Say what you want about USB-C, but it has been a bonanza for dongle sales.
USB Type-C is still a mess
121–130 of 231 posts
Re: USB Type-C is still a mess
#122I always hear how USB-C is such a mess, and everyone agrees - I just wanted to quickly provide a counter anecdote. As a user, who knows nothing about the protocol or the politics or anything else - USB-C works wonderfully for me - I only wish more devices used it.
My laptop plugs into my monitor, provides more USB ports there, and audio out, which feeds into speakers. My dinky phone charger can charge my laptop, which I love. Easier to take around when traveling. No low points for me yet.
Re: USB Type-C is still a mess
#123My highest score answer on superuser.com is about USB C https://superuser.com/a/1200112/41259 and I had this to say after a long list of capabilities: > They really, really should have provided some way to clarify this mess but they didn't. If colors and icons with the big variety and the space constrains are not viable then provide a standard way for software to give a capability list to the user. Or a diagnostics t…
After reading through this thread, I was thinking something similar to what you are proposing is the cleanest way forward (except I was thinking numbers instead of letters). You could even get more clever and use colors, where complementary colors work together.
Couple that with some error messages that mirror what you wrote in the last part of your post in software whenever you plugged in a USB-C device to a connector and I think the standard could be salvaged and even a relative pleasure to use given the background.
Re: USB Type-C is still a mess
#124I remember arguing with people when Type-C was new; they told me it would change the world, I told them it would never work. The problem is... they made everything optional, and thus when a user sees a Type-C port, they have no idea what to expect. Will it work with a device that requires Thunderbolt? Will it drive a DisplayPort monitor? Will this charger charge their laptop? Will this charger charge their phone? The…
Unless some competitor comes and knocks Type-C off the pole position, eventually the odds are implementing more complete Type-C will get easier and easier. Better Type-C chips will come out, get cheaper, & easier to design with. Maybe the chip will even boost your 5V input to supply 20V at low currents. It won't happen in 2018, but by 2020 or 2021, I'm bullish.
Re: USB Type-C is still a mess
#125Just today I setup a Dell monitor (S2718D) to a new Macbook and was the first time I thought USB-C was nice. Out of one cable you charge the Macbook, output video to the monitor and get 2 very welcome USB ports from a hub in the monitor base.
Re: USB Type-C is still a mess
#126I have 3 dongles and one power plugged into my macbook pro right now (ethernet could be optional, external monitor, USB, power). Maybe there will be a nice docking station sometime, but for now, it's dongle city, and picking up the laptop a bit to connect/disconnect each one every time I transition between mobile and desktop-replacement. Maybe something like https://nerdtechy.com/best-usb-c-docking-stations , though…
For MacBook Pro with USB-C ports (that are also Thunderbolt 3) you should look into Thunderbolt 3 docks instead. They are pricey, but do the job really well. Just look for ones that support 85W charging - not all of them do, some are limited to 60W. I use CalDigit TS3 at home and Kensington SD5200T at work - both work really well.
Re: USB Type-C is still a mess
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
What does she do when she has low battery and needs to look at her iPhoto library?
Hasn't happened, to my knowledge. The MacBook has way more battery than she needs. (It's a home computer, not a work computer.) And she's a human bring, not a squirrel on crack, or a nerd caught in a social media feedback loop, so she never "needs" to look at her iPhoto library right now . She can wait 30 minutes for a partial charge to see pictures of her family or cats or whatever.
Is the condescension really warranted for a simple question?
Re: USB Type-C is still a mess
#128It's not just a 4-pin USB connector. It's a 24-pin connector with pins for USB, DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, Ethernet, and JTAG. Some of which may work.
Do those 24 tiny pins hold up in use?
Re: USB Type-C is still a mess
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
Type-C offers charge rates up to 100W, which means the voltage is ramped to 20V. There is an entire protocol to negotiate power delivery (including who charges who) http://www.usb.org/developers/powerdelivery/
And the latter part have caught some people unaware, where a battery pack and a phone will ping pong who is charging who until both are dead.
> And the latter part have caught some people unaware, where a battery pack and a phone will ping pong who is charging who until both are dead.
Or, if you're really unlucky, it'll attempt to charge your wall. No, I'm not joking: https://twitter.com/chimeracoder/status/941820122406064128
Re: USB Type-C is still a mess
#130I have 3 dongles and one power plugged into my macbook pro right now (ethernet could be optional, external monitor, USB, power). Maybe there will be a nice docking station sometime, but for now, it's dongle city, and picking up the laptop a bit to connect/disconnect each one every time I transition between mobile and desktop-replacement. Maybe something like https://nerdtechy.com/best-usb-c-docking-stations , though…
> picking up the laptop a bit to connect/disconnect each one every time I transition between mobile and desktop-replacement. Am I missing something? You’d have to do that even if there weren’t dongles.
I notice it more with the USB-C MBP, probably because of the thinness of the device, the number of the cables I have to dis/connect, and the fact I have to do it for both sides of the laptop.