Having devices require a USB-C charger might be great for small devices, but it’s awful for laptops. That thing is so flimsy it’s only a matter of time until it starts having faulty contacts. I’ve had one for a year and now it connects/disconnects everytime I touch the cable. Gimme back my huge Dell barrel jacks 😭 😭 😭
barrel jacks were great until you lost them and had to buy a new one for way too much money. but, I’d rather have a standardized barrel jack than usb c
yeah my problem is not with having a standard, but with choosing USB-C for it instead of something better.
I get that USB-C was probably the more pragmatic choice since it already existed and a lot of devices were already using it. But I’m still team “Let’s make a new good standard rather than use one that’s just okayish”
Grab a thin needle or piece of wire, thin enough to easily insert into the USB-C port, and scratch all of the dirt and lint out of it. Always point the needle towards the outer surface so you don’t scratch the electrical contacts in the middle.
There is often a surprising amount of junk inside even if you can’t see it from the outside, and that can greatly affect the connection quality.
My phone recently had a similar issue where it would only charge if the cable was inserted in a specific way, and any movement would cause it to stop charging. The cable also wasn’t really held well even though it looked like it was fully inserted. I cleaned out the port even though I couldn’t see anything inside, and managed to pull out a bit of dust anyway. And now my phone no longer has charging issues and holds on to the cable much better.
USB-C unfortunately just seems to have a design that makes it very easy for dust to get stuck in it, while also having a relatively low tolerance for foreign material buildup before the connection quality gets affected, making this a quite common issue.
Thanks for the tip I’ll try that ! I’ve had the same problem on a tablet, but there it was definitely caused by the port being bend out of shape (it won’t be horizontal) so I had assumed it was the same problem on the laptop. But I’ll try cleaning it to see if it fixes it ! I assume a toothpick or something else or wood or plastic would be better than metal ?
A wooden toothpick is probably a bit too thick. You’d want something thin enough that it can be inserted without touching the electrical contacts. If you do have something plastic then that’s probably better, but if you do the cleaning when the device is off the USB port should be unpowered and there shouldn’t be a risk of causing a short, and modern USB ports are quite well protected again shorts anyway so it’s very unlikely to cause damage just by being conductive. You mainly want something that is long and thin enough to get all the way to the bottom of the port without having to apply any force. If the only things you have that are long and thin enough to reach the bottom of the port without having to be forced in are made of metal, then that’s still a safer option than jamming something too thick into the port that can deform the center contacts.
The main problem I have with USB-C is that the “U” is a lie. Always has been to some extent, but seems like it’s particularly true with USB-C. This is closer to that meme that’s like “There are 12 competing standards. We created a new universal standard to replace them all.” Except instead of there now being 13 competing standards, USB-C is a fractured mess so instead it’s like there’s now 20 competing standards. This cord supports passthrough power, this one doesn’t, but even the one that does only supports 20W so you have to have a special one to deliver 65, and that USB-C power brick only gives 15W, so you have to buy a special one that does 80W, and this USB-C port on my phone doesn’t support the USB-C to Aux jack adapter I bought, so now I have to buy a different adapter. It goes on and on and on and frankly I’m old and tired.
The issue with that is the old cables had the same problem, they just were less noticeable because you didn’t expect them to do what the USB-C is capable of. I had some USB micro cables that would pass power only, and it drove me nuts if they ended up near my computer.
After further reflection, the hill I’ll die on is that we should replace ALL types of USB by barrel jacks, not only USB-C. Cause circular connectors rule! Make a standard one, I don’t care, as long as I never have to plug a USB-A three times to find the right way.
I have also had issues with type C connection reliability, but every single time so far it has been an issue with the cable. I thought that the port on my phone of 4+ years was dying, the connection felt loose and it would charge unreliably, but changing out the cable has completely removed all issues.
the connection felt loose and it would charge unreliably, but changing out the cable has completely removed all issues.
Isn’t that because the attachments are placed on the cable side, purposefully, because changing cables is easier than replacing parts of the phone/device? I think that’s one of the more noticeable issues with the iIdiot lightning chargers: Once the grabbing parts of the port are borked in the device, no cable ever stays in.
Having devices require a USB-C charger might be great for small devices, but it’s awful for laptops. That thing is so flimsy it’s only a matter of time until it starts having faulty contacts. I’ve had one for a year and now it connects/disconnects everytime I touch the cable. Gimme back my huge Dell barrel jacks 😭 😭 😭
barrel jacks were great until you lost them and had to buy a new one for way too much money. but, I’d rather have a standardized barrel jack than usb c
yeah my problem is not with having a standard, but with choosing USB-C for it instead of something better.
I get that USB-C was probably the more pragmatic choice since it already existed and a lot of devices were already using it. But I’m still team “Let’s make a new good standard rather than use one that’s just okayish”
Grab a thin needle or piece of wire, thin enough to easily insert into the USB-C port, and scratch all of the dirt and lint out of it. Always point the needle towards the outer surface so you don’t scratch the electrical contacts in the middle.
There is often a surprising amount of junk inside even if you can’t see it from the outside, and that can greatly affect the connection quality.
My phone recently had a similar issue where it would only charge if the cable was inserted in a specific way, and any movement would cause it to stop charging. The cable also wasn’t really held well even though it looked like it was fully inserted. I cleaned out the port even though I couldn’t see anything inside, and managed to pull out a bit of dust anyway. And now my phone no longer has charging issues and holds on to the cable much better.
USB-C unfortunately just seems to have a design that makes it very easy for dust to get stuck in it, while also having a relatively low tolerance for foreign material buildup before the connection quality gets affected, making this a quite common issue.
Thanks for the tip I’ll try that ! I’ve had the same problem on a tablet, but there it was definitely caused by the port being bend out of shape (it won’t be horizontal) so I had assumed it was the same problem on the laptop. But I’ll try cleaning it to see if it fixes it ! I assume a toothpick or something else or wood or plastic would be better than metal ?
A wooden toothpick is probably a bit too thick. You’d want something thin enough that it can be inserted without touching the electrical contacts. If you do have something plastic then that’s probably better, but if you do the cleaning when the device is off the USB port should be unpowered and there shouldn’t be a risk of causing a short, and modern USB ports are quite well protected again shorts anyway so it’s very unlikely to cause damage just by being conductive. You mainly want something that is long and thin enough to get all the way to the bottom of the port without having to apply any force. If the only things you have that are long and thin enough to reach the bottom of the port without having to be forced in are made of metal, then that’s still a safer option than jamming something too thick into the port that can deform the center contacts.
Thanks for the tip ! ❤️
The main problem I have with USB-C is that the “U” is a lie. Always has been to some extent, but seems like it’s particularly true with USB-C. This is closer to that meme that’s like “There are 12 competing standards. We created a new universal standard to replace them all.” Except instead of there now being 13 competing standards, USB-C is a fractured mess so instead it’s like there’s now 20 competing standards. This cord supports passthrough power, this one doesn’t, but even the one that does only supports 20W so you have to have a special one to deliver 65, and that USB-C power brick only gives 15W, so you have to buy a special one that does 80W, and this USB-C port on my phone doesn’t support the USB-C to Aux jack adapter I bought, so now I have to buy a different adapter. It goes on and on and on and frankly I’m old and tired.
The issue with that is the old cables had the same problem, they just were less noticeable because you didn’t expect them to do what the USB-C is capable of. I had some USB micro cables that would pass power only, and it drove me nuts if they ended up near my computer.
True but at least you can buy replacement cables if they break and you know the spec.
Every barrel jack a different size and voltage.
After further reflection, the hill I’ll die on is that we should replace ALL types of USB by barrel jacks, not only USB-C. Cause circular connectors rule! Make a standard one, I don’t care, as long as I never have to plug a USB-A three times to find the right way.
I have also had issues with type C connection reliability, but every single time so far it has been an issue with the cable. I thought that the port on my phone of 4+ years was dying, the connection felt loose and it would charge unreliably, but changing out the cable has completely removed all issues.
Isn’t that because the attachments are placed on the cable side, purposefully, because changing cables is easier than replacing parts of the phone/device? I think that’s one of the more noticeable issues with the iIdiot lightning chargers: Once the grabbing parts of the port are borked in the device, no cable ever stays in.