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Old 10-21-2010, 10:20 AM   #1
cjottawa
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I love Micro-B USB connectors!

I'm a hard-ass about "non-standard" connectors.

I have actually returned or instructed other people to return devices that used non-standard memory cards (Olympus and Fuji cameras with "xD" cards) and cell phones with proprietary connectors.

*** *** ***

I have a number of devices - Nikon DSLR's and BlackBerries - that use USB mini-B connectors, not to be confused with micro-B that the Kindle 3 uses.

So, the Kindle 3 arrives and I groan at "yet another" cable I'm going to have to keep around.

Well, I changed my tune. Micro-B USB rocks.

*** *** ***

Mini-B tends to catch due to the sharp corners, even when you have it the right way around. I regularly flip the mini-B over several times attempting to find correct orientation.

Micro-B slides in smoothly with no ambiguity about correct orientation.

My next cell phone upgrade will be to a model with a micro-B instead of a mini-B. Amazon clearly put some thought into little details of the Kindle.

Yeah, I'm a bit OCD about connectors.

FYI, the attached photo depicts micro-B on the left, mini-B on the right. (pilfered with some editing from Wikipedia)
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Last edited by cjottawa; 10-21-2010 at 10:35 AM.
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Old 10-21-2010, 10:26 AM   #2
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As an electronics designer I can completely understand. Some connectors just make me wonder if their designers created them to lay seeds of torment amongst the world.

One that a lot of people will encounter is the traditional SATA connector, most have zero to woeful support for side/gravity loads and over time the plastic housing will deform and you'll start getting intermittent data errors as the contacts progressively become more sensitive to vibrations.
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Old 10-21-2010, 10:50 AM   #3
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good SATA connectors snap on with metal clips, and the majority of them now use elbow connectors on the drive side to keep pressure off of the head. I have never had a problem with a sata connector that has come bundled with my motherboard (usually buy high end ASUS boards, and the connectors are decent) similarly, SAS connectors function in the same manner, and have had no problems with them either as they are even more stable being one unit.

However, I have had trouble with one cheap plastic connector that came bundled with a dvd drive. But it also didn't have an elbow connector, and had no metal clip, it just used pressure to clip on there.

It's like all things with cables. You get what you pay for. Would you hook up your cable modem with RG4-5? No, you use RG6. Do you hook up your 60 in wall mounted flat screen with 10$ HDMI cables? Of course not.

The standards always start out good, but when costs get cut you get inferior products (connectors and cables that barely meet spec)
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Old 10-21-2010, 11:04 AM   #4
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The problem is that the SATA connector doesn't spec those added elements, it's an addition that's had to be done in order to combat the inherent physical design omission.

To be fair, it's actually more the drive side connector that's the issue; there's insufficient physical restraint with standard tolerances to avoid the contacts themselves becoming a load bearing element.

For tray/slot loaded drives it's a beautiful connector; for cabled connections I find myself cable-tie suspending the leads to minimise the sag (yes, the right-angle connectors solve this nicely thankfully!)
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Old 10-21-2010, 11:22 AM   #5
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The sas design is so much more elegant, i wish they would have though of this for sata to begin with. Since sata was designed to be hot pluggable it would have made even more sense to have this type of connector, being one unit that can pop into a socket easily. I get what you mean, but there are ways around it =X
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Old 10-21-2010, 11:41 AM   #6
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I'll probably start to like the "new standard" when the micro-B USB cable price drops below US$5,- as of now, they cost ~US$30+ in Norway
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Old 10-21-2010, 11:51 AM   #7
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After some years of digital thingies, I now have a load of connectors, cables you wouldn't believe. I would love some standarizing. :
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Old 10-21-2010, 11:52 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by curstpriest View Post
It's like all things with cables. You get what you pay for. Do you hook up your 60 in wall mounted flat screen with 10$ HDMI cables? Of course not.
The cost of A/V cables, especially HDMI cables, has very little bearing on the quality. Monster Cable has proven that. Try monoprice.com for quality cables at extremely low cost. They work fine on my 60" Sony.
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Old 10-21-2010, 12:05 PM   #9
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Yep, I'll use a cheapo cable for a digital connection. My 61" HDTV is connected to settop box and PS3 with $2 HDMI cables from meritline. I'm using $1 - $2 micro-USB cables bought from meritline as well for the kindles - picked up enough to have a cable at work, home, car, etc.
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Old 10-21-2010, 12:06 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by desertblues View Post
After some years of digital thingies, I now have a load of connectors, cables you wouldn't believe. I would love some standarizing. :
Micro USB is supposed to be the new standard for mobile devices and charging so hopefully it'll mean less chargers and the same cable for everything. The only problem however is that now we've got USB 3.0 which needs a special USB 3.0 cable that this is obviously not going to happen! Bah

What TomF said as well. Buy a reasonable quality cable i.e. not made out of rusty barbed wire. It should have the correct type of cable that follows the specs but that is generally so cheap now that even the no name brands will have it. You don't need to get the super extra hyper ultra gold plated premium branded overpriced HDMI cable.
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Old 10-21-2010, 12:11 PM   #11
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Monster brought the concept of overspending on cables to the masses. Before Monster's superb marketing of their overpriced cables, only audiophile wonks could talk themselves into spending hundreds (and even THOUSANDS) of dollars on a freakin' cable.

As for me, I love that OEM manufacturers are finally getting their stuff together and deciding on mini and micro USB as standards for consumer electronics connectors. Hopefully we'll get to the point where everything will charge or connect using the same cable...
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Old 10-21-2010, 01:11 PM   #12
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Monster brought the concept of overspending on cables to the masses. Before Monster's superb marketing of their overpriced cables, only audiophile wonks could talk themselves into spending hundreds (and even THOUSANDS) of dollars on a freakin' cable.

As for me, I love that OEM manufacturers are finally getting their stuff together and deciding on mini and micro USB as standards for consumer electronics connectors. Hopefully we'll get to the point where everything will charge or connect using the same cable...
Yep. I'm one of those audiophile wannabes who bought into the "ultra high end" cable thing (not Monster.) Spent a lot of money (for me) on after-market power cables, headphone cables, interconnects, etc., only to find that apparently I have a tin ear - I can't tell the difference!! I've learned my lesson and won't do that any more. Even if the after-market "high-end" cables are prettier.

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Old 10-21-2010, 01:16 PM   #13
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I'd like everything to be charged and downloaded on without any cables; so I can clean out my drawers with orphan-connectors and cables.
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Old 10-21-2010, 01:19 PM   #14
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As an electronics designer I can completely understand. Some connectors just make me wonder if their designers created them to lay seeds of torment amongst the world.
I'm convinced the SCART connector was designed to do exactly that. If I had to choose one connector as the definitive rubbish design, it'd be SCART. The plug will occasionally come out ever so slightly, just enough for one colour to disappear on the TV, simply because the connector isn't strong enough to hold such a heavy cable in place.
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Old 10-21-2010, 01:33 PM   #15
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Now I want the Micro connection on the computer side as well! I have a fair number of broken ports on my desktop and I've killed a printer by tripping on its cable. My Macbook is mildly safe with the aluminum case taking the strain, and I have a whole spare port if one breaks. The cable would happily drag my laptop to the depths of heck before letting go, though.
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