4 ms·

> most people will have to guess, and will get the more expensive one “just in case” Good. The more full-features and the less underfeatured USB cables are bou

> most people will have to guess, and will get the more expensive one “just in case” Good. The more full-features and the less underfeatured USB cables are bought and found around - the better for everyone. I don't buy/grab a USB cable "for the drive" I expect it to do the job every time I happen to need a USB cable. In fact I'd like a single ultimate USB-n-All logo to exist which would mean the cable is fully and reliably capable of all (including extensions like Thunderbolt) the possible USB cable usages which existed at the moment the specific generation of USB was released or became relevant. Having the same connector for everything is not a value worth the hassle. Having the same cable for everything is.

croon 5y ago
But there are crappy expensive cables, expensive cables that aren't better than cheap ones, and great cheap ones. What I'd like is a mark for servicable USB-C cables so everyone can just compete on price on that. These logos kind of solve that, but personally I'd like the threshold only being the combined certification. But at least most people can just filter on one logo and compare on that, even if they don't understand exactly what each logo entails.
- qwerty456127 5y ago
  > But at least most people can just filter on one logo I doubt many people ever look at the logo. For ordinary people it's just USB and "this is a shitty cabble" if it doesn't work as they expect, geeks will look for a specs table on the page/box. The intention is obviously good and sort of addresses the problem but nowadays (even with Micro-B, not just C) I don't feel like I can trust any logo really. I have to read the specs, the comments, consider the brand reputation and buy the best cable I can find (which is a game of luck anyway) to minimize the chance it will surprise me unpleasantly.
lozenge 5y ago
A 2m cable with 100W charging (the highest currently, but not for long) and video using Thunderbolt 3 is £70 inc sales tax, it's also stiffer and heavier than other cables. How many of those do you plan to just have lying around for convenience? My XPS 15 already takes more power than that so has its own charger with a physical USB C connector (but also accepts standard USB C chargers with lower wattage). The next version will probably use the new USB C charging standard that the current cables don't support. Time to throw out all those cables I guess.
- morsch 5y ago
  I can find cables claiming the same spec (100W, TB3, 2m) for 20-30 EUR. Less if you drop the length requirement -- 2m seems quite long, especially if you're using TB3 to connect a laptop to a display. I agree that there's a place for lower-spec cables that are cheaper and thinner.
  - brigade 5y ago
    They’re almost certainly 20gbps TB3 cables if they have sufficient signal integrity to be in spec. Anyway, the 2m 40gbps cables I have are actually thinner, lighter, and more flexible than either of the 2m 5-10 gbps USB-C cables I have, or even some of the really short and cheap 5gbps cables that come bundles with SSDs. Active cables might be expensive, but at least they allow using higher gauge and/or less shielding for signal wires.
  - neither_color 5y ago
    I use a 12 foot USB-C cable(~3.5 meters) for my VR headset as it has to be long enough to allow me to flail about while streaming PCVR.
- qwerty456127 5y ago
  > A 2m cable with 100W charging (the highest currently, but not for long) and video using Thunderbolt 3 is £70 inc sales tax, it's also stiffer and heavier than other cables. How many of those do you plan to just have lying around for convenience? I would get 5 if I could be sure they really will work reliably with every device in every case possible and the standard won't change in a couple of months. I almost feel like buying an insurance against this bullshit. And I don't think they can be so heavy to the point it would be relevant. I'd rather buy the hardest I can find as mass positively correlates with reliability in electronics.
  - jrochkind1 5y ago
    That's one option, but not everyone has £350 to spend on cables. (Especially when next year they'll all no longer be the full-featured-est around, there will be some newer thing only newer cables do).
gumby 5y ago
> including extensions like Thunderbolt Thunderbolt isn’t an extension, it’s USB4. (Of course like all things USB that’s a correct but inadequate answer as straight USB4 isn’t required to support the full TB 4 bandwidth).

croon 5y ago

But there are crappy expensive cables, expensive cables that aren't better than cheap ones, and great cheap ones. What I'd like is a mark for servicable USB-C cables so everyone can just compete on price on that. These logos kind of solve that, but personally I'd like the threshold only being the combined certification. But at least most people can just filter on one logo and compare on that, even if they don't understand exactly what each logo entails.

qwerty456127 5y ago
> But at least most people can just filter on one logo I doubt many people ever look at the logo. For ordinary people it's just USB and "this is a shitty cabble" if it doesn't work as they expect, geeks will look for a specs table on the page/box. The intention is obviously good and sort of addresses the problem but nowadays (even with Micro-B, not just C) I don't feel like I can trust any logo really. I have to read the specs, the comments, consider the brand reputation and buy the best cable I can find (which is a game of luck anyway) to minimize the chance it will surprise me unpleasantly.

lozenge 5y ago

A 2m cable with 100W charging (the highest currently, but not for long) and video using Thunderbolt 3 is £70 inc sales tax, it's also stiffer and heavier than other cables. How many of those do you plan to just have lying around for convenience? My XPS 15 already takes more power than that so has its own charger with a physical USB C connector (but also accepts standard USB C chargers with lower wattage). The next version will probably use the new USB C charging standard that the current cables don't support. Time to throw out all those cables I guess.

morsch 5y ago
I can find cables claiming the same spec (100W, TB3, 2m) for 20-30 EUR. Less if you drop the length requirement -- 2m seems quite long, especially if you're using TB3 to connect a laptop to a display. I agree that there's a place for lower-spec cables that are cheaper and thinner.
- brigade 5y ago
  They’re almost certainly 20gbps TB3 cables if they have sufficient signal integrity to be in spec. Anyway, the 2m 40gbps cables I have are actually thinner, lighter, and more flexible than either of the 2m 5-10 gbps USB-C cables I have, or even some of the really short and cheap 5gbps cables that come bundles with SSDs. Active cables might be expensive, but at least they allow using higher gauge and/or less shielding for signal wires.
- neither_color 5y ago
  I use a 12 foot USB-C cable(~3.5 meters) for my VR headset as it has to be long enough to allow me to flail about while streaming PCVR.
qwerty456127 5y ago
> A 2m cable with 100W charging (the highest currently, but not for long) and video using Thunderbolt 3 is £70 inc sales tax, it's also stiffer and heavier than other cables. How many of those do you plan to just have lying around for convenience? I would get 5 if I could be sure they really will work reliably with every device in every case possible and the standard won't change in a couple of months. I almost feel like buying an insurance against this bullshit. And I don't think they can be so heavy to the point it would be relevant. I'd rather buy the hardest I can find as mass positively correlates with reliability in electronics.
- jrochkind1 5y ago
  That's one option, but not everyone has £350 to spend on cables. (Especially when next year they'll all no longer be the full-featured-est around, there will be some newer thing only newer cables do).

gumby 5y ago

> including extensions like Thunderbolt Thunderbolt isn’t an extension, it’s USB4. (Of course like all things USB that’s a correct but inadequate answer as straight USB4 isn’t required to support the full TB 4 bandwidth).