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videogames is one word @psilocervine9/22/2023, 10:24 PM

gravis again @cathoderaydude

gravis again @cathoderaydude9/22/2023, 10:09 PM

@meow77 asked:

hi its me again
can we get the whole schpiel on usb3 docks that you mentioned in the z600 video?

okay so i didn't go into it largely because i know everyone disagrees with me, but this is my completely biased and unfair opinion of USB-C and USB docks:

videogames is one word @psilocervine9/22/2023, 10:24 PM

I SWEAR TO GOD USB-C DOCKS HAVE THE WORST GODDAMN CABLES

the only reason I own one of these things AT ALL is because it was the only local option I had for a way to get network connectivity on a computer to activate windows because FOR SOME GODDAMN REASON it just wouldn't recognize my onboard ethernet adapter and Windows 11 decided it wouldn't let me far enough into the process to get into the system settings

so I grab this OBSCENELY expensive device that has more fucking video ports than it does USB type A (USB-C video, HDMI, and fucking VGA compared to two USB type A), TWO goddamn card readers (one that I think is completely pointless because it's a micro SD reader and if you've got micro SD cards but no micro SD to SD adapters what is even going on in your life), and the *worst cable I've ever experienced on a hub

it's no more than 6 inches long and probably wouldn't be any better if it were longer because it's so fucking stiff that if I put it in the only available USB C port on the front of my computer, it sticks in the air because it's obviously meant for a horizontal desk port, not a vertical desktop one! and you know what? it's true! you fucking breathe funny and it's just BAH DOONK! BAH DOONK? BAH DOONK! BAH DOONK? BAH DOONK! BAH DOONK?

and sure, there are ones that have removable cables, which for some reason isn't the fucking standard, but they cost like $60! for a hub! I just want more holes!

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in reply to @cathoderaydude's post:

Plum @plumpan9/22/2023, 10:35 PM

I like USB-C (I'll take what I can get for the One True Charger Plug) but traditional docks are just so good and I miss them

@darryl @darryl9/22/2023, 10:51 PM

The best part is when you dock and something doesn’t work right away but it might work after several agonizing seconds? Earlier this week I docked my laptop and the monitor turned on and off at least a dozen times before stabilizing in a perfectly working configuration as if nothing was ever wrong. And if it doesn’t work (30% odds) then you have to undock, wait for all the drivers to realize you’ve undocked, and only then redock, or else it still won’t work

gravis again @cathoderaydude9/22/2023, 10:57 PM

In it's defense I feel like this was pretty universal to docks of all types

@rotopenguin9/22/2023, 10:58 PM

Don't forget all those times when the Dock simply forgets that it is a Dock, and you have to pull the power to it to reboot. Don't need any watchdog logic when you can crawl under your desk to unplug the outlet.

lain 'god inside and outside the wired' iwakura @doq9/22/2023, 10:58 PM

lenovo should not have gotten rid of the dock connector on thinkpads

their newest docking station isn't even a real docking station

PARTY MAN X @PARTY-MAN-X9/22/2023, 11:00 PM

i never quite understood why every dock seems to have a permanently attached cable. isn't that the point of usb-c?

the stiffness thing reminds me: apple just put out new usb-c cables alongside the new iphone and they've done the impossible and made a usb-c cable that isn't stiff. they don't have a permanent kink to them from being rolled up in the box, there's no resistance to bending them. if they also stay together for longer than a few months, they might've cracked it

@rotopenguin9/22/2023, 11:04 PM

They do it because everything in USB-C needs a "flippy multiplexer" to switch the cable pins around when you plug in the cable upside down. By soldering in one end exactly the right way up, they can skip that part.

No I have no idea why it's still okay for the other end of the cable to go in either way. Try not to thonk about it too hard.

kat @meow779/22/2023, 11:06 PM

maybe the flipping action only needs done on one end? it would be put onto the laptop to do it if the dock cant

@rotopenguin9/22/2023, 11:01 PM

Replace its cable with a better one. Get a cable long enough to loop around from your dock to the correct side of your laptop.

Oh right, every single dock has a 2 inch cable molded into it! You can't replace that cable. Oopsy doopsy. Time to buy an extension cable instead, a this-violates-the-usb-c-spec configuration which is only made by the very best sixletter brands.

Emi @pardalis9/22/2023, 11:41 PM

it comes down to semantics- no usb-c dock is a true 'dock', they are dongles that return all of the necessary and useful legacy IO to over-slimmed laptops

since people will accept them, manufacturers see no value in building laptop cradles with USB-C connectors in the exact right place to properly 'dock' into specific laptops (which would be Cool, but still look a little weird, see the Steam Deck dock)

Krowbird @Krowbird9/22/2023, 11:49 PM

USB-C socking stations are the dirt fucking worst and I’ll fight anyone who disagrees. We’re currently going through the process of getting rid of 400+ Dell TB16 thunderbolt docks where I work because they’re horribly made, buggy pieces of shit with connectors that literally crumble to plastic dust in your hands, only to find the WD22TB4’s we are replacing them with have flaky ethernet ports!

Not to be some kind of RETVRN asshole, but why we ever stopped making the e-Docks where you drop the laptop down on a big chonky connector and pushed a physical eject button to disconnect the laptop is beyond me. Those never broke ever and didn’t require a fukken 240w power brick besides.

gravis again @cathoderaydude9/23/2023, 12:25 AM

but they were a solved problem, and tech detests that. society exists in order to buy Next and if there isn't a Next society will collapse so we can't just keep doing what we're doing!!

Gourd @gourdcaptain9/23/2023, 3:36 AM

USB-C is my least favorite kind of port, where one port can have wildly different capabilities and speeds yet look identical, and so can the cables.

Hell, at least USB 3.0 ports were usually blue internally to differentiate from 2.0 until recently. And the connector didn't feel like it would break off in a stiff breeze. And I can at least mostly reliably buy 3.0 cables that work after much pain figuring out how and have never managed to get a C cable that runs at a decent speed. but it's symmetrical wooo ugh

Petra @petra9/24/2023, 1:33 AM

Better or worse than DisplayLink though?