5 ms·

> No USB-C What would you even plug into it? It's not like USB-C accessories are readily stocked everywhere, I'm still carrying around dongles all day for my T

> No USB-C What would you even plug into it? It's not like USB-C accessories are readily stocked everywhere, I'm still carrying around dongles all day for my TouchBar MBP. If the laptop shipped with USB-C people would be whinging they need dongles, literally can't win.

jonknee 9y ago
> If the laptop shipped with USB-C people would be whinging they need dongles, literally can't win. How about multiple USB ports, say 1 USB-A and 1 USB-C?
- wooter 9y ago
  i think we're pretty much done with USB-A given any form factor besides desktop(-replacement?) these days. I'd rather not sacrifice the space for the next 3+ years when its basically relegated to phone charging duties - and barely that given this generation of battery life.
melling 9y ago
What connector do you think you'll need in two years, five years, 10 years? The transition to USB-C has begun. For most of the life of the device, you'll probably want USB-C. I'm sure Microsoft will get to it in the next release.
- ashark 9y ago
  > two years USB-A. > five years Both—not having either will mean tons of dongles. > 10 years? USB-C. [EDIT] actually the 10-year will probably be "some other stupid new connector, with USB-C dongles"
  - melling 9y ago
    USB-C is already shipping on cheap desktops, a lot of smartphones, and many laptops. In two years Apple won't ship any computers with USB-A. USB-C has arrived: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/shop/laptops-with-usb-c http://www.bestbuy.com/site/shop/laptops-with-usb-c
    - wooter 9y ago
      seriously... what do people even use usb-a for besides charging things? compatibility was crap, transition to 3.0 was crap and even the highest end computers offered limited ports - opting to keep a few 2.0s given that support for 3.0 on the device side was even weaker, big, asymetric, fragile, ... lets just let it die and move to cables that won't need a dongle and aren't thicker than almost everything in a laptop from this generation
      - lmm 9y ago
        I still want to be able to transfer data to/from my phone (S7) and my camera. I still want to use my headset. These things are going to last for several years; as such I'm not buying a laptop without USB-A any time soon.
        wooter 9y ago
        bluetooth? wifi? the future is wireless (hopefully, imo)
        lmm 9y ago
        I tried a bluetooth headset but it had enough extra latency to throw me off (I play rhythm games sometimes). In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone, but I don't think it offers an easy way to do that (and my camera doesn't have wifi at all).
        daxelrod 9y ago
        > In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone I could HotSync my Treo over Bluetooth 10 years ago and it was an effortless two-way sync with reasonably good conflict resolution. It amazes me that nothing quite gets that right these days.
        lmm 9y ago
  - rbanffy 9y ago
    My 5250's still uses twinax to talk to the AS/400 and my VT-100 is on a DEC-432 connection to the VAX. No. USB-C will soon dominate.
  - popcorncolonel 9y ago
    I think you are vastly underestimating how fast trends in the market come out. USB-A was two years ago. We're currently in the "having tons of dongles" state. In a year, it'll be 50% USB-C 50% other stuff. In 3 years, it'll be 100% USB-C, with high probability given the current market trends. Even Apple is adopting the USB-C standard. That speaks volumes to the coming trends, and how fast they're coming.
    - daxelrod 9y ago
      Do you mean USB-C was two years ago? I think that's the only reading that makes your comment make sense.
jclardy 9y ago
Not really, if they replaced either mini-DP or the surface charging port. I have a 4k monitor with a USB hub and it connects via USB-C. So I can just plug in one cable for power, video, keyboard and mouse. On the surface that means three cables coming out of both sides of the thing, and one of the cables going to a USB hub since there is only one USB port. But I guess you could use the dongle, assuming it supports HDMI output. That monitor is 2 years old now, I bought it with my 2015 macbook.
jmkni 9y ago
There's a couple of docks which are quite reasonably priced, and support a couple of 1440p/4K monitors, plus a keyboard/mouse etc. That's what I'd plug it into.
namlem 9y ago
Just ship with one USB-C and one USB-A. It's not that hard to figure out.

jonknee 9y ago

> If the laptop shipped with USB-C people would be whinging they need dongles, literally can't win. How about multiple USB ports, say 1 USB-A and 1 USB-C?

wooter 9y ago
i think we're pretty much done with USB-A given any form factor besides desktop(-replacement?) these days. I'd rather not sacrifice the space for the next 3+ years when its basically relegated to phone charging duties - and barely that given this generation of battery life.

melling 9y ago

What connector do you think you'll need in two years, five years, 10 years? The transition to USB-C has begun. For most of the life of the device, you'll probably want USB-C. I'm sure Microsoft will get to it in the next release.

ashark 9y ago
> two years USB-A. > five years Both—not having either will mean tons of dongles. > 10 years? USB-C. [EDIT] actually the 10-year will probably be "some other stupid new connector, with USB-C dongles"
- melling 9y ago
  USB-C is already shipping on cheap desktops, a lot of smartphones, and many laptops. In two years Apple won't ship any computers with USB-A. USB-C has arrived: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/shop/laptops-with-usb-c http://www.bestbuy.com/site/shop/laptops-with-usb-c
  - wooter 9y ago
    seriously... what do people even use usb-a for besides charging things? compatibility was crap, transition to 3.0 was crap and even the highest end computers offered limited ports - opting to keep a few 2.0s given that support for 3.0 on the device side was even weaker, big, asymetric, fragile, ... lets just let it die and move to cables that won't need a dongle and aren't thicker than almost everything in a laptop from this generation
    - lmm 9y ago
      I still want to be able to transfer data to/from my phone (S7) and my camera. I still want to use my headset. These things are going to last for several years; as such I'm not buying a laptop without USB-A any time soon.
      - wooter 9y ago
        bluetooth? wifi? the future is wireless (hopefully, imo)
        lmm 9y ago
        I tried a bluetooth headset but it had enough extra latency to throw me off (I play rhythm games sometimes). In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone, but I don't think it offers an easy way to do that (and my camera doesn't have wifi at all).
        daxelrod 9y ago
        > In theory my wifi's fast enough for copying data to/from my phone I could HotSync my Treo over Bluetooth 10 years ago and it was an effortless two-way sync with reasonably good conflict resolution. It amazes me that nothing quite gets that right these days.
        lmm 9y ago
- rbanffy 9y ago
  My 5250's still uses twinax to talk to the AS/400 and my VT-100 is on a DEC-432 connection to the VAX. No. USB-C will soon dominate.
- popcorncolonel 9y ago
  I think you are vastly underestimating how fast trends in the market come out. USB-A was two years ago. We're currently in the "having tons of dongles" state. In a year, it'll be 50% USB-C 50% other stuff. In 3 years, it'll be 100% USB-C, with high probability given the current market trends. Even Apple is adopting the USB-C standard. That speaks volumes to the coming trends, and how fast they're coming.
  - daxelrod 9y ago
    Do you mean USB-C was two years ago? I think that's the only reading that makes your comment make sense.

jclardy 9y ago

Not really, if they replaced either mini-DP or the surface charging port. I have a 4k monitor with a USB hub and it connects via USB-C. So I can just plug in one cable for power, video, keyboard and mouse. On the surface that means three cables coming out of both sides of the thing, and one of the cables going to a USB hub since there is only one USB port. But I guess you could use the dongle, assuming it supports HDMI output. That monitor is 2 years old now, I bought it with my 2015 macbook.

jmkni 9y ago

There's a couple of docks which are quite reasonably priced, and support a couple of 1440p/4K monitors, plus a keyboard/mouse etc. That's what I'd plug it into.

namlem 9y ago

Just ship with one USB-C and one USB-A. It's not that hard to figure out.