5 ms·

Same experience here. That's why my current laptop is a https://frame.work https://frame.work - USB-C to USB-C adapters means that the part that will fail is

by guerby 4y ago

Same experience here. That's why my current laptop is a https://frame.work https://frame.work - USB-C to USB-C adapters means that the part that will fail is changeable - All four USB-C are able to charge the laptop. And the power brick also has detachable USB-C AND power cord cable. (And just for fun I ordered an upgrade to the motherboard, will use the old motherboard as always on PC in my home)

catmanjan 4y ago
In my experience all usb c chargers are less reliable than barrel connectors, probably because of the microprocessors required for the handshake
- hanche 4y ago
  I have a food thermometer with a builtin rechargeable battery. It charges via usb-c, but so far I have not managed to charge it from a usb-c charger. It will only charge with the supplied usb-a to usb-c cable. I would love to understand why. But at least, they had the good sense to not supply their own charger.
  - dizhn 4y ago
    It might need a low amp device to charge. My vape does not charge with my good chargers but it does with older ones and the usb port on my laptop.
    - vladvasiliu 4y ago
      Doesn't USB-C have a "basic mode"? As in, if it's unable to negotiate some kind of high-power PD mode, it will just deliver the basic USB2 5V/0.5A? I can charge my Sony headphones with anything from an old USB2 only PC, old Samsung USB-A phone charger to my 65 W HP USB-C power adapter. I don't think they have any kind of PD mode, I think they just expect regular 5V. The specs on the site say "USB charge" and the charging duration is 3 hours. They come with a USB-A to C cable.
      - johnwalkr 4y ago
        usbc chargers are not supposed to even have 5V output until a device requests it. For 5V at various currents, “charge configuration” resistors can be used at the device. For higher voltages an active negotiation is required. Cheap devices based on old products often omit the 2 resistors (literally worth under $0.01 each) and this only charge when connected to a usb-a charger, which always has 5v output. Depending on the device, it can be anywhere from easy to impossible to hack in your own resistors.
        vladvasiliu 4y ago
        > usbc chargers are not supposed to even have 5V output until a device requests it. I did not know that, thanks. I was expecting USB-C chargers to work in "dumb 5V mode" by default. I guess that could be to avoid problems if you connect two chargers together?
        hanche 4y ago
        I think that is why usb-a (male) to usb-c (female) adapters are not supposed to exist. They might let you connect two usb-a chargers together using a usb-c cable, and they are not designed to tolerate that.
  - arccy 4y ago
    I have a Philips toothbrush like that too, at least it works with any A-C cable, just not C-C
  - akelly 4y ago
    USB-A ports output 5V as long as the device is on. But with most USB-C ports, to save power no power is supplied until the device requests what voltage it wants. Requesting 5V is very simple, just two resistors which cost fractions of a cent, but somehow a lot of cheap devices forget to include them.
  - lmns 4y ago
    Have you tried a different USB-A charger? Some smaller devices have problems with USB-C to USB-C. I don't know why this is the case, though. It's just something I have observed with different devices.
causality0 4y ago
Personally I hate the trend of only charging over type-c. It's an order of magnitude less robust and far more prone to falling out than, say, a ThinkPad connector. Having the option is nice but I despise having to babysit my $100 Asus charger lest I stomp it flat by accident.
- imtringued 4y ago
  I don't know what you mean. I plug my USB-C dock with dual monitors into my laptop, I don't even have the option to not charge my laptop while I'm using it at work.
  - idsout 4y ago
    Mind sharing which dock and monitors you use?
- intothemild 4y ago
  I really don't get this. USB-C can on do the following on the same cable at the same time 1. Charge 2. Data 3. Video Your power cable can 1. Charge How is that "orders of magnitude" worse?
  - emj 4y ago
    The USB-C connector is a lot easier to break than a normal power connector, it's also pretty fidgety to get right when you fix the connection on the laptop side. The fixability can be done better than normal charging ports, I've done a USB-C daughter board swap in about 2 hours of total time (research, ordering, mounting). The normal way though is doing soldering surface mounted USB-C connectors which is not something I like to do.
    - saurik 4y ago
      Other than Apple's old magsafe connectors, I remember every power connector I've ever had on a laptop to have been pretty easily breakable using angular force, and I know of both myself and a handful of other people who have broken the power connector on our laptops, and yet I haven't seen or experienced such with my USB-C laptops yet (quite possibly as they are lighter weight), so I am surprised you say the USB-C is more easily broken. I do miss magsafe, though: that's the one non-USB-C power connector I think would be worth supporting. (That said I have some memory of magsafe connectors destroying themselves due to the slapping of metal at power, though I never hadn't one die myself.)
coldtea 4y ago
Funnily, the same is true for some Apple laptops and bricks.
justin66 4y ago
The (detachable) cord on mine started to fray on the computer end almost immediately. Progress, sort of.
theshrike79 4y ago
I'm seriously thinking about getting a Framework as my next laptop. ...if they would sell me one. The tipping point was an LTT vid where he changed the motherboard on his laptop to a 12th gen one AND used the old motherboard with a 3D printed case to make a tiny desktop computer.
deathanatos 4y ago
I thought about and perhaps should have mentioned USB-C. Overall, yeah, where USB-C can be applied, I like it, and it definitely helps turn the charger into a bit more of a commodity, and for whatever reason, USB-C chargers seem to not suffer the design flaw I mentioned above as much: the cables tend to detach at the converter. The two big issues I have is that a. chargers are terrible at listing the max wattage they can supply (and laptops their draw), so it's hard to impossible to know if a given charger will be able to supply enough power. My work desk had built in power & USB-C charging, for example, and I now comically charge my USB-C work laptop off the desk's AC plug (a MBP¹, so that's thankfully USB-C). USB-C never really charger, and eventually we figured out that the desk (and this was hard to find) was a USB PD of like 15 W. And MBPs need 87 W or so. And b., my current laptop alleges to have a max draw of 135 W, which is above the max for USB-C. (Which is why I suspect it has a custom adapter… but who knows.) ¹I am glad Apple switched to USB-C, and they allievated the design flaw I mention in their chargers when they did so, for which they should be praised. But there is so much else wrong — completely unservicable design, the butterfly keyboard problems, cable-gate, battery recalls, ergo fails, heat dissipation issues, macOS, crap warranty — with their laptops that it isn't sufficient to tip the scales to me buying.

by guerby 4y ago

catmanjan 4y ago

In my experience all usb c chargers are less reliable than barrel connectors, probably because of the microprocessors required for the handshake

hanche 4y ago
I have a food thermometer with a builtin rechargeable battery. It charges via usb-c, but so far I have not managed to charge it from a usb-c charger. It will only charge with the supplied usb-a to usb-c cable. I would love to understand why. But at least, they had the good sense to not supply their own charger.
- dizhn 4y ago
  It might need a low amp device to charge. My vape does not charge with my good chargers but it does with older ones and the usb port on my laptop.
  - vladvasiliu 4y ago
    Doesn't USB-C have a "basic mode"? As in, if it's unable to negotiate some kind of high-power PD mode, it will just deliver the basic USB2 5V/0.5A? I can charge my Sony headphones with anything from an old USB2 only PC, old Samsung USB-A phone charger to my 65 W HP USB-C power adapter. I don't think they have any kind of PD mode, I think they just expect regular 5V. The specs on the site say "USB charge" and the charging duration is 3 hours. They come with a USB-A to C cable.
    - johnwalkr 4y ago
      usbc chargers are not supposed to even have 5V output until a device requests it. For 5V at various currents, “charge configuration” resistors can be used at the device. For higher voltages an active negotiation is required. Cheap devices based on old products often omit the 2 resistors (literally worth under $0.01 each) and this only charge when connected to a usb-a charger, which always has 5v output. Depending on the device, it can be anywhere from easy to impossible to hack in your own resistors.
      - vladvasiliu 4y ago
        > usbc chargers are not supposed to even have 5V output until a device requests it. I did not know that, thanks. I was expecting USB-C chargers to work in "dumb 5V mode" by default. I guess that could be to avoid problems if you connect two chargers together?
        hanche 4y ago
        I think that is why usb-a (male) to usb-c (female) adapters are not supposed to exist. They might let you connect two usb-a chargers together using a usb-c cable, and they are not designed to tolerate that.
- arccy 4y ago
  I have a Philips toothbrush like that too, at least it works with any A-C cable, just not C-C
- akelly 4y ago
  USB-A ports output 5V as long as the device is on. But with most USB-C ports, to save power no power is supplied until the device requests what voltage it wants. Requesting 5V is very simple, just two resistors which cost fractions of a cent, but somehow a lot of cheap devices forget to include them.
- lmns 4y ago
  Have you tried a different USB-A charger? Some smaller devices have problems with USB-C to USB-C. I don't know why this is the case, though. It's just something I have observed with different devices.

causality0 4y ago

Personally I hate the trend of only charging over type-c. It's an order of magnitude less robust and far more prone to falling out than, say, a ThinkPad connector. Having the option is nice but I despise having to babysit my $100 Asus charger lest I stomp it flat by accident.

imtringued 4y ago
I don't know what you mean. I plug my USB-C dock with dual monitors into my laptop, I don't even have the option to not charge my laptop while I'm using it at work.
- idsout 4y ago
  Mind sharing which dock and monitors you use?
intothemild 4y ago
I really don't get this. USB-C can on do the following on the same cable at the same time 1. Charge 2. Data 3. Video Your power cable can 1. Charge How is that "orders of magnitude" worse?
- emj 4y ago
  The USB-C connector is a lot easier to break than a normal power connector, it's also pretty fidgety to get right when you fix the connection on the laptop side. The fixability can be done better than normal charging ports, I've done a USB-C daughter board swap in about 2 hours of total time (research, ordering, mounting). The normal way though is doing soldering surface mounted USB-C connectors which is not something I like to do.
  - saurik 4y ago
    Other than Apple's old magsafe connectors, I remember every power connector I've ever had on a laptop to have been pretty easily breakable using angular force, and I know of both myself and a handful of other people who have broken the power connector on our laptops, and yet I haven't seen or experienced such with my USB-C laptops yet (quite possibly as they are lighter weight), so I am surprised you say the USB-C is more easily broken. I do miss magsafe, though: that's the one non-USB-C power connector I think would be worth supporting. (That said I have some memory of magsafe connectors destroying themselves due to the slapping of metal at power, though I never hadn't one die myself.)

coldtea 4y ago

Funnily, the same is true for some Apple laptops and bricks.

justin66 4y ago

The (detachable) cord on mine started to fray on the computer end almost immediately. Progress, sort of.

theshrike79 4y ago

I'm seriously thinking about getting a Framework as my next laptop. ...if they would sell me one. The tipping point was an LTT vid where he changed the motherboard on his laptop to a 12th gen one AND used the old motherboard with a 3D printed case to make a tiny desktop computer.

deathanatos 4y ago

I thought about and perhaps should have mentioned USB-C. Overall, yeah, where USB-C can be applied, I like it, and it definitely helps turn the charger into a bit more of a commodity, and for whatever reason, USB-C chargers seem to not suffer the design flaw I mentioned above as much: the cables tend to detach at the converter. The two big issues I have is that a. chargers are terrible at listing the max wattage they can supply (and laptops their draw), so it's hard to impossible to know if a given charger will be able to supply enough power. My work desk had built in power & USB-C charging, for example, and I now comically charge my USB-C work laptop off the desk's AC plug (a MBP¹, so that's thankfully USB-C). USB-C never really charger, and eventually we figured out that the desk (and this was hard to find) was a USB PD of like 15 W. And MBPs need 87 W or so. And b., my current laptop alleges to have a max draw of 135 W, which is above the max for USB-C. (Which is why I suspect it has a custom adapter… but who knows.) ¹I am glad Apple switched to USB-C, and they allievated the design flaw I mention in their chargers when they did so, for which they should be praised. But there is so much else wrong — completely unservicable design, the butterfly keyboard problems, cable-gate, battery recalls, ergo fails, heat dissipation issues, macOS, crap warranty — with their laptops that it isn't sufficient to tip the scales to me buying.