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There is a reason for USB-C extensions not to be part of the standard. They can be bothersome in the best case and dangerous in the worst.

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[-] NobodyElse@sh.itjust.works 204 points 1 day ago

Anybody care to sum this up for people who can’t watch videos?

[-] WraithGear@lemmy.world 331 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

So a standard cable needs to be chipped to show its rating to the device, its not that the device can pull what it wants or can get, but the cable itself tells it what it can supply. Extension cables can’t do that, because it doesn’t know what it’s plugged into, and that would be if they even bothered to put a chip in. They instead piggy back off the chip for the main cable. The problem comes when you you have a 240 watt cable hooked up to a cheap 120 watt cable, with the device being told it can push 240, and starts to super heat the extension cable

[-] obinice@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Interesting, I'd never trust any USB cable to push anywhere near 100 watts anyway haha good god, the most I ever do is maybe 20w at 5v.

I'll keep that in mind when buying cables in the future though this is very useful info!

As a point of reference, Lenovo Thinkpad's have something of a cult following for their reliability and versatility.

My T490s has a USB-C power supply which provides 45w (20v at 2.25a).

The thing is, when docked it's not only pulling power through that cable, but also network, USB devices, and providing video for 2x monitors in 1920x1080. It's kind of astonishing to me how much can be crammed in to one little connector. That said, it's frustrating trying to find a usb cable that works reliably, because as you'd imagine not all USB-C cables support the same specs.

[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Is the dock USB-C or Thunderbolt?

[-] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

If you buy a Steam Deck, or the Lenovo laptop I have for work, the only charging options you have are USB C. Their standard chargers put out at least ~~60~~ 45 W, and they aren't particularly special. In fact, I'm pretty sure 20 W at 5 V won't be enough to supply these while in use, so you will either be using battery with long charge times in between, using them with battery-assisted power for longer use times until you hit those long charge times, or using the ~~60~~ 45 W or more at whatever voltage the chargers provide.

[-] vithigar@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

The Steam Deck charger is 45W.

[-] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 2 points 21 hours ago

While this is handy to know, it doesn't negate my point.

[-] trainden@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

~~IIRC the one that came with my OLED model is 65W~~

It appears I did not remember correctly

[-] vithigar@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

I'm looking at the one for my OLED deck right now and it's labelled as 45W (20V 2.25A).

[-] Natanael@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 day ago

The ones I've seen that go over 45W specifically for the Steam Deck are mini docks with HDMI out and more

[-] iopq@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago

My laptop can do 240W over USB-C, I'm just waiting for a charger that can do it with a modular cable

[-] AtariDump@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

It has a 240w charger but have you checked to see that it’s using all 240w?

Most laptops use (up to) 120w.

[-] iopq@lemmy.world 0 points 21 hours ago

It can use almost all of it using the GPU

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this post was submitted on 26 Dec 2024
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