Best products from r/UsbCHardware

My dock writeup is always useful if you need more understanding of what's going on but my answer below is standalone.

So 4k @ 60 and gigabit Ethernet can't happen on a single cable without Thunderbolt. (Well, kind of can because USB 2.0 to gigabit Ethernet is sold but it's not going to be 1000 mbit/s when USB 2.0 is 480 mbit/s.)

So yes, your best bet is to use a USB C to HDMI 2.0 adapter and a simple USB C hub with gigabit + a few USB A ports. One of them needs to support power. Now, the super cheap and compact gigabit-A hubs don't support power however the price difference in PD HDMI 2.0 vs non PD is very small thus we will put the power in the monitor adapter.

1. Cable Matters 4 Port USB C Hub Ethernet
   
2. CHOETECH USB C to HDMI Adapter(4K@60Hz) with PD Charging or if you want it in a single cable, similar price Type C to HDMI Cable(4K*2K@60Hz),CHOETECH 6ft/ 1.8m Type C to HDMI PD Cable. It's a matter of preference really: do you want the charger to be close to the laptop or is it fine on the monitor -- the cable puts the charger circuit in the HDMI plug.
   
   That's 52-55 CAD altogether.
   
   > Hopefully a new one would be small and light, I liked how those Dart chargers that came out a couple years ago looked
   
   I've promised to bring over my wikipost from flyertalk to this subreddit, hopefully this weekend, until then read it over there, it has a list of the small chargers. If by Canada you mean Vancouver, BC then I can show you the Mu One before you shell out the considerably money for it. Or if it's really the Finsix dart you want, the Innergie 60C is your best bet.

A regular USB-C power bank at 15W won't keep up with a lot of use cases of the laptop. It'll charge the laptop while asleep. Otherwise it'll hold the line or slow down battery drain more often than charge while you use.

No power bank currently on the market will match the power needs a 15-inch laptop with a 90W power adapter has. The upcoming HyperJuice will, as it outputs up to 100W. But it is not released, expensive, and untested by third parties so I wouldn't rush into that.

Your best option right now is a 45W output power bank. They work well with 13-inch laptops, charging while in use. They are still 15W shy of ideal for a 15-inch laptop, but better than any other option. They'll charge while in use under more conditions, but not all conditions. They'll charge fast enough when the laptop is asleep.

I would recommend looking at two specific power banks:

dodocool 20100 45W Type-C PD

• 45W output, 30W input
  
• My review, focused on the Nintendo Switch but also tested with my own 13-inch MacBook Pro
  
  ZMI QB820
  
  
• 45W output and input
  
• My review, focused on the Nintendo Switch but also tested with my own 13-inch MacBook Pro
  
• USB hub function, plug a USB-A device into the power bank and it connects to the laptop
  
  For efficiency try one of two charge approaches and see which works better for you.
  
  

1. Plug in the power bank while laptop is at 100%. This will drain the power bank first.
   
2. Only plug in the power bank to recharge the laptop up to 80%. At 80% disconnect. Charging any device from 80-100% is the least efficient period.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/insignia-type-c-wall-charger-black/5880500.p?skuId=5880500

The cable is molded into the device. I have an extension cable on it but that also was advertised as safe for phones and laptops.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075MBS6JY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got this from a local best buy because the laptop came with a very short cable and I was annoyed by it. Not the best one on the market but it had good reviews. I guess I should be happy that when the phone fried it shut down and didn't provide power. probably saved the house.

Now it does work again. I unplugged it and then plugged it in, it does charge my switch controller (cheapest usbc device in the house).

Yeah sure. I was posting from my phone this morning, should've added instructions of how I found it. Last night I just searched Amazon for "Type-C toothbrush".

Here are the two I've found:

Fairywill Sonic Whitening Electric Toothbrush - Travel Rechargeable Toohthbrush for Adults, 62,000 VPC Turbo Clean Model P11 Plus in Black https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VBLQVWX/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_bPDXDbF76X5BZ 

NeoCre Sonic Electric Business Level Toothbrush Elegant Luxury and Superior Texture with Aluminum-Magnesium Alloy USB Type C Fast Charge Intelligent Voltage Identification Portable and IPX7 Proof https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07VPCPVBP/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_xODXDb48H5ZYB

Awesome. Cool mod on the MX Master. Good luck with your webcam project.

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One thing you could do is actually acquire a Legacy Device Adapter cable (such as a C-to-2.0uB) and simply slice off the USB-A plug on a webcam, and the USB-C plug on the cable and a splice the 4 wires and shield together.

For example this: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Double-Braided-Type-C-Micro-B/dp/B07CWFNSSW/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_147_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=YYGQPK0NEE0HGGXDJWYA

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The cable there only has 4 wires since it's a legacy adapter, and the C plug side has the CC pulldown resistor on it, so you won't have to worry about creating the pulldown yourself.

So this has only 2 USB2.0 ports, but that's enough for M&KB. Fits your budget pretty well too :)

Another option would be using this with a second hub that features all the other ports you need. It's small and relatively cheap, so all in all you could still keep your budget. You're also more flexible this way, although you'll need two dongles...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GPPKH4P/

Yeah not officially a travel toothbrush, but I use it only for travel. It's pretty cheap and works decent enough. Wish I could find a good shaver on USB-C.

I don't have particular experience with RCA, but 3.5mm. As 3.5mm dongles exist and are known to work well and RCA is the same technology (i.e., in terms of chips used). I'd say purchasing the adapter you linked therefore is relatively safe, given the relatively reasonable price. Otherwise as you said, just buy a 3.5mm dongle and an adapter like this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B2HP1FY. Or consider a Bluetooth receiver with a line out - depending on your circumstances this may be even more feasible.

Yeah I will probably end up using an HDMI cable but then I would have two cables coming from the monitor (one HDMI cable from the monitor to the hub and a second USB-C cable coming from the monitor to the hub).

I guess I have been watching too much Setup Wars on YouTube and was hoping for just one USB-C hub that everything could connect to. Purely aesthetic reasons only. Something like this would be great if it was not so expensive.

https://www.amazon.com/Promise-Technology-Thunderbolt-TD-300-Ethernet/dp/B077GFRJDM/

Yeah, I also decided to get the SuperTank for $89, which seems like a solid deal. So far the best charger for the price I've found is this one, but it's 90W. I'm sure there will be a 100W charger out soon with a comparable price.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DW3QGJJ/

Would you happen to know if this product implies that it does have a dac chip built in? I have both this and one other dongle that does have a realtek dac built in. The one with a realtek dac requires me to enable OTG, but this one doesnt seem to require OTG to be enabled to function, however it does make a significant difference in volume than when compared to my passive One Plus 6T stock oem passive dongle. I assumed it was an active DAC as well but i may be wrong.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SM5MQN8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

No, it can't be done because you need a certain gauge of wire (i think 20awg) to handle the 20V 5A 100W load to meet spec and not be a fire hazard. It just goes against physics to have a thin and flexible cable to support the full spec. There's 12 conductors(or more) in a full spec wire. Those used for power need to be no less than 20awg and i would assume the others would be 28awg (maybe 30)

The only reason Apple's included cables are as flexible as they are is that they are usb 2.0 spec. This would be an similar cable it's just 2.0 spec https://smile.amazon.com/Certified-Charging-Compatible-Nintendo-Delivery/dp/B078GJSL8X?ref_=ast_sto_dp

If you don't need the data you can get more flexible cables that are 2.0 spec but still offer 100w support.

Deciding between CableCreations hub for the braided cable, and Cable Matters hub for the plastic body.

All of those chargers seem decent. I like the price of the RAV charger. I've only had a need for international plugs once in my life, but it's not impossible. The space savings on the RAV might do it though. I would definitely choose the Innergie for the form factor and the power if it weren't double the price, but now it's a toss up.

Also just saw this Dart-style charger on Amazon.com, $27 USD for chinese 60W 3.07" x 1.53" x 1.1" charger, vs. Innergie $110 USD 60W 2.36" x 1.18” x 1.18". Both ship to Canada, but hilariously cost $224CAD and $91CAD on amazon.ca.

Was this you? Lol.

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John

1.0 out of 5 starsRuined my phone.

November 29, 2018

Verified Purchase

I was using this to charge a phone and fell asleep. Woke up to a fried phone. Luckily the charger I was using was high quality, or this cable could have burned my house down. Zero stars, do not buy.

I couldn't get this to charge from modern PD usb-c chargers, like these 3: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RFKY1PT
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H9WPCFK
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PXGT2ZX

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It does charge when plugged into my macbook or via a usb to usb-c cable to something like an older samsung phone charger.

One minute google search found this Aiwejay SONIC Electric Toothbrush, IPX7 Waterproof. Adult Powerful Rechargeable.Clean and Massage.White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GPPKH4P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_vFa3CbA5D2YRY

USB 3.0 in the hub means that 2 of the 4 high-speed pairs coming from the USB-C connection are used for it, leaving only 2 for DisplayPort alt mode. With 2 pairs DisplayPort 1.2 has only enough bandwidth to do 4k30.

If you are willing to drop USB 3.0 -> 2.0 so all 4 pairs go to DisplayPort which means 4k60, something like this will work: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Multiport-DisplayPort-Ethernet/dp/B06Y5N3YCD

Although this one has caused me some random display flickers, but nothing too troubling so far, maybe 1-2 flickers per day. It just might be the monitors and daisy chain setup i have so check if there are similar products, check the reviews, etc. first.

This one here
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VPCPVBP
the seller says it can be charged with a C2C, but it also seems like they have no idea what that means, so I'd suggest trying it and returning for a refund if it doesn't.

"For standard configuration, it has a "USB to USB type C" charging cable. However, it can be charged shared by your C2C cable."

What's the difference between this and the ZMI QB820. ZMI is supposed to be owned by Xiaomi, no?

In any case, this is what I have, and I have been super satisfied. It has no trouble charging my 15" Macbook Pro: https://smile.amazon.com/ZMI-Pixelbook-Nintendo-External-Powerbank/dp/B072BD98CM

I see, so my cable list should look like this:

• Basic cable, HiSpeed only, 3 amps (60W), no e-mark (passive wires only) (Amazon example)
  
• Basic cable, HiSpeed only, 5 amps (100W), with e-mark (Amazon example)
  
• SuperSpeed cable, 3 amps (60W), with e-mark, up to 2m
  
• SuperSpeed cable, 5 amps (100W), with e-mark, up to 2m
  
• SuperSpeed+ cable, 3 amps (60W), with e-mark, up to 1m (Amazon example)
  
• SuperSpeed+ cable, 5 amps (100W), with e-mark, up to 1m (Amazon example)
  
  Will a SuperSpeed+ cable work for Thunderbolt 3, or is there an additional requirement (and corresponding e-mark) ?
  
  While I do understand the technical realities, this is complex for consumers...