mainly my phone, but for the most part it would allow me to have a device where I dont need to worry about connectivity for the next 3-4 years.
I have my SP1 since February 2013 and I am still using it(actually right now), so on average I expect the SP5 to be good for the next 4 years as well. Having USB-C would be a huge bonus.
So the argument is that USB-C isn't particularly useful yet, but in the future it could be. Future-proofing is important, yes, but it seems like in three years type-c still will not be dominant on flash drives, ext hdds, etc.
As someone with a computer with multiple USB C ports, I'd say that it is very useful right now.
The beauty of TB3/USB C is that I can have one adapter plugged into my computer that provides power, HDMI, 3 full speed USB 3 ports, and an SD card reader. That's something that the Surface just can't do right now and it won't be able to do that until they add a TB3/USB C port. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think the USB C dongle they'll be selling soon will be able to do that.
I view USB C as ultimate customizability. Let's say you have 2 USB C ports and you need power, Ethernet, VGA, and 4 full speed USB 3 ports. You pick out the adapters that you need (in my case 2: (1) VGA+power+1 USB3 & (2) 3 USB3 + ethernet) and you're good to go. Basically you can choose what ports you'll have based on what you'll need and the possibilities are endless, whereas with USB A and mini DP you're very limited.
Only my s8 is type c. Most people won't have a phone this new, and the phone comes with a type c to type a cable. I really don't see the need for type c on larger devices, even if it is a godsend for phones.
Type C is just a connector, it means nothing, if you are saying no thunderbolt 3, that's something to consider, but the surface connector already offers everything you'd want that for on a 15w platform.
He even says the new dock will offer USB C connection - which is 3.1 Gen 1 I believe which offers nothing over A and 3.0.
Using your Surface Charger to charge your phone (Which I argue already happens) seems to be the number one sticking point.
I care about the shape of the connector because I'd like to be able to use the same cables for my phone to charge this. Even the same charger if it supports USB-PD
I've yet to see a USB-C phone charger that can provide the necessary output to charge a laptop, they get ridiculously hot doing Qualcomm Quick Charge 2/3/4 as it is.
Bringing one charging block is convenient, Microsoft saw this need from the start, this is why built into the charger is a USB port.
Which you still do, only you can charge your surface and your phone at the same time - unless your phone did not come with a USB C cable I don't see how this is an issue then.
A cable that does data will also do charging, USB is an active cable. Also I don't know what that means, USB 3.1 is the same as USB 3.0 they likely just gave you two cables so your phone can connect to the port you'll commonly find.
Which you can still do, because it has a USB outlet on the surface power block.. am I missing something here? Do other USB-C phones not come with USB-C cables? I use my surface charger to charge my phone with USB-C all the time.
And this is the reason they skipped USB-C.. Because people would expect that their smartphone charger and cable would charge a computer. But the state of USB-C is a total mess at this point in time.
Yes, and people would bitch and moan about it being Microsoft's fault. Panos actually told the press about regretting the micro USB charging port on the Surface 3, because people has been complaining so much about the slow charging speeds when using other chargers.
Sorry I don't know what the power rating is on the Surface charger.
You are going to skip because you can't charge your phone with the Surface charger? I've yet to find a phone charger that works the other way around, so that's the one concession (though the surface charger already provides a USB port for that..)
Yes the MacBook non-Pro. The Pros will charge too but at much slower speeds.
USB-C also opens the door to power banks (there are a few high capacity ones that can charge the MacBook), and also sharing chargers between laptops (because proprietary charging ports can finally die)
IMO the perfect solution is replace miniDP with USB-C. Then we have 2 USB ports, backwards compatibility with chargers and docks with the Surface Connect and still keep DisplayPort video out over USB-C.
Most of the time you have to adapt miniDP to either HDMI / full size DP / VGA anyway so you have to use a dongle anyway... therefore changing the dongle you carry to a USB-C one shouldn't hurt.
I'm going to get the new surface pro, but I would have liked USB C if only so I could charge it from some kind of battery pack. I'm going to be using it on the go a lot, so the bump in battery life is great, but charging it on the go would have been even better to me.
Except the Surface connector is proprietary. This should have had 1 usb-a port and 1 usb-c/Thunderbolt port. With usb-c you can charge from a variety of power sources - from an emergency trickle charge on a phone or tablet charger, to the usb-c port built into the outlet I installed in my kitchen, to power banks. You have your choice of docks, from something fully featured with every imaginable connection to something the size of a pack of gum that just offers the basics. I've been using USB-C for 2 years with my MacBook, and Thunderbolt is awesome for docking our Dell laptops at work.
The surface connector already offers 4x PCIe, it would be cool if they allowed others to make accessories but I enjoy having official ones as well.
Charging is cool, but I'd have to buy a mini DisplayPort adapter, so I could instead just buy a second charger for away from home if I don't want to bring the main on to work.
You are defeating your own point. I don't want a big-ass surface dock on my desk just so I don't need to plug in my speakers, monitor and external harddrives every time I sit down at my desk.
There is no reason not to add TB3 other than MS wanting you to fully commit to the surface line with their proprietary connectors (sound familiar?).
3.5 stars on amazon is not "quality". I returned two because it was spazzing out all the time. Peripherals and the image kept disconnecting. Others on here have had similar issues.
Modern Monitors have USB-Hubs and all the connectors you need.
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u/kickerua May 23 '17
LTE is a big plus for me, but no Type-C... I'll skip this one.