Post AkzOdoAudevHCZ4QDY by mia@movsw.0x0.st
(DIR) More posts by mia@movsw.0x0.st
(DIR) Post #AkzHykAk15lvBo1fOK by mia@movsw.0x0.st
2024-08-15T08:13:09.382Z
3 likes, 1 repeats
here’s an idea: what if there were a laptop with a charging connector on the rear so you could use it on either side of the bed without flexing the charger cable so much it eventually breaks?and what if it were a barrel connector, not USB-C, because USB-C is not durable enough or even remotely reasonable for this use case?what if the charger plug also had proper strain relief and used good cables instead of bad ones?
(DIR) Post #AkzI6925z4aOJuVk8m by q66@blahaj.social
2024-08-15T08:28:42Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia but what about... magsafe but on the backfunnily this is also pretty much the primary reason i like the swappable bays on my framework, when i inevitably ruin the usb-c due to usb-c's garbage design i can just swap it out for another without the rest being ruined :^) (and extend the lifetime a bit because i can put usb-c on both sides when needed)
(DIR) Post #AkzI69q4zEZIovtf3A by mia@movsw.0x0.st
2024-08-15T08:36:49.068Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@q66 well the funny thing is that even though the jacks have moved to the sides, many laptop vendors ship chargers with 90° angled plugsthey’re angled because if the jack is on the back, it can rotate to whatever side the charger is onmagsafe as patented by apple doesn’t allow for this, so you’d need extra beefy strain reliefthere are round magnetic connector designs that do, but unfortunately, as far as i know, all of them would be too chonky if they needed to make and break the connection safely and reliably at DC currents typical for laptop charging/power supply (cc @Erpel?)
(DIR) Post #AkzI6APWrQvOasTyIy by q66@blahaj.social
2024-08-15T08:46:12Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
@mia @Erpel the charger that came with mine has removable plugs on both sides and the usb cable is straight on one end and angled on the other so sometimes i use it one way and sometimes the other way as needed
(DIR) Post #AkzI87LpCwrFgQgDpY by mia@movsw.0x0.st
2024-08-15T08:47:58.410Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@q66 @Erpel see this is kinda funny to me. they noticed an engineering problem, but instead of solving it they’re just making you swap cables
(DIR) Post #AkzI87nTY8yZ4BcIvg by q66@blahaj.social
2024-08-15T08:49:11Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia @Erpel well i guess they like, determined that these days you can not really not use usb-c without tons of people bitching about it so they went the way of least harm while still using it
(DIR) Post #AkzI88Rt7tIn5WWZv6 by mia@movsw.0x0.st
2024-08-15T08:52:46.417Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@q66 @Erpel the good news is that at least some few vendors put a barrel jack in addition to USB-C on all laptops above a certain performance class
(DIR) Post #AkzIYgOFYWPrstTuls by lanodan@queer.hacktivis.me
2024-08-15T10:04:37.914103Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia Meanwhile my T495: One side has power plug + ports-farm, one side for fans and one USB-A port, at least the cooling is mostly passive.And while 180° (or more) hinges are a bit nice sometimes, I'd much prefer power plug at the back.
(DIR) Post #AkzKme7L0DWcnXMC0G by goo@dobbs.town
2024-08-15T10:29:41Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia i wanna do something bad to the guys who decided laptops need *ONLY* USB-C charging
(DIR) Post #AkzN81UhU0a1I0bcEi by q66@blahaj.social
2024-08-15T09:03:17Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia @Erpel having both is pretty good but i like small 13" or below laptops and i imagine there it would complicate the design a bunch, unless you used a tiny barrel jack and those are extremely fragile mfs too
(DIR) Post #AkzN828P6OL5H9BK7c by mia@movsw.0x0.st
2024-08-15T10:48:27.107Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@q66 @Erpel the regular-sized barrel jacks don’t actually need to occupy a much larger footprint than a securely mounted USB-C port does. there are options that save vertical space by being mounted in a cutout in the PCB (“mid-mount”) but also have additional retention so it’s impossible to push/bend/yank them off the board somehow
(DIR) Post #AkzN82ucD8u5gfjpGi by lanodan@queer.hacktivis.me
2024-08-15T10:55:50.080013Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia @q66 @Erpel Ports directly soldered on the PCB is a terribly bad idea anyway as you can end up breaking the PCB (specially on bendy plastic laptops).
(DIR) Post #AkzNFziby7EY6CuhVI by q66@blahaj.social
2024-08-15T10:57:01Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@lanodan @Erpel @mia with bendy plastic laptops you can do it anyway (remember when uh, was it x260? would break if you grabbed it by the corner too often)
(DIR) Post #AkzOdlwevgKiHmO0iu by q66@blahaj.social
2024-08-15T10:51:01Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia @Erpel well anything smaller than 5521/5525 (and even there it's bordeline) is way too bendable
(DIR) Post #AkzOdmt9QD7ZDBkitU by mia@movsw.0x0.st
2024-08-15T10:56:27.324Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@q66 @Erpel yes those are the most common ones i think?
(DIR) Post #AkzOdncWhVPvTuyxcW by q66@blahaj.social
2024-08-15T11:04:33Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia @Erpel 5521 is the most common and is just about barely okay for this kind of purposeolder thinkpads had these really chunky ones (i think they are nonstandard size though) and these were pretty good, but the laptop-side connector would still inevitably go loose eventually
(DIR) Post #AkzOdoAudevHCZ4QDY by mia@movsw.0x0.st
2024-08-15T11:09:56.296Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@q66 @Erpel i’m not sure whether my laptop has 5521 or 5525 but the connector is still in perfect condition after over 10 yearsit’s mostly been treated well but i’ve knocked it around quite a bit, people tripped on the power cord and pulled it off the table, and it’s often under some stress because the charger has an angled connector and it gets pulled to the side a lotbut to be fair, some laptop vendors definitely pick worse parts that aren’t as durable
(DIR) Post #AkzP35XRDf1cICf2Nk by breizh@pleroma.breizh.pm
2024-08-15T11:05:09.257529Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia @q66 @Erpel Well, it was because USB-C wasn’t powerful enough to use the laptop at it’s full power.But now that you can have up to 240W on it, I guess it will disappear too (here it’s 180W on USB-C).
(DIR) Post #AkzP36bjFC3Fbnfyi0 by q66@blahaj.social
2024-08-15T11:06:58Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@breizh @Erpel @mia it still baffles me that anybody's expecting more than like 65W to go through that thing (have you seen the usb-c pinout and internal layout? it's scary, not to mention that the center pad eventually undergoes delamination, can we just stop designing connectors with center pads please... apple had the right idea with lightning, too bad it's apple)
(DIR) Post #AkzP37CF3RG5R2l8ca by breizh@pleroma.breizh.pm
2024-08-15T11:12:36.721008Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@q66 @Erpel @mia I agree, if Apple had opened up its format, things might have been different. But they would have preferred the whole world to pay royalties, as if. And now they have to do what everyone else does, legally (in Europe at least). Double failure.As I said, on my PC, USB-C passes 180W. We'll see how it holds up over time, but I'm not particularly worried. I think the problems people have with USB-C are more a question of quality than design... (although I admit it could have been designed better).
(DIR) Post #AkzP37vcKjYRhlzNLc by q66@blahaj.social
2024-08-15T11:16:10Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@breizh @Erpel @mia the thing is that in today's world you cannot expect quality because everything is manufactured to keep costs down, so to reduce the harm parts should be designed in a way that allows for errorit's not reasonable to say "well, the thing should've been made better" when you allow for barely any margin of error
(DIR) Post #AkzaskEklGesmWktw8 by nihilistic_capybara@lor.sh
2024-08-15T13:30:03Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia there are 90 degree cables. Usbc is not sturdy enough? I can think of 2 broken usbc cables in like 5 ish years.
(DIR) Post #AkzgE5vboCEJuLnhJo by mia@movsw.0x0.st
2024-08-15T08:15:43.609Z
1 likes, 0 repeats
if this sounds like 2004 it’s because that was the standard in 2004
(DIR) Post #AlK5Oa7imVcIT6lIrQ by mia@movsw.0x0.st
2024-08-15T13:37:19.435Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@nihilistic_capybara the cables are usually fine, it’s the receptacles that wear out
(DIR) Post #AlK5OasrxDKYpKoxLk by nihilistic_capybara@lor.sh
2024-08-25T10:46:09Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mia so far that has never happened to me. What does happen is lint collecting in it. Did you every try cleaning your USB ports?