USB Connectors

[Dennis.G]

Was trying to organize cables and was surprised by the number of differing connector types for USB cables. Took photo. I think these are identified as (left to right) USB-A, USB-B, USB-miniB, USB microB... but then I don't know what, especially the real small one. I think the one on the right is special to USB 3.0 high speed.

Really need this many "standard" connectors for USB? Drives me nuts.

Guess I just felt need to bitch about this.

[wingless]

Originally Posted by Dennis.G

Guess I just felt need to bitch about this.

Well done!

[St. Elsewhere]

[QUOTE=Dennis.G;
Really need this many "standard" connectors for USB? Drives me nuts.

Guess I just felt need to bitch about this. [/QUOTE]

It's evolution toward smaller devices. The original USB's will not fit on today's smart phones.

[delmarrey]

There are at least 4 more, Apple iPad (old and new), MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Oh, and another for external HD's.

[DeepFrz]

My external hard drive uses the USB 3 high speed connector as does my Samsung Galaxy S5, although they both can use the USB A cables as well.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by delmarrey

There are at least 4 more, Apple iPad (old and new), MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Oh, and another for external HD's.

AND another one for an external monitor, ffs, because they just couldn't bring themselves to use HDMI for whatever reason.

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by Dennis.G

Was trying to organize cables and was surprised by the number of differing connector types for USB cables. Took photo. I think these are identified as (left to right) USB-A, USB-B, USB-miniB, USB microB... but then I don't know what, especially the real small one. I think the one on the right is special to USB 3.0 high speed.

Really need this many "standard" connectors for USB? Drives me nuts.

Guess I just felt need to bitch about this.

Yes the one on the right is USB 3.0. I've only seen it used for SATA hard drive connections but there may be other uses at this point.

[Cheechako]

yeah... its F'ing crazy....

[Cap Erict3]

I like the new IPad/IPhone cable. I guess that means it will change again soon.

[CaptTom]

Wait, its worse. First of all, you didn't even mention Apple "lightening" cables.

But even with USB connections of the same size, there are different configurations. You can buy a dedicated "charging" cable that has the two data pins shorted together. This tells the device that it can pull the full 2.4 Amps to charge. But you can't use that cord for data.

Dedicated chargers do this internally, so you can use the same cable for data (connected to another device) or charging (plugged into the charger). And of course, Apple uses different voltages on those pins to mean the same thing, so you can't always use one charger for both platforms.

[jeepbluetj]

And how many times have we all tried to insert one upside down?

It's insane how many connector "standards" there are/have been. And how crappy alot of them are.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by jeepbluetj

And how many times have we all tried to insert one upside down?

It normally takes me three attempts to insert a USB connector - turning it over each time.

[hellosailor]

Dennis-
It gets better this year when the new bidirectional USB cables come out. Both ends will be the same, won't matter which one you plug in the "host" versus the device.

You'll find all that stuff documented on the USB web site, the Wiki, all over. I stopped by WalMart and bought a couple of bottles of "puffy paint" about a buck each, bright colors, dries like vinyl but is water-based and can be peeled off cleanly. I color coded all the cables and adapters to make them easy to tell apart.

Cable adapters, and adapter kits, are also available cheaply on Amazon.

[zboss]

Originally Posted by Dennis.G

Was trying to organize cables and was surprised by the number of differing connector types for USB cables. Took photo. I think these are identified as (left to right) USB-A, USB-B, USB-miniB, USB microB... but then I don't know what, especially the real small one. I think the one on the right is special to USB 3.0 high speed.

Really need this many "standard" connectors for USB? Drives me nuts.

Guess I just felt need to bitch about this.

Hallelujah preacher! SPREAD that gospel! I feel the same. We have more cables that you can know!

Well, at least wireless USB is on the way...

and...

http://www.cnet.com/news/with-new-us...way-up-cables/

[El Pinguino]

The bloke that designed the USB-A ( I presume that is the name for the one far left in the first pic) died the other day... it took more than a few attempts to bury him... they kept on putting him in the wrong way up...