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Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

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Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#211

Post by saluki »

mathewpeterson wrote: post #131
DiabloD3 wrote: post #66

I see no reason why to buy anything but Anker. I once tried to purposely destroy an Anker MicroUSB cable (bought a 5 pack that had three 3ft, one 6ft, one 1ft, didn't need the 1ft), by grabbing the head of it with clamping pliers and yanking the fuck out of it with the cable wrapped around my hand, and bending it to near 180 degrees repeatedly for about 5 minutes. I could not kill it without straight up taking wire c…

Just keep in mind that all these products are mass produced and are subject to imperfections. Really, the only thing that matters is how good their customer support is and Anker is probably better than most but they still have a long way to go. I say this because I had one of their USB power ports that my children use to charge their iPads (2x 4th gen) that overheated and burnt up[1]. I completed the contact form on…

Wow, scary picture, nice tweet to get their attention (love the coloring page in the background). After a tweet like that I would expect any company to quickly refund your money and send you four apple lightning cables along with two of their top of the line power ports. Just to make up for that issue and keep you a happy customer. And possibly get a positive tweet from you.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#212

Post by will_pseudonym »

Benson is doing God's work. Because of him I was able to purchase a USB-C to USB-A cable (the iOrange cable he reviewed), and I learned that Google's own marketing materials were functionally incorrect, which led users to expect 3.0A charging out of the cable from Google (which is out of stock currently), when it technically only charges at 2.4A (if I understand things correctly). This in turn led people to (incorrectly) poorly review the non-Google cables.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#213

Post by excalq »

organsnyder wrote: post #97
DiabloD3 wrote: post #66

I see no reason why to buy anything but Anker. I once tried to purposely destroy an Anker MicroUSB cable (bought a 5 pack that had three 3ft, one 6ft, one 1ft, didn't need the 1ft), by grabbing the head of it with clamping pliers and yanking the fuck out of it with the cable wrapped around my hand, and bending it to near 180 degrees repeatedly for about 5 minutes. I could not kill it without straight up taking wire c…

I've also started buying Anker exclusively. Their chargers work with every device at full-rate, and their cables are decent. I have had the clips break on a couple of MicroUSB cables, including the 1ft from a similar 5-pack. I had my phone attached to a battery pack and stuffed both in my pocket. The stress of bending the cable in strange directions messed up the clips on the cable. Not quite bulletproof, but not bad…

They also make a ridiculously amazing Solar charger array, which when I took across a border to Israel, had the inspectors in serious awe and wishing they could get one as inexpensively as we can in the States.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#214

Post by tempestn »

antihero wrote: post #167
unics wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is good to know. I just bought my first Anker charger a month ago to be able to start my car if needed and to charge my phone. It came with really nice cables which really pleased me and I've been able to test the charger on a strangers truck that happened to be parked next to me in a parking lot. It did great btw. I just happened to stumble onto it on Amazon and thought I'd give them a shot.

Wait, you can use a mobile battery pack to start a fucking vehicle? Was that one of the ones with 12V DC out? How did it have enough current?

Presumably you leave it connected for a while to charge the car battery, and then start.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#215

Post by praneshp »

MichaelGG wrote: post #166
CamperBob2 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, "UPS driver threw package over fence, and it sat in the birdbath for 2 weeks before I found it. Didn't work when I plugged it in. One star." People should have to take an IQ test before being allowed to post reviews.

These are better than Windows Store reviews. Somehow, MS has managed to get comment quality lower than YouTube. One word reviews. Half sentences. Utterly worthless.

Are customers pestered to leave reviews? For example, every time you open the app, it asks you for a rating, etc. That might cause worthless reviews.

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#216

Post by fixermark »

x0x0 wrote: post #194
eloisant wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually this post explains why he's doing that: https://plus.google.com/+BensonLeung/posts/LH4PPgVrKVN It kind of makes sense: he worked on products that use USB-C (Pixel laptops), but if the market is littered with bad cables USB-C will have a bad image which will be bad for the products he worked on. So what he's doing is in the interest in his employer, and for the benefit of the products he worked on. He's not d…

If only there were some way for google to get high quality usb-c cables to customers! Like not charging $13 plus shipping for a 1m cable (a ridiculous profit margin), and keeping them in stock. Or hell, throwing 5 of them in with everything they sell that uses usb-c. I mean, that would have to cost dollars. Whole dollars , on a $500 phone! https://store.google.com/product/usb_type_c_to_usb_standard_...

The fact that the market is full of low-cost USB-C cables that aren't reliable may suggest that the cables cost $13 because it's actually a $13 problem to get it right. ;)

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#217

Post by oaktowner »

phkahler wrote: post #202
bkmartin wrote: post #17

The average consumer has no idea if one of these cables will actually do what they proclaim. The only way to really know is when other customers review the product, which we know is barely useful most of the time due to fraudulent reviews. Great job on the part of this Google engineer for writing such clear and technical reviews of the products. Now that an expert has called some of these cables out as not adhering t…

>> The average consumer has no idea if one of these cables will actually do what they proclaim. Isn't that what standards compliance is supposed to be for? Shouldn't the product have to be tested against the standard in order to get labeled USB X.Y ?? Or doesn't USB have such a requirement?

Who would do the testing?

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#218

Post by lucb1e »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #175

Related: has anyone written reviews of car USB ports, what devices they're capable of charging, and workarounds for charging higher-current devices? Many car USB ports have failure modes similar to those documented in these reviews, and they can't actually deliver high current for charging high-end smartphones, let alone tablets and laptops.

Wait, you can charge/power a laptop over USB?

Re: Google engineer writing Amazon reviews on USB-C cables that don't work

#220

Post by wpietri »

dalke wrote: post #159
larrybud wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? If a product meets your needs, is a fair price, and seems to be working fine after 30 days, you would not give it 5 stars? It would need to perform miracles to get 5 stars?

I love Elizabeth Zwicky's explanation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=C4r... : > "Engineers do not give out 5s. If you tell an engineer that the possible rating scale is 1 to 5 and they like you, they give you a 4. Because tomorrow they might love you and then they would give you a 5. They probably won't, but they might, so they give you a 4 so that they have room. We all are totally okay…

Hah! I definitely do this. And I do it on the other end too, as is documented in the XKCD about 1-10 pain scales: https://xkcd.com/883/
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