It’s pretty convenient. Now I can take my soldering iron and my power tool battery (with SN USB-C adaptor) and solder wherever the fuck I want
Really hasn’t been much of one. I still own devices that charge from MicroUSB, a lot of peripherals are still USB-A, there hasn’t been any significant movement by the industry overall to move everything to C, so mostly it means I just need to carry more cables.
Nitpick, there are no devices that charge with an USB-A port. USB-A is the side that supplies power, the side receiving power is USB-B.
USB-C did away with the distinction.
True, but keyboards, mice, wireless adapters etc. haven’t moved to C yet. I use PCs and desktop peripherals and industry adoption if USBC has basically stopped 1/4 of the way in.
And how would you describe a wired keyboard or web cam with a hard wired connection to the device and only a USB-A end?
Your nitpick is not warranted. He never said charge with A.
USB-C has changed the entire game. It’s a completely different game now. It’s like Yahtzee vs Uno. Or like Call of Duty vs Microsoft Flight Simulator. Remember playing freeze tag or dodgeball? Well it’s not like that anymore. Now it’s like playing soccer.
I don’t think I’ve had a single USB-C cable/connector/socket fail yet. Which can’t be said of Micro-USB.
But other than that, meh.
The stability of Mini USB I liked most. Plug a PS3 controller in 100 times and it always seemed solid. Micro USB was flimsy, but I wish the would have done usb-c like the lightning connector and made it solid. I would think it would last longer that way, but I never owned an iPhone so I could be wrong. Those could be more prone to snapping, like palm trees vs pine tree.
A big one. No more brittle micro usb, which would eventually become loose and start falling out when charging. Being able to charge my laptop using my phone charger is also good.
That’s impressive, how many watts is your phone charger? I would have assumed you could do the opposite but thought the laptop would have laughed when you attached a small stream to it.
I use an old phone charger, when working outside my home. My goal when using it is to keep the charge/uncharge ratio positive. Tho when at home my devices share a 100W charger.
The good things:
- It really is an advantage over normal USB, that I don’t have to trun the plug three times while trying to connect it, as it can be plugged in either way.
- I find the extra protection also cool, so in case you accidentally try to plug in something you are not supposed to, it just simply won’t work instead of, I don’t know, supplying too high voltage or something.
So far it caused a lot of headaches though:
- Way too often I found myself in a situation, where I couldn’t use some devices, because I didn’t have the necessary adapter. This issue should be temporary though, so I’m not complaining.
- Some cables are not compatible with some devices, and it can be really confusing. Before I knew this, I was certain that a monitor and a laptop of mine weren’t compatible for a long time, until someday I read about this and tried it again with a different cable.
- In most cases this is not an issue, but rarely I find that the USB type-c plug is not as robust as a micro USB for example. On my girlfriend’s Samsung S8 it always slipped out, so the contact was terrible, while a micro USB plug does have some clamps to properly attach. Again, in most cases the type-c plug is clicking in properly, so it’s not an acute problem.
For charging, it’s fine, I have equipment to do some mid level testing of how much power a USB cable can transmit, I can also verify if a charger supports quick charge and other charging protocols.
For data transfer, it’s frustrating, you gotta find the cables that are not just USB2 with a USB-C connector.
Then you have thunderbolt, which is even more expensive…
To me it mostly just meant having to buy more cables. The old ritual of trying a USB connector one way, then the other way, then retrying the first way never took all that long and was actually kind of amusing. And I still use the old cables because I haven’t thrown away my old devices that still need them. I only have a few new things that need type C.
Now that I upgraded to an iPhone with USB-C, I enjoy the convenience of having one cable for everything. Charging, connecting a display temporarily, data transfer, one cable. Never had a Mac so I didn’t get in on the Lightning to Lightning shenanigans, but I do prefer Lightning over USB-C. At least a Lightning port is easy to clean.
I agree that lighting ports are easier to clean, but i feel like the connector should be a bit thicker to stop it from breaking.
With a laptop and phone which both can use it my backpack while travelling is so much lighter and less bulky. For me it absolutely was a game changer, I just don’t like that I need to carry a USB a to C adapter for all the legacy USB A ports.
I think the real game changer here is the USB-PD. I now only bring a single charger for both my laptop and my phone. Also, a lot of different laptops now charge with USB-C, getting rid of the need of different plugs.
Props to the Thinkpad USB-C retrofit hack. Granted they only work with 65w, but it is still great! My Anker Nano GaN charger is only a little bit larger than an ice cube, definitely smaller than most traditional USB charger, yet it packs 65w.
I have that GaN brick it’s fantastic and makes the original Thinkpad one look huge.
What does GaN stand for in that context?
Galium Nitride. It makes high current DC stuff more efficient (i.e. generates less heat) and requires less circuitry (i.e. smaller devices).
Thank you
It’s pretty cool but like all connectors, it fails eventually.
A lower strength more pinned Magsafe type of adapter would have been cool. They would be more costly though so I assume that’s why we don’t. Reversible, solid, and don’t have lose pins to break
Compared to USB-A, not really that much of a game changer (it’s still the most common for me). Though I do not miss the three rotations to get it in.
Compared to Micro-USB? Holy fuck, I almost refuse to buy anything still using Micro-USB ported now. Mainly because I can’t never find the fucking cable for it.
Though I do not miss the three rotations to get it in.
The holes point up or to the right.
But like… not always. Wall adapters (at least US ones) can be plugged in upside down, so if that’s upside down the holes face down. I have a 3d printer who’s motherboard is mounted on the top of the chassis, flipping the USB port so that it’s “upside down”. A lot of cheap dual-USB chargers that have the two USB ports right next to each other have them mirrored, so one faces up and the other faces down.
Granted, I’ve always found the “argh USB!!!” frustration to be more a meme than anything; when I’m plugging in a USB device, I likely know what orientation the male side is (flash drives and the like are usually oriented the same way), and it takes half a second of paying attention when going to plug it in to look at the female port to see what direction it’s meant to go in.
Works great, rarely have issues with the port breaking unlike prior small usb standards, it’s nice how ubiquitous it is so I have way less random cable connectors around.
Fucking awesome, it is. When I travel, I take 1 laptop power cord. Charges my phone, laptop, Switch, and backup battery. (The backup battery’s output ports are USB-A, but it’s got a lil converter cable that stays in the lil bag that the backup battery is stored in.)
It’s the best. So much so that not having usb c, has become a deciding factor if i buy something or not. It also seems a bit of a quality insurance, even if it’s just a little. But electronics with micro or even mini usb is usually just some cheap shit or that old and they are still selling it.
