Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

debugger.medium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 624 posts

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#211

Post by crote »

warmwaffles wrote: post #199
crazygringo wrote: post #162

I'm just surprised there are still a lot of mainstream accessories that aren't available in USB-C. I bought a Logitech C920 webcam the other day (the most pouplar model)... and it's still only available in USB-A. If you want a Logitech webcam with USB-C, you've got to pay over twice as much for a model like their StreamCam. I'm happy to use dongles for HDMI or Ethernet when I have to. But the fact that I still have t…

> it's still only available in USB-A That's because it is still the most common type of port out there and it doesn't require a huge bandwidth that USB-C provides. If anything it would be overkill and over priced for what you get. I think logitech is waiting for USB-C to become more prevalent and the cost to manufacture to drop.

The interesting thing is that for small-bandwidth applications, USB C isn't that difficult to add. Compared to USB A, it's literally a different connector and two additional resistors on the CC pins. The power / data pins of USB C are completely compatible with USB 2.0.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#212

Post by shadowgovt »

nonbirithm wrote: post #186
shadowgovt wrote: post #126

I don't think the issue is as hard as the author makes it out to be. 1) have device 2) have charger 3) plug device into charger 4) does it charge? 5) if no, write on charger "sucks" and get another charger If one is worried about buying the wrong charger, here's a hint: people review these things on online stores, and cheaper is worse.

I bought a set of cables positively reviewed by Benson Leung for my new phone, and they worked fine. Recently I bought a new laptop and it doesn't charge with it, or any other USB cable in my place, except the one it came with, which is too short, and only ends in USB-C so I can't use it with any other power adapter I own. I don't know why it doesn't charge with any other cable. If not even Benson Leung's recommended…

I mean, if there's a magic cable to charge just that one device, sounds like that device is broken.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#213

Post by efxhoy »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #37

It's honestly such a complete joke it's not even funny anymore. My USB-C MacBook Pro with it's pathetic two ports that my work bought for me is now old enough that the battery is starting to fail and we're still in a world where this single cable for power, screen and ports just doesn't seem to really exist. I'm starting to be convinced the port is fundamentally flawed, dongles with multiple ports are never reliable…

I have used three USB-C displays extensively: a Dell U3219Q, an LG 27ud88 and an LG 32ud89. The 32" Dell and 27" LG work flawlessly: usb ethernet dongle, usb ssd drives, USB audio interface, mouse and keyboard work great. They don't even crap out on sleep/suspend. My LG 32UD89 has been rubbish though, it needs to be powered on before the macbook wakes up or it needs a hard power cycle to detect USB-C input.

They are all very pricey though.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#214

Post by crazygringo »

warmwaffles wrote: post #199
crazygringo wrote: post #162

I'm just surprised there are still a lot of mainstream accessories that aren't available in USB-C. I bought a Logitech C920 webcam the other day (the most pouplar model)... and it's still only available in USB-A. If you want a Logitech webcam with USB-C, you've got to pay over twice as much for a model like their StreamCam. I'm happy to use dongles for HDMI or Ethernet when I have to. But the fact that I still have t…

> it's still only available in USB-A That's because it is still the most common type of port out there and it doesn't require a huge bandwidth that USB-C provides. If anything it would be overkill and over priced for what you get. I think logitech is waiting for USB-C to become more prevalent and the cost to manufacture to drop.

So after more than 5 years, USB-C is still too expensive and "overkill"?

That might be true, but then it's a massive failure. The entire point of USB-C is for the whole computing ecosystem to migrate. If that's prohibitively expensive for a common webcam, then it's an utter design failure.

But I have a hard time believig it actually is true, since I can also find a bunch of cheap USB-C stuff on Amazon as well. So I hope it's not true, at least.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#215

Post by oblio »

dx87 wrote: post #49
jeremymcanally wrote: post #4

Really? I find it to be a game changer for me. The fact that my laptop, Switch, iPad, and several other devices can all share a charge has made my life much easier. I can just sprinkle a few of them throughout the house and never be without power. Before it was always a hunt to find a cable, or I had to be in [x] room to charge [y] device because that's where the charger lived. Plus, I can charge my MacBook on either…

Nintendo says you shouldn't use anything except 1st party cables with the Switch. There were articles a couple of years ago talking about Switches being bricked. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/08/heres-why-nintendo-sw...

This is on Nintendo being jerks. Just because web server X doesn't implement the standard correctly, that does not make TCP or HTTP bad.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#216

Post by axaxs »

baconandeggs wrote: post #11

USB-C charging is truly revolutionary. USB-C data is a clusterf *k, and worse of all, is not UNIVERSAL anymore.

Revolutionary? It's a hot mess. Some usb will charge my phone very slowly, maybe at 3w. Some will charge what I call 'medium', at around 15w, and some at 30w. And the charger that came with it is its own special usb-c thing that isn't standards compliant. I noticed that cord doesn't even attempt to charge my Stadia controller. Sure, they all do plugin and most do charge. But have fun guessing which ones charge at which speed.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#217

Post by oblio »

greenshackle2 wrote: post #36
cowmoo728 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except the switch doesn't actually use usb-c pd, it's a different proprietary thing that uses a usb-c connector.

This is such a terrible design decision.

$$$

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#218

Post by jasonlotito »

tristor wrote: post #193
josho wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A good (read expensive) dongle will work fine. I have one that reliably powers 2 monitors (a 5k and a 4k), 1gb network and powers my macbook. I think the real problem is we get a lot of cheap products coming from China with very little quality control. QC is poor because they have no incentive to build in quality. E.g. you likely don't realize how flaky the dongle is until after the 30 day return policy, the branding…

This is exactly it. If you want anything that actually works and is reliable, you pretty much cannot buy it on Amazon, you need to buy it directly from the company that makes it. I have a Henge Dock for my older 13" MBP and it's worked perfectly for years over USB-C, and on my newer Touchbar 13" I havea a 2-port USB-C microdock from HyperDrive. I use Anker PD/IQ3 chargers and cables, and I have no issues whatsoever.…

> If you want anything that actually works and is reliable, you pretty much cannot buy it on Amazon, you need to buy it directly from the company that makes it.

I remember several years ago purchasing the $70 digital adapter from Apple. It's the one with 3 ports and merges into one. I forget which version it was.

It was horrible. The HDMI port wouldn't work.

I had purchased two. They were absolute trash. That's $140.

I replaced them with two Amazon versions for half the cost. They worked.

It was only after I purchased that I noticed that the reviews on Apple's own website showed it rated under 2-stars, with lots of angry reviews from people having the same exact problem.

I will say Belkin's USB-C dock works amazingly well. I love it.

Re: USB-C was supposed to simplify our lives, but instead it’s a total mess

#219

Post by tpxl »

leetcrew wrote: post #184
jedimastert wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> this is a problem if you expect things to be like USB2 where you can collect all these random cables and power blocks and use them interchangeably. this wasn't always true with USB2 anyway, with all the out of spec "fast charge" implementations. Silly question time, why would we not expect that?

I mean you can expect whatever you want. what I'm saying is the beautiful past where all USB cables were perfectly interchangeable never existed. in the last generation we had power-only cables, data-only (although this is out of spec, I believe), and various out of spec fast charging implementations. if you pick up a random usb charging block and micro-usb cable, there was never any guarantee that it would transfer…

Those cables were distinct upon physical inspection (missing pins), which USB C cables are not.
Post reply on HN