CHARGING CABLES … GRRRRR!!!

Why oh why can’t there just be one fricking cable that just does everything!!!!*

I go to the office once a fortnight and this time i leave my Garmin AND my Shokz cables. Of course I don’t have spares. Of course they’re special stupid bloody fittings that you can’t just buy in a petrol station.

GRRRRRRR!!!

*Yeah I know there can’t be…

Hence the EU directive that everything now needs to be usb c chargeable

I still have a few devices that work fine but are micro USB, where as so my new stuff is USB C if course.

It’s a risk pain in the arse I agree.

I’m very happy that the EU have basically ended this and we will benefit from it too, like most other countries not even in the bloc. EU clout eh?

Hence the EU directive

… which it seems doesn’t include smart watches.

It’s a great idea in principle, but nearly every relevant device I own currently doesn’t take USB C so I guess it will take a while to pay dividends.

I half like the idea of unifying verything to USB C, however my car is now USB C too. So all the cables I owned that were USB A to C are no good for charging in the car. The USB A to micro cables that I used for my Garmin and an older Android are pointless unless I charge it at home.

Which, let’s be honest is hardly the end of the world but I don’t really see the point in having to be USB C at both ends.

I use loads of USB devices for work that I now can’t attach to my laptop without a hub. So now I have to own and carry a hub and remember to take it with me everywhere I go.

@bens you can get little usb to usb-c adapters 👍🏻 work for me but easy to lose🤦🏼‍♂️

I don’t really see the point in having to be USB C at both ends.

USB C supports much higher power so stuff can charge faster.

Also, some ports serve multiple purposes. For example, a phone can be charged via its port, but can also have stuff like cameras plugged into it.

The transition is a pain, but moving to a single C to C cable as the standard will make things simpler in the long run (provided that you ignore the fact that the USB standard is a mess and there are different types of C to C cable)

The Garmin cables are incredibly annoyoing, I can see why they may not want a port that lets grime and water in though.

The only thing I have against USB-C standardisation is what happens when someone comes up with something better?

USB C supports much higher power so stuff can charge faster.

Also, some ports serve multiple purposes. For example, a phone can be charged via its port, but can also have stuff like cameras plugged into it.

Yep.

USB is what used to be called a master/slave model, or more politically correctly a host/client (it actually uses its own terminology but that just aids confusion).  The USB-A end indicated the host, so if you plugged your micro-USB phone into a USB-A PC, the PC was in charge.  This caused problems with things like wanting to plug a pendrive into a phone, two client devices won’t talk with each other.  So USB On The Go came about, adapting uUSB into USB-A and switch the port’s roles.

With USB-C at both ends this goes away, it has an extra communication line so that negotiation is done electronically rather than electrically.  A device can be a sender, a receiver or both for both data and power.  So you could, for example, unplug your USB-C power supply from your laptop and plug a monitor into the same port and it will Just Work.*

* – well, should**

** – well, might. 😁

I went with the cheaper USB C chargeable Shokz to avoid the proprietary cable. Assume by Garmin you mean Smart watch? Mine runs for days on a single charge so only need to take the cable on multi-day trips. It would be useful to have a common standard for watch/Shokz etc. charging though.

The only thing I have against USB-C standardisation is what happens when someone comes up with something better?

I have no doubts that this will happen.  uUSB was supposed to be the One Standard To Rule Them All, after all.  But in the meantime it’s surely better to have a standard (for all that USB is ever standard) for a given generation of products, rather than having a boxful of unbranded wall-warts all different which you can’t identify but daren’t throw away just in case.

USB has been around for a while now and it’s continually evolving.  It’s at least Windows 98 era, so we’ve had it in some form for 25+ years.  USB-D at some point would not surprise me, USB completely going away would.

I have a USB-C /Garmin Watch adapter to reduce the number of cables.

But in the meantime it’s surely better to have a standard (for all that USB is ever standard) for a given generation of products, rather than having a boxful of unbranded wall-warts

I agree but that doesn’t necessarily mean the end device has to have USB-C. For example my MacBook Air M2 has a USB-C charger with a “loose” USB-C to USB-C cable (far better than the previous generation attached cables) but it can still accommodate my iPhone 12 which has a lightning connector using the appropriate cable.

however my car is now USB C too

I like the idea of someone trying to charge their electric car by plugging it into their laptop!

On my desk I have a choice of the following for various stuff around the house, micro B (for charging small magnetic automatic bathroom lights), mini B (for old MP3 player/bathroom bluetooth speaker), type A 2.0 (for charging power banks), type B 2.0 (for keyboard), usb C x 2 (one fast charge on a gan charger/one data), apple lightning for phone/apple trackpad/keyboard), Apple Watch charger.

Too many for my liking.

Pointless fact : My electronic engineering tutor at uni worked with the inventor/architect of the USB protocol Ajay Bhatt at intel in the late 80s/early 90’s

The best thing about standards is how many there are to choose from.

What I’ve always wanted to know (but been too much of a wimp) is what happens if you connect both the input and output of a battery power pack. I assume it would swell up and get hot.

USB has been around for a while now and it’s continually evolving. It’s at least Windows 98 era, so we’ve had it in some form for 25+ years. USB-D at some point would not surprise me, USB completely going away would.

Sure, but the point is that the EU standardisation on USB-C effectively kills that innovation. Who’s going to produce a new improved USB-D when legally, your device has to have USB-C to be sold in the EU?

What I’ve always wanted to know (but been too much of a wimp) is what happens if you connect both the input and output of a battery power pack. I assume it would swell up and get hot.

In theory, nothing exciting.

USB-C ports can be “upstream facing” (UFP – can consume power), “downstream facing” (DFP – can provide power) or “dual role” (DRP – can do either).

A DFP should only provide power if it detects that a UFP is attached, which it can do because the UFP should have specific resistors attached to certain pins to indicate that it’s a UFP. So if you connect two DFPs together, nothing happens.

USB-C ports on a powerbank are typically dual role, so that they can either charge the power bank, or provide power other stuff. DRPs cycle between DFP and UFP modes until they detect the other type of port at the other end.

If you connect two USB-C ports on a power bank, then the worst case should be that it agrees to provide power to itself (out of one port, into another), but that power should be limited to the lower of its maximum charge power and maximum discharge power, so it’ll just slowly discharge the battery because it’ll lose power doing voltage conversions.

They could do with creating a waterproof magnetic waterproof standard for all the smart watches/headphones/outdoor kit.  This would also be useful for bike lights and computers too get rid of the rubber flaps, although for on-the-go charging it would be good for the device to also be able to mechanically secure it and not just rely on the magnet

I went with the cheaper USB C chargeable Shokz to avoid the proprietary cable. Assume by Garmin you mean Smart watch?

I had one of those Shokz. It died because of too much water ingress hence getting the other type.

Yes a smart watch. Mine lasts a week or so on a charge with five or so activities… But I only go to work fortnightly hence the annoyance.

Those usb-c converters look like a good idea.

The only thing I have against USB-C standardisation is what happens when someone comes up with something better?

USB-C has around half a dozen different specifications, because while some will charge, they won’t charge at the same rate, and some of those won’t carry data, it’s a complete rats-nest of different variations based on one plug design.
Almost as bad as the whole range of original USB plugs – USB-A/mini/micro, etc. I think I’ve got five or six variants for charging powerpacks, torch batteries, various other devices, as well as still having 32-pin Apple cables for my old iPods, Lightning cables for my iPad, USB-C for my iPhone and several newer devices.
USB-C is supposed to do away with e-waste – it’s going to be years before there’s any kind of standardised system, I have a plastic bag full of dead batteries and old cables, and still more kicking around that I still have a need for. 🤷🏼

https://www.usb.org/sites/default/files/D1T1-2%20-%20USB%20Type-C%20System%20Overview.pdf

Oh, there’s also Thunderbolt, which uses the USB-3 plug-port system.

I threw away a load of mini and micro cables the other day and now my charging-cables-drawer looks beautifully tidy. It’s progress.