What are you doing without USB-C?

[RumoredNow]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

When I got my Idol 4S Windows it was my first Type C port. Mind you, the stock charger and cable are underwhelming.

I went out and secured two Aukey smart chargers (one for the wall and one for the car). Each features a 3.0 A slot and a C slot. The C slot charges faster. I also got some C to C cables and some adapters (female A to male C, female mini to male C, female C to male mini). Why? Future proofing baby.

My Type C stable is about to expand again. I've preordered the Chuwi SurBook which has a full feature C slot and to complement this I'm also adding a Samsung T3 portable ssd in 250GB which has a Type C female port.

 

[Drael646464]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

When I got my Idol 4S Windows it was my first Type C port. Mind you, the stock charger and cable are underwhelming.

I went out and secured two Aukey smart chargers (one for the wall and one for the car). Each features a 3.0 A slot and a C slot. The C slot charges faster. I also got some C to C cables and some adapters (female A to male C, female mini to male C, female C to male mini). Why? Future proofing baby.

My Type C stable is about to expand again. I've preordered the Chuwi SurBook which has a full feature C slot and to complement this I'm also adding a Samsung T3 portable ssd in 250GB which has a Type C female port.


View attachment 136428

Could be pretty useful on the surbook for docking. You could get a hub with HDMI output, a few USB ports, and a wired network port, an external hard drive for a usb3 port on the dock , and use it as a desktop, whilst charging the device.

 

[RumoredNow]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

Could be pretty useful on the surbook for docking. You could get a hub with HDMI output, a few USB ports, and a wired network port, an external hard drive for a usb3 port on the dock , and use it as a desktop, whilst charging the device.

I could... Except I use Screen Beam to connect to a larger screen, SurBook has (2x) USB-A 3.0 ports built in, I don't really have a use scenario for LAN as my port into the apartment is awkwardly placed for a desktop setup without cables running through high traffic areas and I decided against an hdd which I already have in favor of the performance edge of the sdd...

Interesting idea though. I may look at some hubs down the line to see if they offer something I might want/need to expand.

 

[Drael646464]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

I could... Except I use Screen Beam to connect to a larger screen, SurBook has (2x) USB-A 3.0 ports built in, I don't really have a use scenario for LAN as my port into the apartment is awkwardly placed for a desktop setup without cables running through high traffic areas and I decided against an hdd which I already have in favor of the performance edge of the sdd...

Interesting idea though. I may look at some hubs down the line to see if they offer something I might want/need to expand.

I've long had a similar fantasy of the surface mobile crowd, but with a more powerful tablet, and external GPU, HDD, HDMI output etc. That was before they even invented thunderbolt 3. The potential of a tablet to reasonably replicate a proper desktop experience is closer than ever.

I used my cherry trail tablet as a desktop for a month or so, when I was living out of a suitcase. Just with HDMI out, and a USB 2 hub with a 128gb usb nub and keyboard/mouse. Worked pretty well.

I can get up 600mbs from my external USB hdd (mechanical) on my desktop for a straight drive backup via plain old usb 3 (another nice use of usb 3, quick backups of your device)

Screen beam is also pretty handy though...

The ports have some exciting applications for sort of 2 in 1, 3 in 1 type stuff, which will surely open up even more in the future. You could probably pick up something like that cheap from aliexpress.

For everyday uses atm, its mostly charging, but yeah, as time goes on, considering you can pack fanless i5 into a surface pro, I can see quite small form factors docking into a very capable desktop form.

I'd probably do it with the surbook, even if I never used it much lol. Just for the fun of seeing it in action.

 

[Wevenhuis]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

My surface pro and lumia 1520 don't have usb c works fine. I do admit I love the usb c fastcharging on my lumia 950 xl though.

I mostly use wireless charging for my windows phone devices. Wish there was something similar for tablet pcs and laptops. Helps a lot with cable clutter and accidental cable pulling.

 

[RumoredNow]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

I was all in on Qi for quite some time... But Quick Charge is really coming on and I'll opt for the new stupid fast even with a wire.

For tablets, the batteries are getting so large that Qi would not keep up really. I was always super impressed with my Nokia 2520 and how the 8120 mAh battery would charge 80% in an hour. I'm hoping the Type C on the Surbook will do similar even though the battery is larger at 10,000 mAh.

 

[Wevenhuis]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

I've read stories that wireless charing is getting faster. They're also testing the technology on electric cars.

On work days I typically use the usb c fastcharing. At night I leave my phone to charge overnight on wirless charging on the night stand. Set it and forget it. Unfortuanately, as far as I know no wirless charging is supported for laptops or tablets to date with larger battery capacity, although I do see it fit in my workflow for an overnight charge.

 

[convergent]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

Every time I keep seeing this thread in the list with new posts, I have an urge to answer the original question with something like, "Go to Disneyworld".

 

[snguyen10]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

Anyone else just want all their devices to be charged by the same cord? I currently have 6 devices in the house that charge by USB C...extremely convenient. Forget all the other uses of USB C!

 

[Ghouston]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

Anyone else just want all their devices to be charged by the same cord? I currently have 6 devices in the house that charge by USB C...extremely convenient. Forget all the other uses of USB C!

Completely agree. I am currently using 3 different types of cables to charge my devices. Micro USB, USB C, and Apple Lightning. Quite annoying.

 

[RumoredNow]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

Apple Lightning. Quite annoying.

:winktongue:

 

[JohnnyRedLight]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

Hahahah the real question for me would be "What would I do with USB-C?". The anwser... plug everything I have into a dongle so it will work on USB-C...

 

[John McIlhinney]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

Once Microsoft release their Surface Connect to USB C adapter there will be even less to complain about. The only issue then will be the lack of Thunderbolt 3. For those who need TB3, it's lack is a legitimate issue. To you, Microsoft would just say "buy something else that has TB3 instead of a Surface Pro". You're catered to in the Windows ecosystem. You're a small segment of the market so not everyone has to cater to you. Microsoft has catered to the vast majority of those who are likely to buy a SP and the rest can just look elsewhere. Microsoft are happy for you to buy a Windows machine from an OEM.

 

[John McIlhinney]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

Anyone else just want all their devices to be charged by the same cord? I currently have 6 devices in the house that charge by USB C...extremely convenient. Forget all the other uses of USB C!

That's actually one of the issues Microsoft addressed in their explanation of why the Surface Pro doesn't use USB C. It certainly would be convenient but an SP needs a lot more power than a phone but the sweaty masses don't know that. They would simply plug their phone charger into an SP and wonder why it wasn't charging properly... then blame Microsoft.

 

[PeterFnet]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

There has been a new standard announced by Intel so, even if the Pro did include the port, it would then be old.

I have one usb thumb drive which, at the other end, has a usb 3 port. I grabbed one for the very, very rare moments that I might need it. I don't.

I'm honestly feel that a great big chunk of the population just love to sound cool and jump on the bandwagon! OH MY GOSH it doesn't feature a port that I have no use for! By the time USB C hits the absolute mainstream, just like 4k televisions (still selling the 1080p units) the Surface Pro 7 will be here and a new port released.

Try not to get taken in with the marketing bull (If you can).

I'm going to need a source on that. Intel has not announced any new standard that would replace/compete USB 3.1 Gen2. Intel DID say they will make it royalty free in 2018 and will also include it in their next chips. There is mo marketing bull; in fact, I think it could use more marketing so less misinformation like this can be avoided.

If anyone is getting to sound cool, it's people like you ripping on others wanting the ONLY port that go faster than realistically USB 2.0. That USB3.0 Micro-B port common on external hard drives is on a few Android phones; it's the only way out there to do faster than USB2.0. But that's such a strange comparison, because it came from the same standard series and consortium company USB-IF!

I'm still not sure what this other standard is you bring up again at the end. Even the official DisplayPort standard adopted USB-C as one of its official ports; and USB 3.1 adopted DisplayPort as its official display protocol. The industry has anointed this standard and port as the future. Adoption rates are going to be through the roof when that next Intel CPU family doesn't have a USB 3.0 controller, but a 3.1 Gen2 controller.

 

[PeterFnet]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

That's actually one of the issues Microsoft addressed in their explanation of why the Surface Pro doesn't use USB C. It certainly would be convenient but an SP needs a lot more power than a phone but the sweaty masses don't know that. They would simply plug their phone charger into an SP and wonder why it wasn't charging properly... then blame Microsoft.

I don't even buy Microsoft's position on that. USB-PD for USB 3.1 was created just for that. It can push out to 100 watts. USB chargers are labeled with how much power they can push. Also, Microsoft still should have that Windows 10 convention to alert a user when a slow charging source is used.

 

[marcox92]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

In 2015 Microsoft launch the 950 XL with usb C port; just for that, whatever they argue now for not use it for new hardware has nos sense.
This is a huge marketing error. Il had waited the Samsung S8 because of its USB C and had bought a HP Spectre 360 for the same reason, The main reason ? not have to find right connection position for any cable, and I ha bought on amazon lots of adaptors working perfectly

 

[MrElectrifyer]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

I have a Type-C port on my Pixel. Beyond that given time things will start to use Type-C over what most people are familiar with. Such is evolution. There'll probably be a new one out, as well

I'm simply not going to purchase it without a Thunderbolt 3 USB Type C port. It's so not worth the upgrade to my Surface Pro 2 without that.

 

[Dusteater]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

I was waiting and hoping that the Surface Pro 5 would have USB-C, preferably Thunderbolt 3. Given that there isn't a single 2-in-1 detachable running Windows 10 with this port on the market, I am done with Windows as a whole. After owning 7 Windows Phones over the last few years, I finally went to iPhone 7 Plus. Since Microsoft doesn't seem to care at all about advancing the technology of their products, I am done. I haven't owned a PC for a year now, and don't plan to ever again after the Surface Pro 5 debacle. Panos Panay just doesn't get it, charging a huge price premium for a subpar device. He has really taken Microsoft in the complete wrong direction with hardware.

 

[Dusteater]

Re: What are you doing without usb-C?

I have a Type-C port on my Pixel. Beyond that given time things will start to use Type-C over what most people are familiar with. Such is evolution. There'll probably be a new one out, as well

Given the recent hardware refresh cycle, don't expect a new Surface with USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 for at least another 18 months, maybe even longer. If ever, actually. Time to move on to an Apple. At least they give you multiple Thunderbolt 3 ports. Just wish they had a 2-in-1 detachable.