarette port.
AC vs DC
Now let's talk about AC and DC. Theres essentially two kinds of electrical power people deal with.
The difference between Alternating Current and Direct Current is in the way the power flows. Direct current moves in a straight path. Alternating current moves power back and forth in three perfectly spaced cycles.
AC The one most people are more familiar with is AC power. it comes to your home from power plants through power lines and transformer boxes. You move around extension cords and plug the three prong outlets into a wall.
Alternating Current (three phase) power is very easy to transmit long distance however its very high voltage. So only certain power hungry devices like kitchen appliances, washing machines, dryers and AC compressors use it directly. Most of your consumer home devices need to convert AV power down into more manageable DC power.
DC Offgrid electrical systems with batteries are Direct Current by nature. All your power comes from the battery banks. The power moves straight from battery terminal negative to positive. It flows right through your appliances in one way out the other.
The battery banks tend to be arranged into 12v, 24v, or 48v depending on the systems power draw and transmission needs.
The popular standards for delivering direct current are:
5v 2.4a usb (15 watts)
12v 10a car cigarette plugs (120 watts, can be rated to supply 24v fused 15a I believe though not common at all)
circular dc barrel plug connectors, the most common size is 5.5mmx2.5mm but there are dozens if not hundreds of slightly different barrel plugs. Part of what makes usb so great is reducing arbitrary manufacturing complexity like this.
usbc-pd various voltages depending on charger, cable, and device at up to 100w for current protocol.
solar quick connects tend to be for connecting and transmitting high voltage DC power to charge controllers and power banks. Its worth mentioning but not that relevant to what were talking about.
Most consumer devices in your home dont actually use wall outlet AC power directly, it uses wall power thats been converted and stepped down to DC power.
Desktop computer power supplies, Laptops, monitors, vaporizers, led lights, DVD players, audio speakers, your phone. everything that can powered by usb and batteries. Everything that has barrel plug inputs and power bricks plugging into it.
If you look closely on the power bricks plugged into the appliance you'll see that it has an input and output voltage rating. The input tends to be 120vac here in america 240v over the pond, and the output tends to be either 5v, 9v, 12v, 15v or 20v DC usually up to 5 amps.
Device vs Voltage Examples
Laptops and computer monitors tend to be 20v, fast charging smart phones and the Nintendo switch docked are 15v, very bright home LED lights can be bought that are powered at 12v directly, the ps2 could be powered with 9v, and most usb devices charge at standard 5v. Would you like to guess which voltage profiles the USBC-PD protocol is capable of? Its all of them.
Energy Conversion Efficency Losses
Now let's discuss energy efficiency. Converting from AC to DC eats up some of your power. So does converting from DC to AC. And its not small losses either, each time you convert its about a 15% total loss in efficency.
This loss through conversion doesn't matter when you pay cents on a kilowatt and have unlimited power at the tap. It adds up very quickly when you have a limited power supply and every watt hour counts.
Let's say I want to power a laptop on my offgrid DC system and my only means of powering it is the AC power brick cable that it came with. I would need to:
Add these up and you get 30-40% of your power eaten away by this needless double converting. Wouldnt it be really nice if we could convert the battery DC voltage directly to the appliance DC voltage without those power hungry inverters and transformers?
What DC-to-DC Converters Are
Thats where dc to dc converters come in. They can convert one DC voltage to another. They still introduce efficency loss but way way less only 10% total.
Traditionally you would hope your device had a commercially available 3rd party travel adapter for 12v car batteries. The dc to dc converter is built in and uses car plug.
If you were SOL you has to wire up boost converters to raise up voltage and add resistors in series to lower it. You ever try to wire and solder your own circuts before? Its a tedious experience. Imagine doing that for each device voltage. Oh wait, you dont have to. Here's what that looks like.
A USBC-pd 100w charger that plugs into a cigarette port or is built into a power bank can convert a batteries 12vDC into 5v, 9v, 12v 15v, and 20v dynamically depending on the device.
Do you know how magical that is? How much trouble that saves when it comes to mcguyvering a DC appliance that only came with AC cable to supply proper power directly? All I need is a 10$ usbc-pd to barrel plug cable that manually selects the voltage needed and some barrel plug adapter bits to fit into the appliance. Energy efficent and simple wiring. All the dynamic controller stuff is abstracted away in a safe way. Powerful enough to deliver 100 watts of power, and its going to be more powerful over time.
panicnow@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y
Hi! You seem knowledgeable about this stuff, so if you can answer a question. I have an older Jackery power station that has a single USB-C PD port. I need more when camping and I have been plugging a AC USB-C charger into one of the AC ports on the power station. From what you wrote that make me think that is not an efficient way due to the conversion from DC to AC to DC. Would I be better off using the DC “Car Charger” port or maybe a USB-C hub of some sort?
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y
Hey there panicnow! I would be happy to help give some input. It is better to avoid firing up the AC inverter whenever possible. If you have a car travel adapter for your devices that plug into the jackeries cigarette plug port that would be better. If you absolutely need more usbc-pd ports for your devices, there is a way to do that given your jackary has one or two of those circular barrel plug outputs that output 12v. Most powersttions should have one or two of them.
If you have one of those barrel plug inputs youre in luck. Go on amazon and buy one of these to turn those jacks into car cigarette plug inputs.
Then get a really nice usbc-pd car charger. I don't actually have one but I like anker and trust their 100w pd charger would be high quality. You can go cheaper if you only need 65w or lower.
panicnow@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y
Thanks so much! I was kind of on that line after I read your earlier comment, but thought I would just ask. My jackery doesn’t have barrel plug outputs—just inputs. But it does have a 12V, 10A cigarette plug port. I’ll get an anker car charger like you suggested and use that.
Blaze@feddit.org · 7 pts · 1y
Great explanation, FYU I just posted this to !bestoflemmy@lemmy.world
shalafi@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Is DC why my 12V water pump doesn't run but the LED bulbs on the same circuit are fine? The pump is by the creek and I'm thinking it can't pull enough amps over the length of the run. Working on that today.
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y
One of DCs main issues is transmission distance. Its hard to say for your case without details but its a good possibility. If you have a volt meter and know how to use it check the voltage at the start of the run and compare it to the end of the run and see how much the voltage has dropped. If your trying to push 12v over 20-30ft I would say theres a good chance of it being too little voltage over too far a length. Wire diameter is also a factor if its very small gauge wiring.
shalafi@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
No voltage drop, but it's an easy 80', maybe 100, maybe even a little more. Hard to say as it cuts through the woods.
Picked up an old Fluke at the store, I'll try an figure out how to read amps.
Fermion@feddit.nl · 2 pts · 1y
Did you measure voltage drop across the pump while it's trying to start up? The voltage will only drop when there's current being drawn. So with the pump off you would see full supply volts even on a highly resistive line. You could try lugging a battery down to the pump, and jump it to get it started, then remove the battery jumpers but keep the pump running on your main run, then measure the volts across the pump.
Or you could try to measure the resistance of your wiring with your meter. You would disconnect it from your 12v source, then short the pump side, then measure the ohms across the pair at the source side. Also measure the resistance across your pump windings when it is disconnected, but with the switch on.
I'll throw out some example numbers. Say you have a pump that says it needs 6 Amps. Chances are the inrush current is more like 12A. If you measure across the terminals with the pump disconnected from power with the switch closed, you might measure around 1 Ohm. Now if you measure your very long supply line and get 2 Ohms. Then you would only get 12V/(1+2 )Ohms = 4 Amps through the whole system. With the pump drawing 4 Amps you would only see 4V at the pump terminals when it is already running.
aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com · 2 pts · 1y
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
Hey aubeynarf think you are talking about something like this.
Its a special usbc-pd to 5.5x2.5 barrel jack with manually selectable voltage. You just plug it into a pd charger and select the voltage of the device. The rest is finding a barrel plug to barrel plug adapter that plugs into your device. Hope this helps.
aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com · 2 pts · 1y
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
If your device happens to be 18-20v you can get a usbc-pd laptop connector with a dc barrel jack output. It has the USBC-PD chip built into it to tell the charger to output 20v and you can probably hunt down barrel adapter bits. Your regular 65-100w rated usbc cord plugs in like anything else.
The other voltages are tough theres not really a consumer market for 15v or 9v specific usbcPD to barrel things.
pastermil@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1y
I appreciate that you're really thorough, both with that explaination as well as the implementation in the first place.
I guess I've never give it much thought. I mean, I'm familiar with electricity, but I'm paying dirt cheap for it.
One more question: How do you do your lighting? Most light fixtures I know are using e27 bulbs, which are AC powered. I know the LED panels requires driver circuits between them and the main, theoretically they probably could live off your DC straight-up, but they're generally a pain to work with.
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
Thanks. Lighting has been an ongoing puzzle I'm figuring out. I originally went with rechargeable Luci light it was really nice warm bright lighting but expensive and failed within a season. Currently I'm using a cheap 5v plastic led light bulb that plugs into regular usba slot. Its enough to see what you are doing comfortably. But really the average person whos used to house bulbs including me wants the luxury of bright lighting. For now I've been firing up the AC inverter to run a nice lamp. However I have been considering making my own 12v light fixture with 12v e26 bulbs that plugs into either car cig plug or usbc-pd.
In this picture is marked all the parts of an LED circuit that convert AC Into DC. It takes up about 40% of the board. Its much easier to power LEDs directly.
entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org · 2 pts · 1y
Why not use rechargeable lanterns, like this one?
Smokeydope@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
Hey entropicdrift good question. Those kinds of lanterns are expensive and complicated electronics with a definitive life expectancy. The lantern you linked is over 20$ for a single unit.
Most of those kinds of lanterns use a non replaceable rechargeable lithium battery built inside it that will only last about 500 charge cycles give or take before degrading. That is, if you are lucky and one of the other cheap mass produced quickly assembled electrical components doesn't fry first.
In the long term I deem its more cost efficient to take a page from the home lighting industry. Simply create a light fixture with easily and cheaply replaceable bulbs. A pack of 4 12v-24v bulbs cost less than that lantern and I like the warm lighting.
Its also a simple matter to convert any lamp fixture into one that can interface with my power system. Cut off the AC plug and replace it with a male cigarette plug. The trick is knowing thst you have to buy the right kinds of bulbs.
So when the 12v led bulbs do eventually burn out its a cheap single 5$ bulb that and a minute to replace it. I would rather put a broken bulb than yet another expensive lantern in the landfill.
Apotential benefit if I choose to power it with usbc-pd instead is variable dimmable lighting based on voltage level if the bulb is 12-24v.
entropicdrift@lemmy.sdf.org · 2 pts · 1y
Thank you! Very enlightening (heh)
lnxtx@feddit.nl · 22 pts · 1y
So far it's a mess.
I still have Micro USB devices, so I need two cables or USB-C→Micro USB adapter.
I have PCs without USB-C ports, so another adapter needed USB-C → USB-A.
But, I can now "dock" my new-ish laptop with only one USB-C ↔ USB-C cable to a monitor.
Monitor gives power.
maccentric@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
If your PC has PCIE slots you can get a USB-C card for around $25
lnxtx@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 1y
Make sense, thanks.
chaosCruiser@futurology.today · 3 pts · 1y
I’m still in the messy stage, but I’ve made preparations for C. Pretty soon I’ll get a newer used phone and tablet, and they’re both going to be type C.
Currently I have a few things that use C, so I’ve already got some cables and chargers for them. Once the transition is complete, I’ll get rid of a bunch of old cables.
Steve@startrek.website · 17 pts · 1y
Not at all, its slightly more convenient.
BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 1y
If all cables were created equal then it's kind of a big deal that laptops can now charge via USB-C. Proprietary chargers can suck my ass.
thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 1y
It’s been more of a pain in the arse than initially expected.
Most motherboards (for example) only have 2-4 USB-C ports, meaning that I still need to employ A-C and C-C cables for peripherals etc.
My main gripe is that the standard just tries to do too many things without clear delineation/markings:
Is it a USB 2.0 (480Mbit), 5Gbit, 10Gbit or 20Gbit cable? Can’t really tell from the plug alone.
More importantly, for charging devices: How the heck do I determine maximum wattage I can run?
For all its faults, at least the blue colour of a USB-3.0 plug (or additional connectors for B/Micro) made it easy to differentiate !
Now I’m eyeing up a USB Cable tester just to validate and catalogue my growing collection! 🤦🏻♂️
brbposting@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 1y
Great idea, and then:
thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1y
I was actually thinking coloured O rings to define specs, but that still means I’d need to have a colours guide somewhere too..
..yours might be a more practical solution. 🤔
brbposting@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
You could fit some key numbers and letters on those O rings, I like it!
tetris11@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 1y
I wonder about this too. Can I plug my laptop's USB-C charger into my phone? Or is that a big nono
thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 1y
Yes, you can. The charger and the device communicate between one another what they can support, and pick the highest one they both agree on.
E.G. my laptop charger can charge at full speed (100W) for my MacBook, but only at 20W for my iPhone.
That bit is pretty straightforward and transparent to end users (there are a few rare conditions where devices might not agree on the fastest, and have to fall back to a slower one); the issue is more with cables not having sufficient gauge wire, or missing connections that prevent the charger and device from communicating their full functionality.
pastermil@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 1y
Should be okay, that USB-PD would detect the correct voltage and current.
Klanky@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 1y
I charge by Bluetooth headphones ‘pod’ with my Steam Deck charger and it seems to be ok.
MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 1y
The deck charger uses USB PD. It will charge anything that supports the standard as fast as possible (up to its rated 65W) and use normal 5v USB for everything else.
MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 1y
Yes.
ultrahamster64@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
It's even more annoying that there are different possible pinouts in the port itself without clear labling. So always use the one cable that came with the peripheral, or you have a chance to fry it
MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 1y
For the power matter, you don't. The device being charged, the charger, and cable does.
If you mean what is the maximum wattage that will actually be used, that should be the maximum possible between the charger, cable, and device. So look at their specs. Whichever has the lowest maximum, is what the others will match.
USB PD defines a protocol for the device and charger to determine max safe power. If the cable is replacable (not attached to the charger), it must be rated for PD and be able to tell the charger it can handle more than just the usual 5 volts at 2 amps.
USB PD chargers only output the maximum safe amount of power. That's why I can use my 65W steamdeck charger to charge my phone if I want to. It just outputs normal USB charger power if the device on the other end can't verify it can handle more.
It's also why my SteamDeck charger is what I use to fast charge my phone, because it can actually talk to it using the USB PD protocol to request the voltage and amps it needs to fast charge.
thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
To clarify; I have a 100W Ugreen Nexode 4 Port USB Charger that I use to charge my laptop (~60W), Steam Deck (~40W), iPhone (~20W) and AirPods (~5?W).
The problem is if my original product cable has gone walkabout temporarily and I need to use a random one to stand in - there is no clear way of telling if I’m accidentally using a 5W-max cheap cable to try and keep my laptop charged while working.
Obviously there are some context clues depending on cable thickness etc., but with how common cosmetic braiding is becoming a thing - even that’s getting harder to rely on.
MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 1y
Some kind of cable labeling would be nice.
UnityDevice@startrek.website · 3 pts · 1y
Just recently I had a tech store guy gently but repeatedly insist to me that a certain USB cable was a USB 3 cable because it was type C on both ends. I didn't wanna argue with him, but the box clearly said "480 Mbit", so it was just a type C charging cable.
Of course the box designers were hoping you'd make that mistake so they didn't write USB 2 on there, just the speed. And most boxes won't even have that, you'll just have to buy it and see.
But I mean if someone who spent their whole life fixing computers can get something that basic wrong, then it's really a hopeless situation for anyone who isn't techy.
And of course once it's out of the box it's anyone's guess what it is. It's a real mess for sure.
nichtburningturtle@feddit.org · 13 pts · 1y
A big one. No more brittle micro usb, which would eventually become loose and start falling out when charging. Being able to charge my laptop using my phone charger is also good.
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 1y
That's impressive, how many watts is your phone charger? I would have assumed you could do the opposite but thought the laptop would have laughed when you attached a small stream to it.
nichtburningturtle@feddit.org · 3 pts · 1y
I use an old phone charger, when working outside my home. My goal when using it is to keep the charge/uncharge ratio positive. Tho when at home my devices share a 100W charger.
COASTER1921@lemmy.ml · 12 pts · 1y
With a laptop and phone which both can use it my backpack while travelling is so much lighter and less bulky. For me it absolutely was a game changer, I just don't like that I need to carry a USB a to C adapter for all the legacy USB A ports.
Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 1y
Works great, rarely have issues with the port breaking unlike prior small usb standards, it's nice how ubiquitous it is so I have way less random cable connectors around.
iii@mander.xyz · 10 pts · 1y
So much harder to solder, making repairing my stuff more difficult :(
Also, a USB cable is no longer a USB cable. Now I have to guess what the rated wattage was, if it's power only/data only/mixed.
All in all, a step back in my opinion.
tetris11@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 1y
Thats interesting - how many wires are in the actual sleeve, compared to an older USB?
iii@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 1y
12 in USB-C (1).
4 in previous USB specs. (2). If the device just needed power, no data transfer, you would just use 2 of those 4.
tetris11@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 1y
Oh wow, yeah that must indeed be a pain to solder. Though I guess there's some redundancy built-in, such that if one wire goes down the cable can still deliver something?
iii@mander.xyz · 4 pts · 1y
You guessed wrong! If one is misconnected the whole thing breaks down :) It's a nightmare for repairability, as the plug is often the first thing to fail
UnityDevice@startrek.website · 2 pts · 1y
The receptacle is the issue - it can have up to 24 pins (though usually it's 12ish), all bunched up in just a slightly larger space than on a micro usb receptacle which has 4 pins. So it takes some good skill to replace.
FooBarrington@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
Power only/power and data already existed with Micro USB, so that part didn't get too much worse.
snowfalldreamland@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 1y
Power only USBC cables are super against the standard and i don't think data only cables can exist at all?
spacemanspiffy@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 1y
Its convenient and superior to Micro. But mostly its just nice that both mine ans my wife's phone uses the same cord.
dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de · 9 pts · 1y
Last week I found out that there are off-brand batteries for my DSLR cameras that can be charged directly through USB-C so I don't have to pack a different charger for every camera. Let that sink in!
Overall pretty great, in a pinch I can charge my laptop on a Nintendo Switch power supply. Now if I could just upgrade the last few remaining Micro-USB and Lightning devices without spending a fortune...
leftzero@lemmynsfw.com · 8 pts · 1y
Not as much as going from coax to RJ45, or from PATA to SATA, or from PC/AT to PS/2 to USB or Bluetooth, or from D-SUB to DVI to HDMI or Display port, or from the old serial and parallel ports to USB or Bluetooth (I mainly skipped SCSI), and I sort of miss having to turn the connector 360° around for it to fit...
loutr@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 1y
I went through all of these, and honestly plugging in a single cable into your laptop and having power, external display, network and input peripherals all connect instantly is pretty damn cool.
jadedwench@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 1y
Like others, USB-PD is amazing. My monitor has 90W which is plenty for my laptops. Gaming laptop, not so much. The only device I have that isn't USBC/Thunderbolt is the damn mouse. I rarely ever need a USB A port for anything other than charging. Even my flash drives are all USBC.
I have been able to use 1 charger for almost everything for several years now. Sometimes I have a finicky device that doesn't like the high wattage PD chargers and will only trickle charge, but work fine with my other smaller charger. The GaN chargers are nice and compact. I break USBC cables a lot less often, but that is because I am a walking disaster most of the time. I would break micro USB cables constantly, or rip the ports to pieces.
One note though on USBC ports on a monitor. Beware using the really really stiff cables on ports that are positioned where the cable would be parallel to the table instead of the port pointing down. That port will definitely wear out or break entirely from the constant downward force and lack of support of the cable in the port. This is especially true if you use a monitor arm and the cable gets moved. Seen this on both Samsung and LG. My Dell points downward. I really like the pro PS5 controllers as it comes with a little cage that holds the USBC cable in place and protects the port from exactly that scenario. These monitors absolutely need something like that, especially with how expensive they are.
superkret@feddit.org · 8 pts · 1y
I was pretty fucking disappointed how flimsy the jacks are.
I've had 3 phones and a laptop I had to replace because the USB-C jack started to wiggle and wouldn't connect anymore.
TheRealKuni@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y
Is it the jack itself that’s wiggling, or the plug won’t stay in the socket and wiggles too much?
If it’s the latter, take a staple and bend it straight, and VERY GENTLY drag it round inside the port, avoiding contacts, scraping out the lint and dust that has almost certainly become impacted at the base of it over time. I do this whenever cables don’t want to stay in anymore and it’s amazing how much of a difference it makes.
I have had one example of the port itself becoming loose, but mostly I’ve run into the lint/dust problem.
wootey@feddit.org · 6 pts · 1y
Probably better to use a toothpick in that case.
TheRealKuni@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Toothpicks aren’t usually thin enough in my experience, and I’m more worried about the tongue getting bent by the toothpick than I am about the bottom of the port getting scratched by a staple. But I agree a staple isn’t ideal, it’s just the common item I’ve found that works best. I’m sure there are better tools.
Maltese_Liquor@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
I find the plastic floss picks work really well because they are flatter than regular tooth picks. It has to be the type where the back part is a pick as that's the part that I use.
Scripplet@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
The short end of a cable tie also works supprisingly well if you've got any around.
Defectus@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
The lint problem! The first time when my phone started acting up when charging I thought it was the USB jack that have worn out. Then I tried cleaning it with a needle. Still can't believe how much lint can fit in a USB-C socket.
TheRealKuni@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Right? It’s wild how much comes out!
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 1y
Really hasn't been much of one. I still own devices that charge from MicroUSB, a lot of peripherals are still USB-A, there hasn't been any significant movement by the industry overall to move everything to C, so mostly it means I just need to carry more cables.
kreiger@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Nitpick, there are no devices that charge with an USB-A port. USB-A is the side that supplies power, the side receiving power is USB-B.
USB-C did away with the distinction.
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
True, but keyboards, mice, wireless adapters etc. haven't moved to C yet. I use PCs and desktop peripherals and industry adoption if USBC has basically stopped 1/4 of the way in.
wolfpack86@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
And how would you describe a wired keyboard or web cam with a hard wired connection to the device and only a USB-A end?
Your nitpick is not warranted. He never said charge with A.
DragonsInARoom@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Not really, can't plug a type a into a c port
JaymesRS@literature.cafe · 1 pts · 1y
I have a flashlight/sd card based mp3 player/bluetooth speaker/FM Radio/backup battery that charges with an A->A cable.
It’s this Product, with a different branding: https://a.co/d/94y3lxc
Anticorp@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y
It's nice that my phone charges quickly, but otherwise I don't notice. It's just one more cable type I need to search for.
Valmond@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
Charges faster, but also doesn't break all the time!
Anticorp@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
I've actually had the opposite experience with USB-C. It seems to break all the time. I've talked about it online though, and it appears that I'm the only person experiencing that. Perhaps I just had a rush of bad luck with cables and devices.
Valmond@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
I buy mine on aliexpress ... Whete do you get yours 😅?
Anticorp@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
Amazon
Valmond@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
The jungle?
Jk ;-)
TheRealKuni@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
USB-C ports are especially prone to dust/lint buildup that can prevent the plugs from seating properly in the ports. Worth trying to scrape them out if they stop working right. I like to use a staple that I’ve unbent, but it has been pointed out this probably isn’t the safest tool. Just avoid the contacts and only scrape the bottom and sides of the port. It’s amazing how much crap comes out if you’ve been using the device for a while.
Anticorp@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
I've done that using a floss pick, but nothing ever comes out. I think the cables are just crap, or this Pixel Phone has an issue with the port which shorts out all of the cables eventually. I had to exchange my first Pixel phone because the USB port completely stopped working. This one seems like it might have some other issue.
2ugly2live@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y
It was great!
I could get rid of a lot of "extra" cords. I can just keep one usb c and charge my phone, my mouse, and headphones with one cord. Shoot, I can even charge my controllers now too. I like that they're becoming like outlets. Like, this is just how you get power to the device(S). Without searching for the "right" cord all the time.
Libb@jlai.lu · 6 pts · 1y
Not at all a game changer, for me.
I mean, it's just another and one more type of cable. Sure, in theory it's simpler than many various cables and it's even less stupid than the previous USB types, but it's still a mess.
At least, for non-geek me, those cables are a mess as I need to be able to distinguish between the exact same cable to find which one is USB-C or Thunderbolt, between the various versions of USB-C itself, and then between USB-C that comes with or without power delivery, and with what power limitation? And then, despite USB-C supposedly being a standard there are still too many cables that just won't work with certain devices because reasons.
Add to that the many USB-C docks (and dongles) that work... more or less reliably and more or less as marketed (even more so under Linux, but those issues exist under Mac and under Windows as well).
Older cables and ports were cumbersome, and thick and whatever but, as far as I'm concerned, for the most part they just worked like they were supposed to. And I never had an issue knowing which cable to plug into which port as they all looked, you know, different.
Nowadays, I have to label each one of my USB-C cable with some masking tape so I can identify it in a glimpse without wasting my time trying them all one by one.
Edit: some clarifications.
veniasilente@lemm.ee · 6 pts · 1y
It changed my economy game.
Now I have to buy an USB-C to USB-A adaptor to plug USB-C stuff into my already standing devices. Honestly, no idea why didn't they make it connector-compatible. Wasn't that the entire point of the "U" in "USB"?
Toes@ani.social · 7 pts · 1y
They really wanted to put an end to this meme.
But manufacturers wanted a micro usb replacement and this is what we got.
veniasilente@lemm.ee · 2 pts · 1y
Wow hadn't seen that image in a good while!
QuarterSwede@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
They did make USB-A cables that had a universal (up and down) connector near the end. Got one with my JBL Flip. There is a middle piece that moves to one side or the other depending on how you plug it in.
Toes@ani.social · 2 pts · 1y
Oh that's cool. I wonder how good its endurance is.
FooBarrington@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
Pretty much no way to do so without losing most USB-C benefits.
veniasilente@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 1y
What are those benefits? The only potential one I have direct experience with (besides speed) is that the connector is reversible, but even that's small-time and a flat out objective downgrade compared to the circular connectors of the 90s, which could be plugged in regardless of orientation.
FooBarrington@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
IIUC USB-C puts less mechanical stress on the port and more on the cable connector, so instead of the port breaking the cable should break.
Circular connectors wouldn't be backwards-compatible either, and would be much harder to manufacture at the size of USB-C. I actually can't think of circular connectors with more than 2 data channels that can be plugged in in any rotation - do you have an example? All the ones I can think of (PS/2, XLR) have a set orientation.
conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1y
Because USB-A sucks donkey balls and needed to die in a fire.
veniasilente@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 1y
Sure, if you want; as long as whoever does that retrofits all my USB-A devices.
conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 1y
You can, trivially, with a handful of very small, completely unobtrusive adapters.
There is literally nothing redeemable about USB A's design.
TheRealKuni@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
Nah, the point of the “U” in “USB” is so that devices communicate in a standardized way through a standardized bus. The port itself doesn’t need to be universal—after all, USB-C is I believe the first time that the host port and the device port are the same, previously there was always an A for host and B for device, even with mini-USB and micro-USB.
Defectus@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y
It's pretty convenient. Now I can take my soldering iron and my power tool battery (with SN USB-C adaptor) and solder wherever the fuck I want
Vanth@reddthat.com · 6 pts · 1y
I certainly like it better, it's an improvement, but "game changer" is strong. I'm slowly replacing gadgets to USB C through attrition. The charge port has ceased to be the failure point for any of the gadgets I own. My pile of spare cables is still excessive, but moving further back in my storage closet because I need them less and less.
stoy@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 1y
For charging, it's fine, I have equipment to do some mid level testing of how much power a USB cable can transmit, I can also verify if a charger supports quick charge and other charging protocols.
For data transfer, it's frustrating, you gotta find the cables that are not just USB2 with a USB-C connector.
Then you have thunderbolt, which is even more expensive....
VirusMaster3073@lemmy.autism.place · 5 pts · 1y
I like its reversibility and faster speeds compared to MicroUSB. Being in the USA where everyone has iPhones though, it was hard to bum chargers from other people (before the iPhone 15 anyway)
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 1y
Was strange that they had the USB c connector on the MacBooks and the iPads before the iPhones, making USB-C to lighting cables seemed frivolous
tal@lemmy.today · 5 pts · 1y
Well, for me, the selling points are:
Versus earlier versions of USB, it's reversible. This isn't a game changer, I guess, but it's definitely nice to not have to fiddle plugs around all the time.
I don't know if it's the only form of USB that does USB PD -- I'd guess not -- but in practice, it seems to be pretty strongly associated with USB PD. Having USB PD isn't essential, but it makes charging larger devices, like laptops, a lot more practical. I can lug around a power station that doesn't need to have an embedded inverter.
I still feel that it's kind of physically small and weak compared to USB A. That's an okay tradeoff for small portable devices that don't have the space for larger connectors, but I'm kinda not enthralled about it on desktop. I worry more about bending connectors (and I have bent them before).
So for me, I'd say that it's definitely nice, but not really in a game changing sense. I could do the things it can do in somewhat-worse ways prior to USB-C.
That_Devil_Girl@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 1y
Personally, I like the iPhone charging port better as there's less that can go wrong with it, but USB-C is pretty good too.
I like that I don't have to orient the cable plug-ins just right. I can flip it over and still plug it in just fine. That's why I don't like mini USB, micro USB, or USB-A
TheRealKuni@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y
Yeah Lightning was really nice. I was surprised how much I liked it after switching from Android to iOS. If only it weren’t proprietary and had too few pins to be very useful outside of charging.
I still hated that my phone didn’t use USB-C though, since everything else I own does. Glad the new iPhones do.
QuarterSwede@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 1y
Lighting’s port is fantastic for its positive fit and finish but USB-C is pretty close as long you don’t get super cheap cables and gear, then they just break after a bit. You get what you pay for.
Aurenkin@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 1y
Total game changer. Plug all my peripherals into my monitor. USB C from my monitor to my work laptop. After work I plug it into my home desktop. Also just having one charger and one cable for my phone, steam deck and laptop is amazing especially for work trips.
AA5B@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
A little disappointing.
I had been pretty well consolidated to just lightning cables for everything. It did what I needed, the connector is small, reversible, easy to use, and it fit most electronics for my family of four. I had built up a nice stable of accessories like power banks and charging blocks that fit everything and hadn’t needed to buy anything new in years.
The switch to USB-C came with great fanfare and seemed like a good idea. However it really doesn’t give me any direct benefits and I have to buy all new accessories. Now I’m in a transition mode for a few years where I need usb-c, usb-a, and lightning cables and chargers. Worst of all the market that I kept being told was leaving behind still has more support for usb-a - my laptop has mostly usb-a, even new model motherboards for building my kids gaming computers are mostly usb-a, I don’t see a good selection of usb-c chargers, power banks are still mostly usb-a, keyboards and mice are usb-a, kvms are usb-a, etc
Trying to switch to usb-c has meant more cable types rather than fewer. It has meant buying duplicate chargers and it has meant less convenience where usb-c is not really mainstream yet. Hopefully the market will more fully adopt usb-c quickly but I meant to be a late adopter to this transition and feel almost like an early adopter
WalnutLum@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 1y
USB-C is pin-compatible with every single other USB plug, so you should be able to get away with all USBC cables and some adapters for whatever plug type you're trying to plug in.
There are only 3 types of pin sets, USB-C(USB 3.0 pins + 3 extra pins), USB-3.0(USB 1.0 + 5 extra pins) and USB-2.0 and lower. Everything else version wise is the controller on the actual board, not the cable.
Cable-wise you only need one to get the benefit of every other plug on the market.
AA5B@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Adapters have their place, and I do have a few, but they’re no cheaper than cables and a bit annoying.
QuarterSwede@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
The failure of pc manufacturers to move to C quickly is sad. Apple has moved over quicker. That says a lot.
Magister@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Except maybe some devices (like IoT) that are powered up by an always plugged micro-usb, my cellphone is USB-C for a long time now, and my laptop has 3 USB-C/TB (no A), so it's easier for a couple of stuff. But I have a usb-c hub with multiple USB-A outlet because I still have a couple of devices to plug like keyboard, trackball, webcam, headset, UPS, FTDI stuff, etc.
No more micro-USB plugging/unplugging for phones.
The prob with usb-c is mainly for powering hungry devices, you need 60W cable, 100W cable, 240W cable, etc.
QuarterSwede@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 1y
JSAUX makes a great 240W cable that’s fairly priced and has 240W printed on the ends. It’s stiff but that’s because it’s actually gauged for 240W. I just decided to buy those in blue for anything that required more watts than mobile devices. Then I get at least 30W rated cables in red for all the mobile stuff. Super easy to know which is which at a glance.
Magister@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
I get my 60w and 100w cable at Ikea, they meet world standards and I trust them.
umbraroze@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
I don't think I've had a single USB-C cable/connector/socket fail yet. Which can't be said of Micro-USB.
But other than that, meh.
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 1y
The stability of Mini USB I liked most. Plug a PS3 controller in 100 times and it always seemed solid. Micro USB was flimsy, but I wish the would have done usb-c like the lightning connector and made it solid. I would think it would last longer that way, but I never owned an iPhone so I could be wrong. Those could be more prone to snapping, like palm trees vs pine tree.
Zeoic@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
I broke 1 mini USB on my Blue Yeti over a decade ago, but no port would have been able to survive that torque, lol. Other than that, it's usually rock solid
SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 1y
I've seen multiple people snap lightning plugs. Never seen a broken USBC plug yet
JaymesRS@literature.cafe · 2 pts · 1y
I work in a school with a 1 to 1 Chromebook program. I see them pretty regularly, mostly they are just bent hard and stop working, but I’ve seen some pretty impressive destruction.
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 1y
Yeah, nothing's unbreakable. I once saw a kid shove a whole ham sandwich into a cd/optical drive. People do weird stuff. It probably would have worked afterwards too if someone cleaned the mustard off the lens. Never checked, as even back in 2006 it was rare to put CDs in school computers. The age of flash drives has already arrived.
Skyline969@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 1y
Now that I upgraded to an iPhone with USB-C, I enjoy the convenience of having one cable for everything. Charging, connecting a display temporarily, data transfer, one cable. Never had a Mac so I didn’t get in on the Lightning to Lightning shenanigans, but I do prefer Lightning over USB-C. At least a Lightning port is easy to clean.
shatteredsword@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
I agree that lighting ports are easier to clean, but i feel like the connector should be a bit thicker to stop it from breaking.
reddig33@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Not a game changer at all. In fact most of my peripherals still use the older style usb connectors. I’m not planning to run out and buy new everything.
I would like to see appliance chargers switch to USB-C. All these stupid wall warts for electric toothbrushes and shavers are ridiculous.
sbv@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 1y
Now I need to deal with USB-C to micro USB and USB-A for my old devices. Things will be better eventually, I guess, but it's just shifted the annoyance around for now.
My phone is slightly easier to plug in though.
LovableSidekick@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
To me it mostly just meant having to buy more cables. The old ritual of trying a USB connector one way, then the other way, then retrying the first way never took all that long and was actually kind of amusing. And I still use the old cables because I haven't thrown away my old devices that still need them. I only have a few new things that need type C.
errorJerror@vger.social · 4 pts · 1y
Wasn’t a game changer but I’m finally happy to really only need one cable.
DragonsInARoom@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
Not at all, the "biggest change" was with fast charging, but Li-ion batteries hate being at 0 or 100% all the time and fast charging makes it too easy to ovrtcharge to 100, and I've only got 1 device that can do "fast charging speeds" (over 9w). Most of my electronics are a mix of type c and micro to type a. A c - c cable is like with my fast charger is overkill for my application and is inconvenient when the vast majority of charging bricks and plugs have type a charging.
_bcron_@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
MostlyGibberish@lemm.ee · 3 pts · 1y
I bought a high quality USB C charger with a couple nice cables to keep plugged in in my living room. I use it to charge my phone, my girlfriend's phone, my tablet, my laptop, my Switch, and my vape pen. I never have to go looking for another charger and it charges all of those things at a very acceptable rate. I'd qualify that as a game changer.
helmet91@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
blackstrat@lemmy.fwgx.uk · 3 pts · 1y
Game changer? Literally not at all. It's a bit better.
BigBenis@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
USB-C has changed the entire game. It's a completely different game now. It's like Yahtzee vs Uno. Or like Call of Duty vs Microsoft Flight Simulator. Remember playing freeze tag or dodgeball? Well it's not like that anymore. Now it's like playing soccer.
rtxn@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
I despise micro-USB with a passion. Even more than mini-USB. It is so flimsy, it's always been the first thing to die on my wireless devices, including my older phones.
If a device charges through USB, I consider not having USB-C to be a deal breaker. Right now I'm waiting for a USB-C socket breakout panel because I want to convert my Xbox One controller from micro to C.
Aeri@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
It's pretty cool but like all connectors, it fails eventually.
LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 1y
A lower strength more pinned Magsafe type of adapter would have been cool. They would be more costly though so I assume that's why we don't. Reversible, solid, and don't have lose pins to break
BradleyUffner@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
I like it, but not enough stuff uses it yet to be a true game changer. I still have to keep multiples of different types of cables to charge everything.
sunzu2@thebrainbin.org · 2 pts · 1y
Rentlar@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 1y
I like it, I was a USB-micro B cable guy for almost all my electronics. It was a yearlong transition for me to phase it out in favour of USBC, but it was just with upgrading electronics, not because I wanted to ditch the cable format specifically.
Charging and data transfer aspects weren't much of my concern, until I learned about USB-PD and video via USB, that was pretty cool. I like the reversible connector, too many times I jammed the cable in the port the wrong way.
cynar@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
https://youtu.be/wGKxWatPkd0
Summer up how I feel about usb C now.
WashedOver@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 1y
Depends on if it is still using USB 2.0 or 3.0+ standard for data transfer. I love the mostly plug it in way you like option Ivey micro usb, but trying to do photo file transfers from older/cheaper USB C with 2.0 is brutally slow if needed.
Unknown1234_5@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
I like that I can plug it in both ways but it feels really insecure in my devices. I also don't like that people are trying to replace USB A with it bc the smaller, flimsier USB standards are only needed for small devices like phones. Anytime you have the space for the more robust version you should use it.
pewgar_seemsimandroid@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 1y
a bit, reversable charging.
lnxtx@feddit.nl · 1 pts · 1y
But how to select "the charger" and "the load"?
pewgar_seemsimandroid@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 1y
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BlackOrchid@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
I regularly, accidentally, grab a USB-C>USB-C cable instead of USB-A>USB-C. And then I think by myself, I've never had this many cables that don't fit.
Good thing is, I have plenty of USB-C cables of different lengths, most of which I don't know the origin. At least they're in a box in my home and not in a landfill.
SpikesOtherDog@ani.social · 1 pts · 1y
My house has always lagged behind in the newest tech for one reason or another. Usually it's because I end up adopting everyone's old electronics, but sometimes it's because we have old devices for kids.
USB C is better for me because I'm no longer fumbling to connect the charger late at night. I also appreciate that the charger works for other devices, but that was common for me with micro USB. There were also devices I had that took mini USB.
Now most of the different mini USB devices are gone, but I still have devices that need micro USB. Right not, that's my third party Xbox controllers I inherited and use for PC games. Tandem's T-slim insulin pump was also behind when we got them. Charging the pumps or using the controllers now means we are scrambling for an "old charger."
With
TachyonTele@lemm.ee · 1 pts · 1y
How do you know if the cable is a C type of USB?
aeronmelon@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
The letters correspond to the physical connector. The rectangle one everyone knows is A, B is the square connector usually used with printers and other accessories. C is a small, oval connector, and the first one that can be plugged in “upside down” because it’s symmetrical.
C is now common on phones and tablets and other smaller devices. If the connector is ovalish but even smaller and weirdly shaped, that’s one of the mini/micro USB variants and you need to find the right cable to match.
(If you have a USB C cable and i won’t fit into the oval connector because it’s too big, that’s Lightning made by Apple before C existed and is only found on their devices. You have to get a cable with Lightning on at least one end.)
TachyonTele@lemm.ee · 2 pts · 1y
Thank you
otp@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
You look at the ends that plug into stuff
TachyonTele@lemm.ee · 0 pts · 1y
Oh do they have the letter printed on it?
No? Ok thanks.
otp@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 1y
No, but they're very visually distinct from USB-A, USB-B, Mini USB, and Micro USB.
ContrarianTrail@lemm.ee · 0 pts · 1y
No more than any other cable.
kamen@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 1y
Not much. There was USB 3.0 even before the USB-C, so bandwidth-wise it's hasn't been a game changer. Over the years I've used a bunch of phones and other devices with Micro USB Type B and I've had one or two cables fail, but not at the connector. In fact the mouse I'm still using has Micro USB for charging and it's been fine.
Edit: I'm not saying it's not good; it is, but I consider it an incremental improvement, not a game changer. A game changer for me would be a standardised interface with a magnetic connector for example.
lastunusedusername2@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 1y
Reversibility and bandwidth are great. It's just too bad that it's the least robust port ever conceived.
LodeMike@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 1y
???
Its very robust. Take a look at mini and micro USB-b, the lightning cable, etc.
lastunusedusername2@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 1y
I've never used lightning but I've never had a problem with any mini or micro usb connections across many cables and devices.
USB C, though, always feels like it's going to fall out if I move it wrong
LodeMike@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 1y
You are absolutely an outlier then.
USB-C is superior to the connectors I listed in literally every way. The port must be broken or something.
lastunusedusername2@sh.itjust.works · -1 pts · 1y
Amazing coincidence that every usb c port I've used has been an outliet.
Also, you seem really invested in usb c.
reddig33@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
Lightning was designed to put the stress on the cable instead of the port. A lot cheaper to replace a busted cable than getting your device repaired.
toiletobserver@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 1y
Now i only have to flip the usb cable 3 times!