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I'm a USB-C Maximalist

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Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#61

Post by vablings »

eigencoder wrote: post #5

I don't like USB-C because they all look the same on the outside, but they're not all the same on the inside. Especially my cheap consumer electronics. Sometimes they will charge, sometimes they won't charge, but all the cables look the same, and you don't tend to know in advance.

Buy yourself a handful of good cable for charging. (I quite like the silicone anker 643) And throw everything else away in a box.

For data transfer you can just pick up one or two thunderbolt 5 rated cables, they will do max transfer for USB4, or any other spec in the near future. The LTT true spec cables are fairly priced but there are other big brands that sell the same thing.

Keep a shitty USB-A to C for those devices that do not have the correct pulldown resistor to support 5v 2a charging.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#62

Post by alterom »

nemomarx wrote: post #22
chaosharmonic wrote: post #15

I too am a USB-C maximalist, but with a handful of differences from OP: - You lose me at "toothbrush." I don't want personal care items that have internal batteries at all , because they'll eventually die on me while the device itself (brush heads notwithstanding) is otherwise perfectly functional. I'd much rather keep rechargeable AA(A)s on hand for that kind of stuff. (I still haven't found a good electric razor fo…

Why haven't phones just moved to have two USB ports? A slight convenience when you want to charge it in that you don't have to turn it around, you can have USB headphones and also charge, you could use more accessories...

My XReal Beam Pro¹ has two USB-C ports: one for charging, one for Thunderbolt video output (both support data transfer IIRC).

My other phones (Samsung Galaxy A23 etc) have a USB-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack as Lord intended, so I don't have the idiotic problem of choosing between charging or using headphones / aux cable / etc.

There's no reason to not have two USB-C ports and a 3.5mmm headphone jack too in a device that already costs hundreds of dollars and is, on average, brick-sized, other than fuck you, that's why (aka being "brave").

I.e., same reason that some phones (not mine) don't have a microSD card slot. Particularly those shipped with atrociously little internal memory at a time when a 1TB memory card costs a few dozen dollars.

Anyways, unless the EU rolls out new legislation (like the one that forced Apple to include USB-C on their phones), looks like it's not going to change any time soon.

Apple has enough money to bravely get away with whatever anti-consumer BS they want, paving the way for others to copy them for fashion and profit.

Sure there are exceptions (which is what I buy). But they're not the norm, as evidenced by comments here. Voting with one's wallet buys very little in terms of impact.

People still decry the loss of the 3.5mm TRRS headphone jack, which didn't really go away and never had to.

____

¹ It's an "AR processor", i.e. an Android phone without the phone plus 3D camera and special sauce

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#63

Post by chaosharmonic »

recursivedoubts wrote: post #57

Please, please, please: we NEED a magsafe version of USB C Yes, you can buy adapters, but you end up w/device warts that don't work w/normal USB-C cords and my understanding that they are for the most part pretty dangerously out of spec Magnetic coupling is an incredibly underutilized user experience tool

As much as it still pisses me off reading the Surface product head's comment that if you love USB-C then you love dongles -- while shipping a Mini DisplayPort connector -- I also think it's a waste that they didn't contribute their magnetic docking to the upstream spec.

We could have had a USB Type-M. (Or, alternatively, Type-F -- for "magnets, how do they work?")

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#64

Post by russdill »

radial_symmetry wrote: post #2

So many kids toys use custom brick chargers, especially remote control cars. I refuse to buy anything that isn't USB-C, I'm not keeping track of all of those.

The step I've taken is just purchasing USB-C to barrel in various voltages and labeling them appropriately.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#65

Post by alterom »

chaosharmonic wrote: post #46
nemomarx wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why haven't phones just moved to have two USB ports? A slight convenience when you want to charge it in that you don't have to turn it around, you can have USB headphones and also charge, you could use more accessories...

See, I agree with this too. You wouldn't have to worry nearly as much about the random little things that are specific to just one device or another (IR blasters, the DAC on old LG phones, etc) if you could just plug in a second USB peripheral. But what I'm more getting at is the other way around: that wireless headphones will already have USB-C for charging anyway. And that, particularly for larger ones (that have t…

>so that, again, you could use the headphones while you charge them.

Yes! And you could charge them off your phone!

If I could dream: wouldn't it be nice if you had headphones with charging cables attached to them so that you never had to worry about losing them.

And phones could have a convenient extra port for plugging such headphones into.

Ah, one could only dream.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#66

Post by vablings »

rootusrootus wrote: post #50
eigencoder wrote: post #5

I don't like USB-C because they all look the same on the outside, but they're not all the same on the inside. Especially my cheap consumer electronics. Sometimes they will charge, sometimes they won't charge, but all the cables look the same, and you don't tend to know in advance.

Yeah maybe USB-D will get it right. But probably not. I had such high hopes for USB-C. Now I keep a couple USB-C to USB-A adapters lying around to force the charger (which is just a normal home outlet with a couple built-in USB-C ports) to speak old school USB-A charging instead of trying to negotiate PD with a shitty device that did not implement USB-C correctly. Yes that's the fault of the manufacturer. But the wil…

It's not a flexible specification, its straight up bad engineering. The specification literally says if you do not want negotiation, you must add the resistor.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#67

Post by sudobash1 »

rogerrogerr wrote: post #41
chaosharmonic wrote: post #15

I too am a USB-C maximalist, but with a handful of differences from OP: - You lose me at "toothbrush." I don't want personal care items that have internal batteries at all , because they'll eventually die on me while the device itself (brush heads notwithstanding) is otherwise perfectly functional. I'd much rather keep rechargeable AA(A)s on hand for that kind of stuff. (I still haven't found a good electric razor fo…

Re. toothbrush, I have to take the opportunity to give Philips credit for the Sonicare electric toothbrushes they made ~15 years ago. That thing just keeps trucking, it’s incredible. I go on 2 week trips and don’t even bring the charger, and have no worries about it dying. It must have been crazy overspecced, I expected it to be a 5-year disposable piece of non-serviceable tech.

Also, it looses functionality gracefully in that it is still a perfectly serviceable toothbrush even if it is out of battery.

That said, I have never had a Sonicare run out of battery either.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#68

Post by chaosharmonic »

alterom wrote: post #62
nemomarx wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why haven't phones just moved to have two USB ports? A slight convenience when you want to charge it in that you don't have to turn it around, you can have USB headphones and also charge, you could use more accessories...

My XReal Beam Pro¹ has two USB-C ports: one for charging, one for Thunderbolt video output (both support data transfer IIRC). My other phones (Samsung Galaxy A23 etc) have a USB-C and a 3.5mm headphone jack as Lord intended, so I don't have the idiotic problem of choosing between charging or using headphones / aux cable / etc. There's no reason to not have two USB-C ports and a 3.5mmm headphone jack too in a device t…

> My XReal Beam Pro¹ has two USB-C ports: one for charging, one for Thunderbolt video output (both support data transfer IIRC).

I know what you're saying, but to be a little pedantic about it it's actually only USB 3.

(I wish there were mobile devices supporting USB4; it would bring them significantly closer to feature parity with larger devices.)

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#69

Post by jitl »

snickmy wrote: post #3

Any recommendation for electric shavers that are USB-c ?

Trimmer: I purchased this from Amazon USA for $70 on sale, now listed at $96. I am happy with it, but haven't had it long enough to comment on durability: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQ1GZY7H "Manscaped Beard Hedger Men's Premium Beard Trimmer, 20 Length Adjustable Blade Wheel, Stainless Steel T-Blade for Precision Facial Hair Trimming, Cordless Waterproof Wet/Dry Clipper"

Shaver: I purchased this in-person at a Xiaomi store in Manila, very happy with it especially for the price ($20-ish): https://www.mi.com/global/product/xiaomi-electric-shaver-s20...; Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Xiaomi-Electric-Skin-Touch-Waterproof... "Xiaomi Electric Shaver S200"

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#70

Post by sudobash1 »

fl0ki wrote: post #58
pluralmonad wrote: post #12

I would like the USB-C connector was more durable. I've literally never killed a USB-A connector, but enough lateral force and USB-C just breaks. I suppose it was made so small due to mobile devices, which is understandable, but came with tradeoffs.

Try the relatively recent Anker Prime cables, the ones that are both braided and soft. I haven't managed to break one yet, despite breaking several past Anker cables that also claimed to be durable.

I don't have a problem with USB C cables, and even if I did it wouldn't be a big deal. The cables are cheap compared to the devices they charge. It is broken USB-C ports that frustrate me about them, or ones with worn out clips.
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