5 ms·

I can't even recall when I last needed USB-A, literally everything I have uses USB-C (or bluetooth for mouse and keyboard). What do you use it for?

by Etheryte 10mo ago

nrp 10mo ago
USB-A is our second most popular Expansion Card after USB-C (and before HDMI), so certainly people are using it for something!
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
- nehal3m 10mo ago
  I'm not trying to sit in my arm chair and act like I know better, but do you think it's possible people order those just in case?
  - coldpie 10mo ago
    I have a stash of USB keyboards and mice in my closet, gathered from various sources for free. They're all USB-A because they're like 15 years old. The SD card reader I got somewhere ages ago is USB-A. My Xbox 360 controller is USB-A. So I got a USB-A module. Shrug.
  - lucb1e 10mo ago
    Hi it's me from the past. I daily drive a VGA screen and a USB-A hub that connects my USB-A mouse and USB-A keyboard. My µSD-card reader uses USB-A. Ethernet adapter (for when I need a second NIC) is also USB-A but it came with an adapter to C so I have a choice there. All USB sticks I've ever seen are A, as well as all external hard drives. My charging cables are predominantly USB-A to micro, and nowadays I also need C for my phone. It's a bit annoying to need that extra C charging cable everywhere after we had already standardized on micro (except for Apple), but at least there's one standard now (xkcd.com/927) after the current devices die Edit: forgot the printer. I connect it via USB-A on demand. /edit. My laptop (bought this year) charges via a DC barrel jack, afaik because USB-C doesn't deliver enough power for peak usage. Buying a little HDMI-VGA converter was a lot cheaper than throwing a perfectly good screen away. My keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals also simply still work, seems silly to replace them just to get a C variant when 700-1300€ laptops have 1 or 2 C ports and always 2 A ports (I happen to be up-to-date on that, at least, because I helped someone select a new laptop ereyesterday) I don't know what I'd need more than one C port for but I'm very happy that there is more than one A port on my laptop. Add in the standard set of 3.5mm jack, HDMI, ethernet, card reader, and charging, and you're already at more ports than even the new Framework 16 can physically fit in its frame, let alone nerd ports like serial or a second ethernet port. I considered buying a double-priced Framework earlier this year for the linux support and upgradeability (I really support their goal and would pay that premium if it were a suitable system) but this is one of the main reasons it just doesn't work for me: I'm actually a power user that regularly uses these connections and more
    - Macha 10mo ago
      > My laptop (bought this year) charges via a DC barrel jack, afaik because USB-C doesn't deliver enough power for peak usage I've got a Dell 120W USB-C charger from a 2017 Dell laptop, and I think you can go up to 240W now. Now the highest power is a bit of a compatibility nightmare. I also have a 60W framework charger but it will only charge the Dell at 15W because that's the maximum mode that both the Dell and Framework charger support in common. But given the barrel connectors are usually only compatible with the exact laptop they're sold with, that's probably an improvement.
- summa_tech 10mo ago
  It's funny. I think a lot of more software-y people just don't see the need for a lot of Framework features. I deal with a lot of hardware (as a hobbyist and a hardware engineer) and I've seen every USB standard connector in the last week. I also own something like three different Framework products (16, 13 and Desktop) and gifted two more (13 and Desktop) to people. Really, apart from the fit issues on 16 spacers and perhaps the speakers, the only really unforgivable issue is the size of the expansion cards (too small for interesting hardware like a good LTE modem).
  - oldandboring 10mo ago
    Software-y people also have a way of being deliberately and performatively obtuse about their technology choices. This person's proclamation about not using any USB-A peripherals hits the same as when they feign surprise that any non-luddite would still have a use for printers, scanners, and fax machines.
- zbrozek 10mo ago
  I got a couple of type-A cards for my AMD FW13 and generally keep one loaded in the laptop for connecting to random junk like flash drives, charging cables for all sorts of widgets (like my bike light or head lamp), etc. I get dramatically more use out of the type-C cards. And in the quite-rare cases where I really need all of the type-C ports, I'll just eject the type-A card and plug directly into the chassis without the interposer at all rather than carry an extra type-C with me. That said, there have been a few things that have been a bit less than deluxe on my FW13: - The touchpad mechanical click is just not that good. It is too sensitive to exact pressure and touch location and I find holding it down and dragging to be excessively difficult compared to all other touchpads I've ever used. - The delete key seems to oxidize and needs a bunch of hard mashing to get it to become responsive. No, it's not sticky or dirty. - The air intake on the bottom is highly prone to getting blocked, mostly by my legs. - There's no BIOS option to turn down the brightness or disable altogether the charging status LEDs, and I find that when I travel and can't keep the laptop in a separate room that it's bright enough to interrupt sleep. I've taped over them, but the light leakage from other crevices is still sufficient to be at least mildly annoying. The translucent Ethernet adapter card also acts like a lightbulb. - The laptop ramps its current consumption from type-C very quickly and seems like it overshoots its target a little bit, and so it is the only device I have that trips out the OCP on some of my bricks. - There's no BIOS option to artificially limit the charging power, and so I often trip the OCP on aircraft if my battery is not fully charged before plugging in. I don't want to carry a secondary small brick just to use on planes. - The LCD backlight uniformity and color quality are mediocre, but for my use case I just don't really care that much. For me, this is a portable technical productivity machine and not an art studio, so it doesn't matter. - The LCD backlight intensity curve is pretty bad. I very-frequently want to have a brightness in-between the lowest and second-lowest settings. I would love to get more control at the bottom and less at the top. It feels like it's linear when it should be logarithmic. - The speakers suck. So does the volume control. I very rarely go above 10% volume and frequently don't have sufficient control resolution at the bottom. Anything above about 14-16% volume causes something to distort and other stuff to rattle. Luckily I mostly don't consume media, so this is rarely a real problem. But it is truly atrocious. All that said, I'm generally a pretty happy camper. I look forward to continued improvements from the company over the years.
- systemtest 10mo ago
  Perhaps because Framework users are a bit more geeky and are more likely to use older hardware that still has USB-A? USB-A is like what DB9 was. Easy to use, easy to plug-in, used on most devices. But there comes a point in time where we move on to the next connector, which is USB-C. Most of my hardware is younger than ten years and everything has USB-C. I had a night light with micro-USB still but that was one of the last devices with a legacy port.
Esophagus4 10mo ago
I still do have a few USB-A: Yubikey, mouse receiver, Streamdeck, USB sticks, webcam, old HDD hard drives I use for backups... I guess I could, but I would rather not upgrade all of those to USB-C and I really tired of having to carry dongles everywhere. I even like that if I were consistently using HDMI, I could actually just put an HDMI extension card into my laptop and still not need a dongle. It's customizable to my usage at any point in the laptop's life.
ajross 10mo ago
Even limiting discussion to "routine consumer use": Mouse and keyboard dongles, USB sticks for copying things off the scanner or 3D printer or whatever. Joysticks and game controllers still live in drawers and come out every once in a while. These things are still Just Not Made in USB-C except in a handful of weird devices. And even then, I'm not re-buying junk that works. I just swapped for a webcam that has a C cable, and ironically it's being used with an adapter because the integrated hub on the KVM switch is A-only. Also dev tasks like flashing bootable ChromeOS and linux images pretty regularly, connecting to a Flyswatter JTAG adapter, UART adapters, etc... USB-A was actually a really great plug and objectively works better for a lot of applications than the tiny C connector.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
distances 10mo ago
I use USB-A for mouse and keyboard, so I need at least two ports. Both are much better with a cord.
- Esophagus4 10mo ago
  Something about bluetooth keyboards... they're just awful. Laggy and glitchy things.
safety1st 10mo ago
What I have plugged in via USB-A right now: Ethernet adapter; Generic gamepad; Logitech wireless keyboard receiver; Sony waterproof Walkman cradle.
neogodless 10mo ago
Current items in my possession that are still in use and use USB-A * keyboard * mouse dongle * webcam * microphone * mouse charging cable * smart watch charging cable * SATA hard drive dock * 32GB and 64GB USB memory sticks Things that use USB-C * new SD card reader * new headphones dongle * smart phone charging cable Some of the above could maybe be replaced with a USB-C equivalent, but they are still working and I'm still using them. Why waste money and create waste replacing them?
- kstrauser 10mo ago
  I bought a USB-C hub so I can slowly migrate to the current format as I replace the old devices.
  - neogodless 10mo ago
    I mean I have a perfectly good USB-A hub that is still working and doesn't need replaced either ;) 4-ports -- supports webcam, microphone, keyboard with no issues.
makeitdouble 10mo ago
Bluetooth is too flaky for such critical inputs. Dongles will usually bring higer polling, less interference/2.4Ghz connectivity and lower load on the host system. Sadly most are USB-A plugs. Bluetooth being cnstantly used for audio and so many other things as well might also be at play ?
- systemtest 10mo ago
  Isn't that more due to the Bluetooth hardware used and implementation on the OS side? On macOS I never had flakyness with Bluetooth keyboards but on Windows my experience was significantly worse.
  - makeitdouble 10mo ago
    It might as well be, though Bluetooth is kinda hit or miss in general IMHO. On Macos, first party peripherals have of course pretty good connectivity (is it even straight Bluetooth?) but it's not perfect either, and third party ones have a tougher time. I wondered how much it was just me, apparently we were dozens: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/17659mx/sonoma_bluetooth_keyboard_lag/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/17659mx/sonoma_bluet...
bluescrn 10mo ago
Most flash drives and wired mice/keyboards are still USB-A. And people have huge piles of charging cables that are USB-A to micro/mini USB or USB-C.
- systemtest 10mo ago
  I assume you are talking about legacy devices? I haven't purchased a keyboard in the past ten years with USB-A. Everything is USB-C for charging/data and Bluetooth.
  - distances 10mo ago
    I think new devices are primarily USB-A too? All my keyboards and mice are A, also the one I bought this year: https://perixx.com/products/periboard-535 https://perixx.com/products/periboard-535
    - systemtest 10mo ago
      Wow. A device in 2025 with a non-detachable USB-A cable? That sounds like a horrible design decision from both a repairability and future-proofing standpoint. My keyboard has a USB-C port on the side so you can plug in whatever cable you want, A or C, long, short, curled, braided. It even connects to my phone without dongles.
      - distances 10mo ago
        Yeah I agree a detachable cable would've been better. The keyboard itself is very good though, I'm quite happy with it!

I can't even recall when I last needed USB-A, literally everything I have uses USB-C (or bluetooth for mouse and keyboard). What do you use it for?

nrp 10mo ago

USB-A is our second most popular Expansion Card after USB-C (and before HDMI), so certainly people are using it for something!

deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
nehal3m 10mo ago
I'm not trying to sit in my arm chair and act like I know better, but do you think it's possible people order those just in case?
- coldpie 10mo ago
  I have a stash of USB keyboards and mice in my closet, gathered from various sources for free. They're all USB-A because they're like 15 years old. The SD card reader I got somewhere ages ago is USB-A. My Xbox 360 controller is USB-A. So I got a USB-A module. Shrug.
- lucb1e 10mo ago
  Hi it's me from the past. I daily drive a VGA screen and a USB-A hub that connects my USB-A mouse and USB-A keyboard. My µSD-card reader uses USB-A. Ethernet adapter (for when I need a second NIC) is also USB-A but it came with an adapter to C so I have a choice there. All USB sticks I've ever seen are A, as well as all external hard drives. My charging cables are predominantly USB-A to micro, and nowadays I also need C for my phone. It's a bit annoying to need that extra C charging cable everywhere after we had already standardized on micro (except for Apple), but at least there's one standard now (xkcd.com/927) after the current devices die Edit: forgot the printer. I connect it via USB-A on demand. /edit. My laptop (bought this year) charges via a DC barrel jack, afaik because USB-C doesn't deliver enough power for peak usage. Buying a little HDMI-VGA converter was a lot cheaper than throwing a perfectly good screen away. My keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals also simply still work, seems silly to replace them just to get a C variant when 700-1300€ laptops have 1 or 2 C ports and always 2 A ports (I happen to be up-to-date on that, at least, because I helped someone select a new laptop ereyesterday) I don't know what I'd need more than one C port for but I'm very happy that there is more than one A port on my laptop. Add in the standard set of 3.5mm jack, HDMI, ethernet, card reader, and charging, and you're already at more ports than even the new Framework 16 can physically fit in its frame, let alone nerd ports like serial or a second ethernet port. I considered buying a double-priced Framework earlier this year for the linux support and upgradeability (I really support their goal and would pay that premium if it were a suitable system) but this is one of the main reasons it just doesn't work for me: I'm actually a power user that regularly uses these connections and more
  - Macha 10mo ago
    > My laptop (bought this year) charges via a DC barrel jack, afaik because USB-C doesn't deliver enough power for peak usage I've got a Dell 120W USB-C charger from a 2017 Dell laptop, and I think you can go up to 240W now. Now the highest power is a bit of a compatibility nightmare. I also have a 60W framework charger but it will only charge the Dell at 15W because that's the maximum mode that both the Dell and Framework charger support in common. But given the barrel connectors are usually only compatible with the exact laptop they're sold with, that's probably an improvement.
summa_tech 10mo ago
It's funny. I think a lot of more software-y people just don't see the need for a lot of Framework features. I deal with a lot of hardware (as a hobbyist and a hardware engineer) and I've seen every USB standard connector in the last week. I also own something like three different Framework products (16, 13 and Desktop) and gifted two more (13 and Desktop) to people. Really, apart from the fit issues on 16 spacers and perhaps the speakers, the only really unforgivable issue is the size of the expansion cards (too small for interesting hardware like a good LTE modem).
- oldandboring 10mo ago
  Software-y people also have a way of being deliberately and performatively obtuse about their technology choices. This person's proclamation about not using any USB-A peripherals hits the same as when they feign surprise that any non-luddite would still have a use for printers, scanners, and fax machines.
zbrozek 10mo ago
I got a couple of type-A cards for my AMD FW13 and generally keep one loaded in the laptop for connecting to random junk like flash drives, charging cables for all sorts of widgets (like my bike light or head lamp), etc. I get dramatically more use out of the type-C cards. And in the quite-rare cases where I really need all of the type-C ports, I'll just eject the type-A card and plug directly into the chassis without the interposer at all rather than carry an extra type-C with me. That said, there have been a few things that have been a bit less than deluxe on my FW13: - The touchpad mechanical click is just not that good. It is too sensitive to exact pressure and touch location and I find holding it down and dragging to be excessively difficult compared to all other touchpads I've ever used. - The delete key seems to oxidize and needs a bunch of hard mashing to get it to become responsive. No, it's not sticky or dirty. - The air intake on the bottom is highly prone to getting blocked, mostly by my legs. - There's no BIOS option to turn down the brightness or disable altogether the charging status LEDs, and I find that when I travel and can't keep the laptop in a separate room that it's bright enough to interrupt sleep. I've taped over them, but the light leakage from other crevices is still sufficient to be at least mildly annoying. The translucent Ethernet adapter card also acts like a lightbulb. - The laptop ramps its current consumption from type-C very quickly and seems like it overshoots its target a little bit, and so it is the only device I have that trips out the OCP on some of my bricks. - There's no BIOS option to artificially limit the charging power, and so I often trip the OCP on aircraft if my battery is not fully charged before plugging in. I don't want to carry a secondary small brick just to use on planes. - The LCD backlight uniformity and color quality are mediocre, but for my use case I just don't really care that much. For me, this is a portable technical productivity machine and not an art studio, so it doesn't matter. - The LCD backlight intensity curve is pretty bad. I very-frequently want to have a brightness in-between the lowest and second-lowest settings. I would love to get more control at the bottom and less at the top. It feels like it's linear when it should be logarithmic. - The speakers suck. So does the volume control. I very rarely go above 10% volume and frequently don't have sufficient control resolution at the bottom. Anything above about 14-16% volume causes something to distort and other stuff to rattle. Luckily I mostly don't consume media, so this is rarely a real problem. But it is truly atrocious. All that said, I'm generally a pretty happy camper. I look forward to continued improvements from the company over the years.
systemtest 10mo ago
Perhaps because Framework users are a bit more geeky and are more likely to use older hardware that still has USB-A? USB-A is like what DB9 was. Easy to use, easy to plug-in, used on most devices. But there comes a point in time where we move on to the next connector, which is USB-C. Most of my hardware is younger than ten years and everything has USB-C. I had a night light with micro-USB still but that was one of the last devices with a legacy port.

Esophagus4 10mo ago

I still do have a few USB-A: Yubikey, mouse receiver, Streamdeck, USB sticks, webcam, old HDD hard drives I use for backups... I guess I could, but I would rather not upgrade all of those to USB-C and I really tired of having to carry dongles everywhere. I even like that if I were consistently using HDMI, I could actually just put an HDMI extension card into my laptop and still not need a dongle. It's customizable to my usage at any point in the laptop's life.

ajross 10mo ago

Even limiting discussion to "routine consumer use": Mouse and keyboard dongles, USB sticks for copying things off the scanner or 3D printer or whatever. Joysticks and game controllers still live in drawers and come out every once in a while. These things are still Just Not Made in USB-C except in a handful of weird devices. And even then, I'm not re-buying junk that works. I just swapped for a webcam that has a C cable, and ironically it's being used with an adapter because the integrated hub on the KVM switch is A-only. Also dev tasks like flashing bootable ChromeOS and linux images pretty regularly, connecting to a Flyswatter JTAG adapter, UART adapters, etc... USB-A was actually a really great plug and objectively works better for a lot of applications than the tiny C connector.

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

distances 10mo ago

I use USB-A for mouse and keyboard, so I need at least two ports. Both are much better with a cord.

Esophagus4 10mo ago
Something about bluetooth keyboards... they're just awful. Laggy and glitchy things.

safety1st 10mo ago

What I have plugged in via USB-A right now: Ethernet adapter; Generic gamepad; Logitech wireless keyboard receiver; Sony waterproof Walkman cradle.

neogodless 10mo ago

Current items in my possession that are still in use and use USB-A * keyboard * mouse dongle * webcam * microphone * mouse charging cable * smart watch charging cable * SATA hard drive dock * 32GB and 64GB USB memory sticks Things that use USB-C * new SD card reader * new headphones dongle * smart phone charging cable Some of the above could maybe be replaced with a USB-C equivalent, but they are still working and I'm still using them. Why waste money and create waste replacing them?

kstrauser 10mo ago
I bought a USB-C hub so I can slowly migrate to the current format as I replace the old devices.
- neogodless 10mo ago
  I mean I have a perfectly good USB-A hub that is still working and doesn't need replaced either ;) 4-ports -- supports webcam, microphone, keyboard with no issues.

makeitdouble 10mo ago

Bluetooth is too flaky for such critical inputs. Dongles will usually bring higer polling, less interference/2.4Ghz connectivity and lower load on the host system. Sadly most are USB-A plugs. Bluetooth being cnstantly used for audio and so many other things as well might also be at play ?

systemtest 10mo ago
Isn't that more due to the Bluetooth hardware used and implementation on the OS side? On macOS I never had flakyness with Bluetooth keyboards but on Windows my experience was significantly worse.
- makeitdouble 10mo ago
  It might as well be, though Bluetooth is kinda hit or miss in general IMHO. On Macos, first party peripherals have of course pretty good connectivity (is it even straight Bluetooth?) but it's not perfect either, and third party ones have a tougher time. I wondered how much it was just me, apparently we were dozens: https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/17659mx/sonoma_bluetooth_keyboard_lag/ https://www.reddit.com/r/MacOS/comments/17659mx/sonoma_bluet...

bluescrn 10mo ago

Most flash drives and wired mice/keyboards are still USB-A. And people have huge piles of charging cables that are USB-A to micro/mini USB or USB-C.

systemtest 10mo ago
I assume you are talking about legacy devices? I haven't purchased a keyboard in the past ten years with USB-A. Everything is USB-C for charging/data and Bluetooth.
- distances 10mo ago
  I think new devices are primarily USB-A too? All my keyboards and mice are A, also the one I bought this year: https://perixx.com/products/periboard-535 https://perixx.com/products/periboard-535
  - systemtest 10mo ago
    Wow. A device in 2025 with a non-detachable USB-A cable? That sounds like a horrible design decision from both a repairability and future-proofing standpoint. My keyboard has a USB-C port on the side so you can plug in whatever cable you want, A or C, long, short, curled, braided. It even connects to my phone without dongles.
    - distances 10mo ago
      Yeah I agree a detachable cable would've been better. The keyboard itself is very good though, I'm quite happy with it!