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I'm a USB-C Maximalist

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Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#311

Post by russelg »

0x457 wrote: post #108
theturtletalks wrote: post #81

I wish my Xbox Series S would work on USB-C. Some guy modded his with a buck convertor[0] and I wish there was an easier way in 2026. 0. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Z1U3AYo1I

Well, the issue is USB-PD: - 12 V × 5 A = 60 W - 20 V × 5 A = 100 W - 28 V × 5 A = 140 W Meanwhile, that Xbox roughly needs 12 V at 7.5 A (let's say 90 W, but the internal supply is 165W) . So there is just no easy way to do it with USB-PD. Technically, you can make/buy some sort of USB-PD bench power supply to do this, but I'm unaware of anything on the market right now. One that I use (DPS-150) is limited to 5A out…

USB-PD 3.1 supports 240W, which is 48V. It does seem like there's not many chargers that support this, but they do exist.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#312

Post by klempner »

wtallis wrote: post #261
Telaneo wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even then, I've had success with older HDMI and DP cables up to fairly high bandwidths. It's only on a longer cable and a 4K screen, as well as one 1440p screen that was just really picky for some reason, that I've had issues. Meanwhile, the instant I want to transfer a non-trivial amount of bytes, USB 2 speeds come and make my life worse than it needs to be (or at least it did before I sat down, found decent speedy…

The critical difference is that USB versions keep adding new wires and active components, while the display cables largely stick to tightening the analog signal integrity requirements. Whether an old HDMI cable works for a new display is largely a question of how high the data rate is for the new resolution and refresh rate, vs how much the manufacturer of the cable overshot their analog bandwidth target.

USB hasn't added any active components or wires for short cables since USB C's introduction (which added emarkers and an extra pair of superspeed lanes for full featured cables)

All of the improvements in passive C cables since then are exactly the same "analog signal integrity requirements". Heck, the most common protocol for sending a display signal over USB C is literally just "send a DisplayPort signal over the superspeed lanes".

Now, USB C cables are more likely to have active retimers or redrivers in them, but a lot of that is that the highest speed signals are well above the display side. Even UHBR20/DP80 from a signaling standpoint is mostly just good old 40 gigabit Thunderbolt 3 except with everything pointed outwards (so 80 gigabit unidirectional instead of 40 gigabit bidirectional)

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#313

Post by 3eb7988a1663 »

stephen_g wrote: post #265
Waterluvian wrote: post #259

My son plugged a cheap Switch controller into a cheap Switch charging block/dock to charge the controller. I don’t know who shot first but they’re all dead. I love USB-C and I guess the device(s) weren’t to spec, but if it plugs, it ought to be safe. Kind of a surprising miss to be honest. Usually the cheap Amazon crap isn’t this bad.

What solution are you proposing though? As long as people can buy USB-C connectors on the open market, they're going to be able to create devices that horribly deviate from the spec in terrible ways. But it's better that they are available for people who do follow the spec in their designs, instead of, say, trying to tightly control parts availability. A compliant device has quite a lot of protection against all sort…

I thought Nintendo had designed a non-compliant USBC port on the Switch. The conspiracy theory was this was deliberate to strangle the third party accessory market.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#314

Post by dabinat »

I recently ran into a problem with a device I bought online. It was refusing to charge and I thought it was dead. I contacted the manufacturer and they suggested the charging brick I was using was too powerful and to use a weaker one. Sure enough, a weaker one worked just fine.

So if you only bring a single power bank on a trip, make sure it can power all of your devices, especially if some of them are by third-party unknown manufacturers.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#315

Post by Aurornis »

qurren wrote: post #186
Aurornis wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I break about 1 USB-C plug a week. They are simply not designed well for real people who do real things in the world, including physical work, exercise, hiking, woodworking, biking, and the like. They are designed by someone in a corporate office who just never gets out to see the real world. I do everything on your list. I also have young children who grab and play with things. Our household breaks 1 USB-C plug pe…

Fully ruggedized is in fact what I want and what I consider truly consumer grade. > which is not something you're going to get on affordable consumer devices Not true. 1990s connectors hardly ever broke for me. They were all super rugged. I've dropped several-kilogram objects onto VGA connectors, SCSI connectors, and DC barrel jacks and nothing ever happened.

> Fully ruggedized is in fact what I want and what I consider truly consumer grade.

I put fully ruggedized connectors on several shipping products. You would not like the cost nor space requirements.

> I've dropped several-kilogram objects onto VGA connectors, SCSI connectors, and DC barrel jacks and nothing ever happened.

VGA and SCSI connectors are rarely exposed like a phone connector and they're in a completely different class anyway. Nobody wants a phone with a giant SCSI size connector on the bottom.

I hate to say it, but the fact that you have this many anecdotes of dropping "several-kilogram objects" on to connectors is a clue that you're an outlier in how hard you treat connectors, if breaking 50 USB connectors a year wasn't already an indicator.

Expecting consumer connectors to stand up to this outlier level of abuse is unrealistic.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#316

Post by Aurornis »

timc3 wrote: post #111
qurren wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I break about 1 USB-C plug a week. They are simply not designed well for real people who do real things in the world, including physical work, exercise, hiking, woodworking, biking, and the like. They are designed by someone in a corporate office who just never gets out to see the real world. Here's how the last few broke: * Phone with typical inadequate battery + external portable battery pack plugged in, shoved in…

Perhaps you are just not careful with things, I’ve been an early adopter and never broken one ( I probably have at least 40 different ones, some of which get plugged/unplugged multiple times a day). My kids haven’t broken a single one either and they destroyed plenty of lightning cables.

The GP comment is one of those HN comments where I can't tell if someone is making up a ridiculously high number to tell a story online, or if there really are people out there breaking 52 USB-C plugs per year going about their normal lives.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#317

Post by jambalaya8 »

somat wrote: post #295
angry_octet wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Braided works fine? I have plenty of Ugreen and others from Amazon, what matters is what's inside.

True, braided has absolutely nothing to do with the specs of the cable, but braided "feels" higher quality, so I suspect quite a few manufacturers think they can skimp on the cable quality because of that.

It doesn't just feel like high quality... a lot of bending results in fewer cable replacements necessary, usually.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#318

Post by mplewis »

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...

It's better to use a dongle for that.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#319

Post by brookst »

swah wrote: post #212
Telaneo wrote: post #174

It's been a joy to not need to bring 3 chargers along when I travel. I think the only thing we're missing to make the USB-C experience perfect is cable labelling. It's unreasonable to make every cable perform to the max spec, but if we could standardise on some labelling or colours for cables that are charging-only, 480 mbit (usb 2 speed), 5 Gbit (usb 3 speed), 10 GB (usb 3.1 speed), 20 GB (usb 3.2 speed), plus whate…

Why not buy only 100W power and data cables?

I did that. I regret it. All of my cables are thick and have a large bend radius.

Re: I'm a USB-C Maximalist

#320

Post by ak217 »

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.

Both Philips and the similarly sturdy Oral-B. You know they are good because they have a sealed design that uses induction to charge. By contrast the toothbrush mentioned by the OP won't last long with that flimsy door and the USB port in a wet environment.
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