Archived Laptops are getting destroyed by cheap USB-C cables (theverge.com)
submitted ago by Ghetto_Shitlord
Posted by: Ghetto_Shitlord
Posting time: 4.8 years ago on
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Archived on: 2/12/2017 1:51:00 AM
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61 upvotes, 3 downvotes (95% upvoted it)
Archived Laptops are getting destroyed by cheap USB-C cables (theverge.com)
submitted ago by Ghetto_Shitlord
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[–] Amadameus 0 points 2 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago
Sounds a lot like a scare article. Manufacturers sure do love the profits off their cable sales, and if cheap alternatives show up that's competition! Can't have that.
Regardless, this is going to end badly. Driving 3A through tiny pins like that, you're just begging for failure. Demanding 4 shielded pairs in a cable is also overkill.
All those bleeding-edge fuckers can have their hardware issues, meanwhile I'll be just fine with my $1.09 micro-USB cables for the foreseeable future.
(Grouchy old man note: I still don't see what was wrong with mini-USB. They were tougher than micro pins, hands down.)
[–] Foobarbaz 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I'm loyal to monoprice and Amazon Basics when it comes to cables. I never buy originals anymore. The fanciest I'll get is a thicker gauge USB cable so my devices can charge faster. People rarely know about that.
I want one cable that does all. It's the *perfect thing to make a docking station amazing. Power? Video? Devices? BOOM. DONE. One cable, boom -- ready to go. In a perfect world phones would also adopt this standard. Same plug for everything.
I just have learned to wait and be patient with new technology. As much as my fantasy grips me in loving arms, reality is a bitch and will treat newcomers with cold hands.
[–] Amadameus ago
Monoprice has won my love and affection for a long, long time. If you haven't already, check out their battery backups. They double as flashlights, are made from durable extruded aluminum, and they actually carry the capacity they advertise. Even if I bought the raw 18650 cells I'd only be saving $3 off their retail price.
Problem is the same as wanting one pipe for all plumbing needs - too many conflict for there ever to be ONE standard.
For good power delivery you want a nice heavy gauge wire, but for video you want a lot of parallel shielded wires to transfer data quickly.
For phones you want a plug that's small and durable and reversible, can be yanked out without damage. For video you want nice wide plug that's easy to fit in place when reaching around your TV.
I don't mind the multiple standards, honestly - because if we tried to make a single standard cable it would probably end up an even bigger disaster than the USB-C here.
[–] Ghetto_Shitlord [S] ago
It does sound like a scare article, but it is a real thing. Another Google engineer was testing cables when the New Nexus phones came out, and found that MOST of them were lying about what they support, or were just built cheaply / incorrectly. The problem here is that most of the cheap alternatives are shitty. 3A over this is also a spec fail, and I don't see how the cable won't get blisteringly hot. Like Thunderbolt, which got the axe in my building for anything that needed high power in my building, like a monitor. I had users getting burns from them.
[–] Amadameus 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
The cable manufacturers lying is a separate problem, but I see it as arising from these ridiculous standards.
Consumers are expecting magic improvement across all fronts every time something new comes out, so hardware is getting pushed to the limits at the same time that consumers demand a "pretty" cable that's 2mm thick and flexes like silk. It's just not possible, but nobody's willing to tell consumers this because they'll immediately lose business.