Kindle Paperwhite cable, is it a regular mini USB cable?

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I wish a Kindle Paperwhite with a USB C connector would come out.

Me Too!

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by patrickt

I wish a Kindle Paperwhite with a USB C connector would come out.

Not me. I've got about a 100,000 micro-USB cables (slight exaggeration), I don't need yet another cable to buy and keep tract of.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Not me. I've got about a 100,000 micro-USB cables (slight exaggeration), I don't need yet another cable to buy and keep tract of.

I don't need another cable. I do need, like, enjoy, appreciate rapid charging. I also like not having to bother with getting the connector the right way up.

And, I'm sure you'd have a lot of legacy devices, or companies intent on staying behind the curve, like Kindle, to make use of the slower, less convenient, and antiquated USB micro.

I do have some adapters so I can use my USB C chargers and cables with less modern devices, like the Kindle, but I'm still lacking rapid charge.

There is precious little to recommend the Oasis or Oasis2 for me, especially at the price and with a case that's not intended to protect the device, and a USB C would have helped.

[JSWolf]

USB-C is dangerous. Forget it. One bad cable and you can destroy whatever it is plugged into.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

USB-C is dangerous. Forget it. One bad cable and you can destroy whatever it is plugged into.

This is the first I've ever heard of that, can you point to some articles?

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by GlenBarrington

This is the first I've ever heard of that, can you point to some articles?

The fact that USB C has been in widespread use for years now and you haven't heard of it is pretty telling.

TLDR: It’s a theoretical problem with any USB cable, not just C, but it’s probably not worth worrying about in real life in 2017 (let alone 2018).

Any USB cable (A or C) could potentially be damaging if miswired. It’s more of a problem with modern higher-power USB specifications (USB 3.1, Qualcomm Quick Charge, etc), which happen to overlap with most USB C/3.1 implementations but aren’t limited to them.

https://www.cnet.com/news/usb-type-c-cable-problems/ discusses in the context of USB-C, and links to the list that Google engineer Benson Leung made of well-tested cables known to be safe (worth consulting since using a good cable helps ensure fast charging time).

As the article notes, even with bad cables it’s incredibly unlikely that you’ll damage anything. Leung found one USB A-to-C bridge cable capable of damaging his laptop during his testing, and there were 2 early reports on Amazon of bad USB A-to-C bridge cables damaging USB ports back in the early days.

They were unable to find any such reports in the past 2 years, USB C or otherwise, and none of the reported cases were with ordinary USB C (or USB A) cables.

But though Monoprice ships 1.6 million cables a month — inexpensive ones, too — he couldn't recall a single instance of a bad cable frying a computer…
Neither could John Drengenberg, the longtime director of consumer safety at Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or Brad Saunders, the chairman of the USB-IF coalition that develops the USB standards to begin with, or Lee Atkinson, an HP engineer who's been working on USB ports since they were a brand-new idea. Atkinson had a one-word answer: "Never."

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by patrickt

And, I'm sure you'd have a lot of legacy devices, or companies intent on staying behind the curve, like Kindle, to make use of the slower, less convenient, and antiquated USB micro.

I don't mind being "behind the curve," but I think this "less convenient," and "slower" talk is a bit hyperbolic, especially when talking about eReaders. Really? (Sorry, I can't take this too seriously.)

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by sjfan

The fact that USB C has been in widespread use for years now and you haven't heard of it is pretty telling. ...

"Telling" of what? That we don't use a device that uses USB C. I feel so ... utterly useless.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by rcentros

"Telling" of what? That we don't use a device that uses USB C. I feel so ... utterly useless.

I think it says we are not named Mac.

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by rcentros

"Telling" of what? That we don't use a device that uses USB C. I feel so ... utterly useless.

Telling of the fact that USB C cables aren’t generally dangerous.

I think it says we are not named Mac.

I don't use Macs, but I've had USB C on my last 2 Android phones. It's nice but not world-changing, charging is super fast and the reversible plug saves a little frustration plugging things in at night in the dark.

It’ll have more impact as a compact, uniform replacement for proprietary laptop chargers (and other mid-power stuff) and when dealing with things like hard drives where the extra speed is noticeable. And when more devices support its HDMI/DisplayPort/MHL video capabilities.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I think it says we are not named Mac.

Oh, this is an Apple thing? Okay, now I get why I've never really heard of USB-C – (I have heard of them, but I've never had any reason to look into them).

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by sjfan

Telling of the fact that USB C cables aren’t generally dangerous. ...

Okay. Now I'm a bit nervous about them. Not "generally" dangerous? Sounds a little like something people say about pit bulls after they've just mauled their owner to death.

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Oh, this is an Apple thing?

No. It's part of the USB standard.

Google is one of the biggest proponents, it's been used for all of their phones from the Pixel 5x/6p era (2015) on. Samsung, Motorola, LG, Xiaomi, Oneplus, Asus, etc are all switching to it.

One of the advantages is that it can supply higher power, so even laptops can comfortably use it as their power source. Many new Windows tablets/laptops and Chromebooks are using it, as well.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by sjfan

No. It's part of the USB standard.

Google is one of the biggest proponents, it's been used for all of their phones from the Pixel 5x/6p era (2015) on. Samsung, Motorola, LG, Xiaomi, Oneplus, Asus, etc are all switching to it.

Maybe for their more expensive phones. But the Motorolas and LGs that I've seen lately are still using microUSB ports. My nieces just picked up new Moto E4s at Christmas with microUSB ports. So I guess I should substitute "Apple" for "Expensive" (which, in the case of Apple, is redundant).

Originally Posted by sjfan

One of the advantages is that it can supply higher power, so even laptops can comfortably use it as their power source. Many new Windows tablets/laptops and Chromebooks are using it, as well.

Okay, I'll take your word for it. But I don't use Chromebooks, Apple products or expensive Android products, so I've had no reason to know about (or care about) USB-C cables. It seems to me that, on an eReader, this is all overkill anyhow, as the files you transfer to eReaders are small and these devices stay charged for much, much longer than do smartphones or tablets (or Chromebooks).

l think I can "limp along" with my older eReaders, my Blackberry Q10 (great keyboard!) and my cheapo Fire 7 tablet – all of which use microUSB cables. Check that ... the older Sony eReaders use miniUSB cables and that can (sometimes) be a pain.

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Okay. Now I'm a bit nervous about them. Not "generally" dangerous? Sounds a little like something people say about pit bulls after they've just mauled their owner to death.

I phrased it that way because (like with all versions of USB—and Firewire, Lightning, and wall plugs, and most other electrical interfaces) it’s definitely theoretically possible that a bad cable could damage your equipment. Saying it's flat-out impossible would be a lie.

But it's the same risk posed by any ordinary micro USB or Lightning cable, especially with uncertified cables—in fact, earlier versions of USB and Lightning have caused more fires and damaged devices and other issues than USB C has (see e.g. https://consumerist.com/2012/12/13/w...why-im-stupid/ and https://www.electricalsafetyfirst.or.../usb-chargers/ and http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27390466).