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

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

#291

Post by mikepurvis »

dheera wrote: post #270
floatingatoll wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Word of warning, for those reading this far: The Switch and Switch Dock are not USB-C devices. That you’re able to plug in a USB-C charger or USB-C device and see it supposedly work just means that you haven’t yet encountered the scenario(s) that can electronically damage the Switch. Nintendo’s warranty does not cover this damage when it occurs, requiring a full-cost repair or replacement as you connected unlicensed…

I wish there were legal protections around this. Using a standard plug means it should accept the standard for that plug.

It depends, though. In all likelihood it would end up thrown back on the consumer— "Did you use a licensed/approved/certified charger? Sounds like you need to take this up with whoever made the charger that fried our product."

It might help resolve certain really common cases like compatibility between the chargers and devices of the mainstream entities. I guess I'd argue that that should be happening on its own, but Nintendo definitely dropped the ball with releasing a USB-C product in 2017 that was interoperable with Apple and other name-brand chargers which had been in existence for two years previously at that point.

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

#292

Post by hinkley »

jasonlotito wrote: post #218
tristor wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.…

Anker generally keeps their old products around, but they don’t sell their gen 1 thunderbolt 3 dongle anymore. Too many problems.

I had two of them (they sent me a second because I was having problems). If you plugged the dongle into the wall but not a laptop, it would send the wrong voltage to the USB ports. I mostly keep it around to flash SD cards.

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

#293

Post by HelloNurse »

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…

In other words, one kind of cable plus out of spec trash (but mostly benign micro-USB chargers with no chance of people attempting data transfers). The worst I've encountered with "old" USB is a vintage Nokia phone that refuses to charge from its data-only micro USB port.

With USB-C there are multiple official cable types, all with the same connectors, plus high voltages that can fry devices, plus complex protocols that are apparently too much for some manufacturers to implement safely.

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

#294

Post by bluGill »

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…

It is still correct for the end user to expect that. If you make something that breaks the expectation it should be your fault. A connector is a connector, a cable it a cable. If they all physically fit it should just work, and whoever broke that should be legally at fault. Now I will admit that cables break, and connectors wear out, both of which are not the fault of the manufacture. However it should just work.

Note that if you connect two usb-6 devices with a usb-5 cable (Intentionally using standards that don't exist yet) is may drop back to working like usb-5. If you connect a usb-5 device to a usb-6 device it should all just work - to the limits of usb-5 of course.

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

#295

Post by tzs »

Q1: would it be possible to make a dongle that when plugged into a USB-C port negotiates for maximum power and tells you what the port can do?

Q2: can it also do this for speed? (I'm not sure if there is a speed negotiation like there is for power, and even if there is I'm not sure if it would depend on the use--e.g., maybe a particular port supports a different maximum speed for network devices than it does for mass storage devices)

Q3: Can a similar thing be done for cables? A box you plug both ends of a cable into, and it tells you how much power you can put over the cable, and how fast it can go?

Q4: could these things be made small enough and cheap enough that it would be reasonable to expect nearly everyone to get them?

The above devices, plus readily available USB-C one to many hubs [1], would fix most problems people have with USB-C.

[1] Most USB-C hubs connect one USB-C port on your computer to many non-USB-C ports. Most that do have a USB-C port on the other side only have one (and sometimes that one is power only, not data).

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

#296

Post by thelean12 »

jwr wrote: post #205
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…

Every discussion about USB-C quickly devolves into one group saying that it's a mess and pointing out all the intricacies and complexities, and another group saying "hey, I'm charging my stuff and it's fine!". USB-C was not supposed to be a glorified power cable. It promised much, much more, and manufacturers annoyingly restricting the port choices on newer laptops made that promise even more prominent. It has failed…

I don't think the public knows or cares about any promises made. The vast majority of people are extremely happy that they can charge their laptop and their phone with the same cable. That's a major improvement from previous generations of chargers and has absolutely simplified the situation. And it's only getting better.

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

#297

Post by oso2k »

vr46 wrote: post #23
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…

Aha - you may find that your Switch CANNOT in fact share a charge - Nintendo's port is not necessarily safe to use with anything but its supplied charger. And I've just learned this lesson with a $60 bill from Nintendo repair after the port went pop and couldn't charge the device. I only have reputable chargers in the house from Apple and one from Anker aside from the Nintendo's own. All my apple kit works fine off t…

I haven’t found this to be true. I’ve used 4 or more different chargers. A couple off-brand USB-C chargers, USB-C dock/charger, Apple USB-C chargers, USB-C to USB 2.0/3.0 cables with 1A, 2.4A, 2.5A chargers. All worked without issue. In fact, I left the Nintendo wall wart at home (I usually travel for work) and just bring along a USB-C to USB cable with me.

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

#298

Post by falcolas »

spacedcowboy wrote: post #274
falcolas wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't heard of any change; my own setup is on the right. I will say that the corner of my computer where power is plugged in is uncomfortably hot.

Is it closed ? Because I've had my MBP plugged in for the last 6 months, driving 2 external 4K displays on one side, power-in on the other, and an OWC 10Gigabit dock in the last port. It's cool to touch, but I have the lid open (I use the LCD as the third display). I've read of people saying it gets hot when the lid is closed...

Nope, it's open; I use it as a second monitor as well. It's also on a stand (Roost) that exposes probably 99% of the bottom of the computer to air as well. 2019 Macbook Pro 16".

This is while the computer is under load (a Google Meet in Chrome, which is a power hungry little SOB). Also, the power is the only thing in the hot corner.

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

#300

Post by [deleted] »

falcolas wrote: post #283
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.

There's also the cable between the charger and PC, and the capacity of that matters too. It might not be the charger, it might be a limit on the cable's power capacity.

[deleted]
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