Remarkable USB-C Products I've Found Useful
Opinion by Ralph Grabowski
I still recall when USB v2 was launched, promising faster data transfer speeds. That was nice, but not fast fast, given that Firewire 800 was at the time much faster. It took until USB v3 to finally kill off Firewire, whose cables were expensive, and as most computers didn’t come with a Firewire port, there was the added cost of buying the adapter.
Port extenders have been available to laptops for a couple of decades, but before USB-C hardware vendors used proprietary interfaces and so charged too much — and they were bulky. Then we discovered that USB-C is a connector to end all connectors. It does everything, and for cheap — $60 (for a port extender that handles ethernet; most don’t) and less.
USB-C port extender with ethernet port
Supplies power to computer (aka “PD,” power delivery), which also powers the hub
Reads data from multiple sources, like SD card adapters, USB-A and -C ports
Outputs VGA and/or DisplayPort and/or HDMI to one or more second screens
Handles ethernet networking, with some models
Best of all, USB-C plugs can be inserted irregardless of orientation, getting rid of that long-time USA-A bugaboo.
The ideal laptop today has two USB-C ports (one on each side) and one USB-A port. That way, the power can be plugged in from either side.
Cool Stuff To Do With USB-C
With USB-C going universal, there are all kinds of inventive devices people have come up with. Here are some I’ve acquired. (I paid for all items mentioned.)
External floppy disk drive that plugs into a USB-C port
DVD burner, which, while it plugs into USB-C, is, sadly, no faster
4TB external solid-state drives
External monitor that derives both signal and power through the single USB-C cable
Infrared camera that plugs into my Android phone, and uses the phone’s display:
Infrared camera
High-end headphones that read the digital signal through the USB-C port, and then use their own higher-quality DACs [digital to analog converters] for superior sound reproduction:
Headphones that plug into the USB-C port
USB-C power cable with an on-off switch, to more easily turn off the power to my external monitor, whose on/off button is ambiguous:
USB-C extension cord with on/off switch
Miniature port extender that provides two USB-C ports the size of a thumbnail, one for power, the other for data:
Turning one USB-C port into two
Short 90-degree USB-C adapters, so that cables hang better. (We could get these for USB-A, but we had to specify left or right when purchasing, and then inevitably get it wrong.)
90-degree USB-C adapters
USB voltmeter to tell me how much voltage and how many amps an electronic device is requesting from the power supply
USB-C cables with a built-in power display:
Watt (power) meter built into USB-C cable
USB-A to USB-C adapters, and audio-to-USB-C converters
Candle lighters, high-power flashlights, and cordless screwdrivers that recharge through USB-C ports
Dual-lens endoscope camera that plugs into USB-C and uses the Android phone’s screen:
Endoscope with front and side cameras
USB-C vs Thunderbolt
Thunderbolt ports look identical to USB-C ports, but they can run 4-8x faster. It’s even possible to hook up an external graphics board to it. But external hubs tend to cost 3-4 times as much as USB-C ones, and anyhow most PCs lack Thunderbolt. The port is marked with a little thunderbolt logo. Apple calls their version Lightning, but uses a proprietary connector.
