5 ms·

Sadly, that's far from truth... "back in the day", you had an ericsson charger that fit in an ericsson phone and charget that ericsson phone well... and you ha

Sadly, that's far from truth... "back in the day", you had an ericsson charger that fit in an ericsson phone and charget that ericsson phone well... and you had a nokia charger for you nokia that charged your nokia. They physically looked different, they wouldn't fit into any other device, and when you needed a charger, you'd take the one that fit the charging hole and it would charge. Now, you have a bunch of usb C bricks, some just 5V usb, some USB PD, some QC(2, 3).... then you have a bunch of usb C cables, some with ID chips, some without, some able to carry 15 watts, some 100 watts, and then you have devices, some that can do QC, some that can do smart PD, some with just some resistors, some without even those. Everything fits in every hole, every charger can take any cable and any device can take the other end of the cable.... but will this particular combo charge your laptop? The cable fits.. will it charge? What about those cheap earbuds that just want 5 volts? The USB-A to usb-C cable that came with them works, but the USB-C to USB-C that you bought after, doesn't. How about that smart LiPo charger, it's USB-C, but it needs at least 9 volts to charge, and not every power brick gives out that voltage. What about charging speed? Will it do fast charge? Your laptop charging light is on, but the battery percentage is going down... why? What about a powerbank, does it charge your laptop? How does it know who does the charging, and who is getting charged? I mean sure, if you know your standards, you'll know what devices need PD and which ones use QC, you'll read the specs on the power bricks, you know how many watts your laptop needs, how to switch the current directions, which devices can't do proper handshakes, and need usbA->C cables, etc, and you'll get yourself a baggie of a few power bricks and cables for different stuff, but i had to label the cables for my mom, because while everything physically fits, many combinations won't actually charge your device. 10 years ago, this wasn't a problem, since her laptop charger didn't fit her wireless earphones, now it fits and it doesn't charge them.

ocimbote 3mo ago
You may be right, and I've had to live some of that myself with docking stations, thunderbolt, and such. But those moments are the exceptions. In my everyday life, when I need to charge _anything_, except maybe for the laptop itself, I just look for a charger with USB-C and it works. It maybe faster or slower depending on everything you just wrote, but it works. On a side-note, when I take the charger of my laptop, it can charge absolutely everything. So yes, that's a true and honest improvement.
- ajsnigrutin 3mo ago
  > thunderbolt If you add data, it's even worse... does the cable do thunderbolt? USB 3.0? Or just 2.0? There's no way to know and the cable still fits
deleted 3mo ago
[deleted]
Shog9 3mo ago
In practice, this complexity means you at least have a chance. Most phones and almost all low-power devices will accept power from most chargers and cables. Probably not at a maximum level, but if you're stuck somewhere you can get by. Power-hungry laptops are trickier, but even so... I've gone a week or more trickle charging a laptop from whatever travel charger I happened to have on hand, using it for a few hours, then putting it in standby and charging it up again until finally the mfg-blessed replacement fast charger arrived. The alternative (and one I was faced with more than once in the bad old days) was "no laptop". Worst experience I've had to date has been a Norco jump box that will charge via one high-power charger and one cable, a car charger it came with, and ... Via careful back feeding from a benchtop power supply.
- jsmith45 3mo ago
  I have successfully had am M1 MacBook open and in active use (albeit not with very heavy workload, mostly text editor and web), while plugged into a Nintendo Switch 1 charger (only thing I had handy at that moment), and was watching the battery percentage slowly increasing over time. So even laptops can sometimes charge slowly while in use with a rather underpowered type C charger (Albeit still slightly better than a cheapo 5V 3A Type-C phone charger).
marcosdumay 3mo ago
Yep, we gained nothing from moving laptops and other high power devices into USB, instead of finishing the standardization of the barrel connector. Laptops chargers were already almost all compatible, and there is no reason to mix them with the low power devices.
- Dylan16807 3mo ago
  Well it saved me last year when I forgot my laptop's charger on a trip and ran it off my phone charger instead.
scarlehoff 3mo ago
I've charged a Mac with the Switch cable, and a Switch with the Mac brick. Nowadays I charge everything with the same brick from a dell laptop from 2018. Is it the most efficient? Probably not. Is it hurting the batteries of my devices? I guess?? I haven't noticed any issues with any device and that's 8 years now. Perhaps I've been lucky. That's for charging. Data can be trickier, that's true, but often devices that use USB-C for serious stuff come with their own. Chargers from aliexpress-grade stuff I just discard to the drawer of the 1M-cables from where nothing will ever come out.
- zootboy 3mo ago
  > Is it hurting the batteries of my devices? Unequivocally no, assuming your chargers are reasonably spec-compliant (e.g. not Aliexpress garbage). This is the whole point of type-C / USB-PD: chargers and devices should be more or less interchangeable. It's up to the device, not the charger, to charge its battery at an appropriate rate. The worst that can happen is plugging in an undersized charger, which may cause the device to charge slowly or not at all. If the device accepts a charge from the charger at a rate you find acceptable, then you're golden.
Dylan16807 3mo ago
> Now, you have a bunch of usb C bricks, some just 5V usb, some USB PD, some QC(2, 3).... then you have a bunch of usb C cables, some with ID chips, some without, some able to carry 15 watts, some 100 watts, and then you have devices, some that can do QC, some that can do smart PD, some with just some resistors, some without even those. I've never seen a USB C brick that supported some alternative to PD but not PD. Do many exist? Are they still making them? Wattage of chargers is easy enough to handle. Every non-defective cable can do 60 watts. That's enough for the vast majority of devices. If you have defective cables just get rid of them. > will this particular combo charge your laptop? If your laptop doesn't have weird DRM, the answer is either "every charger and every cable works" or "every 60W or higher charger and every cable works". > How about that smart LiPo charger, it's USB-C, but it needs at least 9 volts to charge, and not every power brick gives out that voltage. I think that's violating the standard so you'd have similar problems even without this kind of standard. But that's basically just a 30 watt requirement in practice which goes back to being easy. > The USB-A to usb-C cable that came with them works, but the USB-C to USB-C that you bought after, doesn't. That one's definitely violating the standard. > What about charging speed? Will it do fast charge? For anything under 60 watts, just read the number on the charger. This is the same as with other kinds of plug, which can also vary in charging speed even when they're compatible. For higher wattage laptops in particular you might care about cable choice. That's an annoyance but also easily solved by getting only high wattage cables. > What about a powerbank, does it charge your laptop? You've lost me. Without USB C a laptop power bank basically wouldn't exist. Weren't we comparing to back in the day?
- ajsnigrutin 3mo ago
  > I've never seen a USB C brick that supported some alternative to PD but not PD. Do many exist? Are they still making them? They existed not that long ago, before usb c pd was a stanard, many samsung phones supported it (and not PD), and those powerbricks with those usb c cables still exist and still fit into PD phones. > Wattage of chargers is easy enough to handle. How? Explain that to my mom, she picks up a cable that fits her phone/laptop and plugs it in. Here's the charger: https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/sjoess-usb-polnilnik-z-2-vrati-45-w-hitro-polnjenje-80580038/ https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/sjoess-usb-polnilnik-z-2-vrati-... It says 45 watts, will that charge her laptop? Why won't her laptop charge if she's charging a phone too? That didn't happen with her old laptop charger. > If your laptop doesn't have weird DRM, the answer is either "every charger and every cable works" or "every 60W or higher charger and every cable works". https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/smahagel-napajalni-komplet-50604427/ https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/smahagel-napajalni-komplet-5060... Will this one work? It won't, no usb PD support, but it fits into my moms PC, explain that to her. The cable is on her nightstand, she plugs it in, doesn't charge. > I think that's violating the standard so you'd have similar problems even without this kind of standard. But that's basically just a 30 watt requirement in practice which goes back to being easy. I have a charger and a soldering iron that just says voltage too low and doesn't work. The cable fits, but it doesn't work. I know why not, now explain it to my mom. > That one's definitely violating the standard. Sure, but she bought such a device, the cable fits but it doesn't charge. > This is the same as with other kinds of plug, which can also vary in charging speed even when they're compatible. What plug? Ericsson plug fit and charged the ericsson, same for nokia... usb C fits and doesn't charge. > For higher wattage laptops in particular you might care about cable choice. That's an annoyance but also easily solved by getting only high wattage cables. Again, explain that to my mom. how many watts? Is 60 enough? Ikea only has 45 watts, will that work? What is a watt? Why is it only 22 watts if she's also charging a phone? > You've lost me. Without USB C a laptop power bank basically wouldn't exist. Weren't we comparing to back in the day? Of course laptop powerbanks existed before USB C, they gave out usually 19 volts and the guy at the store would install a proper connector to fit your laptop and you'd lose the others. You'd charge it with a charger that fit that powerbank and charged it, then charge the laptop with it. Now you buy this: https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/varmfront-prenosni-polnilnik-temno-modra-10555645/ https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/varmfront-prenosni-polnilnik-te... 18 watts.. will it charge the laptop? Won't it? Who knows. Will the power go from the laptop to the powerbank instead? Who knows! You have to read the goddamn manual for that to see, and the manual says: > Charging power bank > • Connect the USB-C cable to the USB-C port of the power bank first and then connect the USB cable to a USB-charger or USB-outlet that can provide sufficient power to charge the power bank. The LED indicators will display the charging status. > Supply power to devices > • Connect the USB cable to USB-C or USB-A port of the power bank first and then connect the USB-cable to your device that you want to charge. > • The power bank will detect a connected device and start charging automatically. > • The LED indicators will display the remaining charge in the power bank during discharging. Now explain that to my mom. The cables fit. Yes, i know i'm complaining, but i live just far away from my parents, that it's a pain to sit into a car and drive all the way there to swap some adapters or chargers, or cables and label what goes where and for what it can be used... and debugging that over the phone is a pain.
kowbell 3mo ago
> when you needed a charger, you'd take the one that fit the charging hole and it would charge. I have three devices in my room right now that fit the "standard" barrel plug shape. One is 5V, one is 12V, one is 12V with inverted polarity. If I plug the wrong cable into the wrong device it will break permanently. They do have the decency to label somewhere on the device what kind of power it needs but that's something I need to check every time. In contrast I bought a couple inexpensive 6' USB-C cables that do 100W charging, and a couple inexpensive bricks that support that too. Every USB-C device I own - my phone, my laptop, my earbuds, my portable batteries, my portable fans - every one of them can power/charge at full speed or at least very fast. And more importantly, I know they aren't going to get fried if I'm tired or in a rush and I forgot to check the plugs. I made one purchase of some inexpensive good cables+bricks, and now I never need to think about it again.

ocimbote 3mo ago

You may be right, and I've had to live some of that myself with docking stations, thunderbolt, and such. But those moments are the exceptions. In my everyday life, when I need to charge _anything_, except maybe for the laptop itself, I just look for a charger with USB-C and it works. It maybe faster or slower depending on everything you just wrote, but it works. On a side-note, when I take the charger of my laptop, it can charge absolutely everything. So yes, that's a true and honest improvement.

ajsnigrutin 3mo ago
> thunderbolt If you add data, it's even worse... does the cable do thunderbolt? USB 3.0? Or just 2.0? There's no way to know and the cable still fits

deleted 3mo ago

[deleted]

Shog9 3mo ago

In practice, this complexity means you at least have a chance. Most phones and almost all low-power devices will accept power from most chargers and cables. Probably not at a maximum level, but if you're stuck somewhere you can get by. Power-hungry laptops are trickier, but even so... I've gone a week or more trickle charging a laptop from whatever travel charger I happened to have on hand, using it for a few hours, then putting it in standby and charging it up again until finally the mfg-blessed replacement fast charger arrived. The alternative (and one I was faced with more than once in the bad old days) was "no laptop". Worst experience I've had to date has been a Norco jump box that will charge via one high-power charger and one cable, a car charger it came with, and ... Via careful back feeding from a benchtop power supply.

jsmith45 3mo ago
I have successfully had am M1 MacBook open and in active use (albeit not with very heavy workload, mostly text editor and web), while plugged into a Nintendo Switch 1 charger (only thing I had handy at that moment), and was watching the battery percentage slowly increasing over time. So even laptops can sometimes charge slowly while in use with a rather underpowered type C charger (Albeit still slightly better than a cheapo 5V 3A Type-C phone charger).

marcosdumay 3mo ago

Yep, we gained nothing from moving laptops and other high power devices into USB, instead of finishing the standardization of the barrel connector. Laptops chargers were already almost all compatible, and there is no reason to mix them with the low power devices.

Dylan16807 3mo ago
Well it saved me last year when I forgot my laptop's charger on a trip and ran it off my phone charger instead.

scarlehoff 3mo ago

I've charged a Mac with the Switch cable, and a Switch with the Mac brick. Nowadays I charge everything with the same brick from a dell laptop from 2018. Is it the most efficient? Probably not. Is it hurting the batteries of my devices? I guess?? I haven't noticed any issues with any device and that's 8 years now. Perhaps I've been lucky. That's for charging. Data can be trickier, that's true, but often devices that use USB-C for serious stuff come with their own. Chargers from aliexpress-grade stuff I just discard to the drawer of the 1M-cables from where nothing will ever come out.

zootboy 3mo ago
> Is it hurting the batteries of my devices? Unequivocally no, assuming your chargers are reasonably spec-compliant (e.g. not Aliexpress garbage). This is the whole point of type-C / USB-PD: chargers and devices should be more or less interchangeable. It's up to the device, not the charger, to charge its battery at an appropriate rate. The worst that can happen is plugging in an undersized charger, which may cause the device to charge slowly or not at all. If the device accepts a charge from the charger at a rate you find acceptable, then you're golden.

Dylan16807 3mo ago

> Now, you have a bunch of usb C bricks, some just 5V usb, some USB PD, some QC(2, 3).... then you have a bunch of usb C cables, some with ID chips, some without, some able to carry 15 watts, some 100 watts, and then you have devices, some that can do QC, some that can do smart PD, some with just some resistors, some without even those. I've never seen a USB C brick that supported some alternative to PD but not PD. Do many exist? Are they still making them? Wattage of chargers is easy enough to handle. Every non-defective cable can do 60 watts. That's enough for the vast majority of devices. If you have defective cables just get rid of them. > will this particular combo charge your laptop? If your laptop doesn't have weird DRM, the answer is either "every charger and every cable works" or "every 60W or higher charger and every cable works". > How about that smart LiPo charger, it's USB-C, but it needs at least 9 volts to charge, and not every power brick gives out that voltage. I think that's violating the standard so you'd have similar problems even without this kind of standard. But that's basically just a 30 watt requirement in practice which goes back to being easy. > The USB-A to usb-C cable that came with them works, but the USB-C to USB-C that you bought after, doesn't. That one's definitely violating the standard. > What about charging speed? Will it do fast charge? For anything under 60 watts, just read the number on the charger. This is the same as with other kinds of plug, which can also vary in charging speed even when they're compatible. For higher wattage laptops in particular you might care about cable choice. That's an annoyance but also easily solved by getting only high wattage cables. > What about a powerbank, does it charge your laptop? You've lost me. Without USB C a laptop power bank basically wouldn't exist. Weren't we comparing to back in the day?

ajsnigrutin 3mo ago
> I've never seen a USB C brick that supported some alternative to PD but not PD. Do many exist? Are they still making them? They existed not that long ago, before usb c pd was a stanard, many samsung phones supported it (and not PD), and those powerbricks with those usb c cables still exist and still fit into PD phones. > Wattage of chargers is easy enough to handle. How? Explain that to my mom, she picks up a cable that fits her phone/laptop and plugs it in. Here's the charger: https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/sjoess-usb-polnilnik-z-2-vrati-45-w-hitro-polnjenje-80580038/ https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/sjoess-usb-polnilnik-z-2-vrati-... It says 45 watts, will that charge her laptop? Why won't her laptop charge if she's charging a phone too? That didn't happen with her old laptop charger. > If your laptop doesn't have weird DRM, the answer is either "every charger and every cable works" or "every 60W or higher charger and every cable works". https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/smahagel-napajalni-komplet-50604427/ https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/smahagel-napajalni-komplet-5060... Will this one work? It won't, no usb PD support, but it fits into my moms PC, explain that to her. The cable is on her nightstand, she plugs it in, doesn't charge. > I think that's violating the standard so you'd have similar problems even without this kind of standard. But that's basically just a 30 watt requirement in practice which goes back to being easy. I have a charger and a soldering iron that just says voltage too low and doesn't work. The cable fits, but it doesn't work. I know why not, now explain it to my mom. > That one's definitely violating the standard. Sure, but she bought such a device, the cable fits but it doesn't charge. > This is the same as with other kinds of plug, which can also vary in charging speed even when they're compatible. What plug? Ericsson plug fit and charged the ericsson, same for nokia... usb C fits and doesn't charge. > For higher wattage laptops in particular you might care about cable choice. That's an annoyance but also easily solved by getting only high wattage cables. Again, explain that to my mom. how many watts? Is 60 enough? Ikea only has 45 watts, will that work? What is a watt? Why is it only 22 watts if she's also charging a phone? > You've lost me. Without USB C a laptop power bank basically wouldn't exist. Weren't we comparing to back in the day? Of course laptop powerbanks existed before USB C, they gave out usually 19 volts and the guy at the store would install a proper connector to fit your laptop and you'd lose the others. You'd charge it with a charger that fit that powerbank and charged it, then charge the laptop with it. Now you buy this: https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/varmfront-prenosni-polnilnik-temno-modra-10555645/ https://www.ikea.com/si/sl/p/varmfront-prenosni-polnilnik-te... 18 watts.. will it charge the laptop? Won't it? Who knows. Will the power go from the laptop to the powerbank instead? Who knows! You have to read the goddamn manual for that to see, and the manual says: > Charging power bank > • Connect the USB-C cable to the USB-C port of the power bank first and then connect the USB cable to a USB-charger or USB-outlet that can provide sufficient power to charge the power bank. The LED indicators will display the charging status. > Supply power to devices > • Connect the USB cable to USB-C or USB-A port of the power bank first and then connect the USB-cable to your device that you want to charge. > • The power bank will detect a connected device and start charging automatically. > • The LED indicators will display the remaining charge in the power bank during discharging. Now explain that to my mom. The cables fit. Yes, i know i'm complaining, but i live just far away from my parents, that it's a pain to sit into a car and drive all the way there to swap some adapters or chargers, or cables and label what goes where and for what it can be used... and debugging that over the phone is a pain.

kowbell 3mo ago

> when you needed a charger, you'd take the one that fit the charging hole and it would charge. I have three devices in my room right now that fit the "standard" barrel plug shape. One is 5V, one is 12V, one is 12V with inverted polarity. If I plug the wrong cable into the wrong device it will break permanently. They do have the decency to label somewhere on the device what kind of power it needs but that's something I need to check every time. In contrast I bought a couple inexpensive 6' USB-C cables that do 100W charging, and a couple inexpensive bricks that support that too. Every USB-C device I own - my phone, my laptop, my earbuds, my portable batteries, my portable fans - every one of them can power/charge at full speed or at least very fast. And more importantly, I know they aren't going to get fried if I'm tired or in a rush and I forgot to check the plugs. I made one purchase of some inexpensive good cables+bricks, and now I never need to think about it again.