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I'm a USB-C Maximalist

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Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#121

Post by nightpool »

timc3 wrote: post #113
hbn wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is IEC really the gold standard for connectors to you? I always thought they feel terrible to plug in. There's no snap or solid bottom-out indication to when it's "connected." And it just sits in the socket from friction that doesn't feel particularly solid. It's the kind of connection where if it gets yanked a little bit and the connection fails, it's not obvious because it's half-seated in the socket.

IEC isn’t great, hence you get a cage around them to hold them in for critical use.

good luck miniaturizing that! :D

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#122

Post by coldtea »

Hippocrates wrote: post #114

I like the fact that we're aligning on one connector but it's hard for me to praise USB-C in and of itself. The connector feels flimsy and has some slop/play in a way that lightning did not, and especially on lower-end devices. The charging standards, voltages, and data rates, are frustrating because they're almost never labeled. This is especially true on low end, cables, and device devices. The worst offenders will…

>feels flimsy and has some slop/play in a way that lightning did not

No end to the official Apple lighting cables that died on me over the years, and across iphones and ipads.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#123

Post by notatoad »

qurren wrote: post #118
notatoad wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

amazon hides some prices because i'm viewing the page from canada, but it looks like that says the cable you linked is $15? that's what i've been paying for cables, and it seems reasonable to me.

It's a cable, it should cost $2 at most.

okay, i mean, that's exactly what my original comment said: this is only a problem if you buy cheap cables.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#124

Post by LoganDark »

qurren wrote: post #118
notatoad wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

amazon hides some prices because i'm viewing the page from canada, but it looks like that says the cable you linked is $15? that's what i've been paying for cables, and it seems reasonable to me.

It's a cable, it should cost $2 at most.

I have some Thunderbolt cables that are like $80 apiece because they're like 3 meters long. I have like five or six of them because each one only carries one video signal.

(I used Thunderbolt so that touch and pen inputs could go over the one cable. These days though I just use a MacBook Pro, and hook up a capture card when I need to access the Windows)

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#125

Post by DiogenesKynikos »

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.

I bought a cheap electric toothbrush from a no-name Chinese company. The battery lasts 6 months on one charge with daily use. It cost about $20. I wouldn't be surprised if it's manufactured by the same factories that make Philips' toothbrushes.

And of course, it charges with USB-C.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#126

Post by notatoad »

cricalix wrote: post #115
notatoad wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really only a problem if you buy cheap cables. Pick the baseline spec you want your USB cables to meet, and throw out all the ones that don’t. Problem solved. It’s still a minor frustration if you have to borrow a cable, but that’s solved by packing a cable, and by encouraging as many other people as possible to also throw out their cheap cables.

Sometimes it's not the cable. Sometimes it's the sodding device. I have some IP60-something speakers for the shower. Write up says USB-C power. Brilliant says I, I've got plenty of good ones I use for charging laptops and other USB-C form factor accepting devices. Sodding things only charge with their special USB-A to USB-C cable. They're in the bag labeled "cursed usb-c charge cables".

you'll never guess what solution i'd suggest for that specific problem...

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#127

Post by JoshTriplett »

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…

> I'd much rather keep rechargeable AA(A)s on hand for that kind of stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rechargeable+aa+batteries+usb+c

But in practice, I greatly prefer devices with integrated batteries, because they're more likely to be able to give me useful feedback about the battery level (e.g. a reliable low-battery indicator), rather than just winding down, or having a low-battery indicator with only a passing correlation to reality.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#128

Post by plagiarist »

alterom wrote: post #65
chaosharmonic wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Heh. I hate having any attached cables, they're too easy to fray. But otherwise I am with you, I only buy wired headphones.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#129

Post by cricalix »

notatoad wrote: post #126
cricalix wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes it's not the cable. Sometimes it's the sodding device. I have some IP60-something speakers for the shower. Write up says USB-C power. Brilliant says I, I've got plenty of good ones I use for charging laptops and other USB-C form factor accepting devices. Sodding things only charge with their special USB-A to USB-C cable. They're in the bag labeled "cursed usb-c charge cables".

you'll never guess what solution i'd suggest for that specific problem...

Change the device? It works fine. The cable is labeled. I know where to find it. I'm not throwing away perfectly otherwise-good hardware because of that.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#130

Post by interloxia »

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.

Philips knows how to penny pinch. Don't buy the more recent low end models.

Their kid's app has been great.

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