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Some cheaper devices I have (e.g. rechargeable LED light strip) _only_ charge via power-only cables. Was maddening when I realized I had thrown out all but one
by firloop 3mo ago
Some cheaper devices I have (e.g. rechargeable LED light strip) _only_ charge via power-only cables. Was maddening when I realized I had thrown out all but one of the cables that can charge it.
- skinfaxi 3mo agoSome manufacturers don't want to do the power negotiation aspect which is the cause of this, I believe.
- spaqin 3mo agoNot even power negotiation but a simple resistor would be too costly for them to implement.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- gumby 3mo agoThankfully I’ve never encountered one. But I’ll check before discarding if I ever get a device that comes with one, thanks!
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 3mo agoMore often than not these are usually cheap Chinese devices that are expecting a USB-C to USB-A (power-only) cable, because they're actually USB-A devices, with USB-A circuitry, modified slightly to appear as if they're USB-C. Basically they skipped out on building power negotiation smarts that are required to support real USB-C charging, and instead just swapped out the physical connector.
- Tharre 3mo agoThey skipped out on literally 2 resistors. That's it, that's all that is required for real USB-C charging.
- ACCount37 3mo agoYep. The two fucking resistors. All it takes 2 x 5.1K, and yet, somehow, people keep fucking it up. It's not expensive or complex. It's just that somehow, no one thought to look up "how to add type c to your device" online, or ask an LLM, or put literally any effort into making sure the device works as it should.
- philistine 3mo agoThose two resistors cost money. It's not incompetence. It's a deliberate choice.
- m463 3mo agoI've read countless stories of designs sent out getting backroom-cost-reduced by removing the most ridiculously cheap parts.
- Tharre 3mo agoYou're saving a fraction of a cent per device, while banking on customers not sending it back as defective because it didn't charge when they tried it with a random cable. If it is a deliberate choice, it's a really, really dumb one.
- myself248 3mo agoYup. Buy it, test it, post a review, return it. It's the only message you can send.
- kakacik 2mo agoIf it works (aka enough people buy it) it aint stupid
- pbhjpbhj 2mo agoCould not disagree more. Advertising is primarily about convincing is to buy things we don't need, don't want, or which are 'stupid' in some way. Half empty plastic packaging, especially the sort where the company spent money to [re-]design it to deceive people - stupid. It should be illegal. Near ubiquitous.