All the other brands went along

Apple brought back the mag charger.

I wish it still had the SD reader and one A port, but it doesn’t really come up that often. Just 3D printing and only because I’m too lazy to set up a octoprint server or whatever.

I was recently convinced that the M1 MBP is one of the cheapest and most cost effective laptops on the market right now. I know it sounds crazy but it appears to be true. You can get a m1 mbp refurbished (sometimes with warranty) for anywhere between $400 - $700. Making it a budget laptop. It also destroys anything in that price range in terms of performance and what you are getting.

I have the same mac pictured above, and also a windows laptop with many ports.

The mac I plug into my work center via a single usb-c connection which charges it, connects it to my external monitor, and connects it to all of my USB equipment (about 6 items ranging from m&k to music equipment). Having only the one wire is huge in terms of making it easier to break down the machine from its setup and pack it up for the road.

The pc is connected separately to power as it can’t be powered through the usb-c, and to the monitor separately for some esoteric reason. So then I need a third cable to connect it to my equipment.

So in my case the less-is-more approach is actually preferable

that all being said

I’m sure other windows laptops can be configured with a one-wire solution just fine. And I don’t mean to pretend the 2x usb-c config was a popular choice or anything. Only on like two models or something had it. The newer macbooks brought back sd card slots and hdmi and everything by popular demand.

I looked into it and you can still run everything off of just one usb-c on those ones, so at the end of the day more options is just better for more people

It's most likely expandable, have you checked?

Precision 3581

anything decent with an RJ-45 port

Not sure if the current generation still has it, but work issued us techs with ThinkPad L14 Gen 3 laptops and I've been happy with it as a work device. It has an RJ-45 (was considered a requirement when they procured the laptops for techs) and mine has a Ryzen 5 Pro 5675U. Only complaints I would have for it is soldered USB-C connectors (which double as the only power source for the machine) and keyboard isn't as nice as my personal T480 although definitely still fine.

I would caution against the 12th gen Intel i7 ThinkPads, we've had multiple internally have overheating issues or stuck in connected standby. My colleague wishes he never replaced his original work issue (same as mine).

It's still cool to have options

Is a dongle that doesn’t dangle even really a dongle at all?

What module would you like to have.

I just wish the existing dongles had a bit more density to them. That's a lot of space for a micro-SD slot, they totally could have fit a full SD card in there as well, and perhaps even a micro-USB or headphone jack.

I like being able to swap them, but each USB-C port can handle a lot more than a single-use dongle.

Why are the modules so wide?

In case you're not aware, that's a Framework laptop.

I'll be in my bunk.

yea this is the way. is only they had more high end components

That also means we can still use the expansion cards for the Framework in any other device that also has a USB-C port. Need an SD card reader or a 2.5Gb LAN adapter? Not a problem, I'll just grab one from my laptop.

Eh, I'd much rather have a USB-C dongle built-in to the laptop than in a separate bag that I'm definitely going to lose.

It's SDCARD since like 1999. Sheesh, get current mate! 🤣

That's one of the cool things about the framework, though, just the fact that you can, because I swap my ports all the time. I use it to game on my big TV at home, but I almost never need an HDMI port on the go, so I pop it out and pop in another USB-C or something.

I don't change them ever. But I have the exact set of ports I need now

Yeah, I wish they had 2 dedicated USB-C ports (one on each side) and had the four swappable bays. The RJ-45 port also look really dumb, I think they could have done something a bit more clever there.

Hey that's a fair point. Funny how often good ideas are kneecapped by crap executions.

Buying a basic, no-frills USB-C cable from a reputable tech manufacturer all but guarantees that it'll work for essentially any purpose. Of course the shoddy pack-in cables included with a cheap device purchase won't work well.

I replaced every USB-C-to-C or -A-to-C cable and brick in my house and carry bag with a very low cost Anker cable (except the ones that came with my Google products, those are fine), and now anything charges on any cable.

You wouldn't say that a razor sucked just because the cheap replacement blades you bought at the dollar store nicked your face, or that a pan was too confusing because the dog food you cooked in it didn't taste good. So too it is not the fault of USB-C that poorly manufactured charging bricks and cables exist. The standard still works; in fact, it works so well that unethical companies are flooding the market with crap.

Burn all the USBC cables with fire except PD. The top PD cable does everything the lower cable does.

Do not all USB C cables have the capability to do Power Delivery? I thought it was up to the port you plugged it in to support it?

Agreed. They should be labeled with the rating.

This little guy works wonders for me.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002371533933.html

Yeah, I totally get that there is a need for cheap power only cables, but why are there what feels like 30 different data "standards". Just gimme power-only, data, and fast-data. And yeah, in 2 years there'll be a faster data protocol, so what, that's then fast-data24, fast-data26, etc. and manufacturers have to use a specific pictogram to label them according to the highest standard they fulfill.

There should have been a simple way to label them for usage that was baked into the standard.

There is. USB IF provides an assortment of logos and guidelines for ports and cables to clearly mark data speed (like "10Gbps"), power output (like "100W" or "5A"), whether the port is used for charging (battery icon), etc. But most manufacturers choose not to actually use them for ports.

Cables I've seen usually are a bit better about labeling. I have some from Anker and ugreen that say "SS”, "10Gbps", or "100W". If they don't label the power it's probably 3A and if they don't label the data speed it's usually USB 2.0, though I have seen a couple cables that support 3.0 and don't label it.

I would agree with you if there were a simple way to tell what the USB-C cable I have in my hand

https://caberqu.com/home/39-ble-caberqu-0611816327412.html

This would do it.

Yeah, I'd love at least one USB A type cause most of the peripherals I own use that.

It’s not that bad

I bought some adaptors in China for around $0.50 each. It really isn't that big of a deal

You can't buy a UCB-C Wifi dongle that last time I checked. You have to buy a c-to-a adapter, then use a usb-a wifi dongle. It's nuts that those don't exist.

tell me you use i3 without telling me you use i3

Is this for real?

You have passed the test. We can be friends.

Content note: shilling

!https://frame.work/!<

I do have 4, but except for extremely rare circumstances I only ever use one. A single USBC cable handles an external display, power, plus extra accessories like a keyboard via a built-in hub in the monitor. If you wanted to that monitor also supports daisy chaining another monitor without having to plug it into the laptop.

Obviously it's quite a subjective thing, but if you happen to use tools from after USBC was a thing and your laptop routine is pretty established, I think you can get a ton of simplicity and function out of those ports.

I honestly wish every company would just stop using USB A. So many companies still including it are preventing device manufacturers from going all in on C.

Especially the HDMI and jack are just silly to drop.

I would prefer 10x USB C than that shit, lol

They already come with what you ask, minus usb-a and honestly fuck usb-a

2024 16" macbook pro: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/121554

• Charging and Expansion
• SDXC card slot
• HDMI port
• 3.5 mm headphone jack
• MagSafe 3 port
• Three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports with support for:
  • Charging
  • DisplayPort
  • Thunderbolt 5 (up to 120Gb/s)
  • Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
  • USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)

There is still a headphone jack, it's on the other side.

RJ45 and HMDI in particular are way thicker than usb-c

I've got an external screen that connects with a USB-C-to-C cable to that thunderbolt port.

Finding a cable supporting that is harder though, it needs both Power Delivery(PD) as DisplayPort(DP), and most cables don't support the bandwidth for DP.

All you need is a travel dongle with hdmi displayport some USB-A and ethernet (If you really need that, tho) for me laptop screen on the go is good enough, have no usb-A devices (and those who have are upgraded to C using permanent usb legacy adapter mounted on the cable) and on the go, wifi/hotspot is good enough.

At home, ethernet and USB A are connected through the usb C 4k monitor.

From my personal experience Apple products aren’t as great as the fanboys claim but are far far better than they haters say they are.

Where do you see Apple bashing? Most comments are about the general state of notebook ports.

Continue bashing, they use apple maths and only have ports on expensive models.

It really depends on what you use your laptop for. My 2013 MBP lasted 9 years and was how I got my work done. That comes out to 76¢ per day, and I make a fair bit more than that per hour.

But if you’re looking for a personal computer to surf the internet, yes, that could be cost prohibitive. But then it also matters less what device you buy.

As for ports, I’ve never needed a dongle on the 2013 model. I did need one for a USB A drive on the newest model, but this little thing has solved that problem easily. I didn’t even have to buy that since my monitor has USB A ports – I was just too lazy to reach around the back to use it every time. I’m not sure I understand all the complaints about the occasional need for a dongle.

It’s really not. I have one on my work laptop and have never plugged an Ethernet jack into it. That stays permanently in my dock and gets transferred to the laptop via USB-C. All other non-desk work is done via … WiFi. Shock! Literally can’t tell the difference when making money.

Exactly! What are you going to do if your router dies (or you mess something up fiddling w/ things)? I may only need it once/year or so, but when I do, it's really important and I most likely can't find the dongle.

An RJ-45 port could totally fit on there if they used one of those flip-down things that Dell has on their professional line.

Yes, and it’s better to be downgrading USB-C ports with adapters than to be stuck adapting a USB-A port to USB-C or ethernet.

SD card reader is nice to have if you fuck around with cameras and microphones.

Cause I live toting a do gle around and risk breaking the laptop because of it.

I did enough of that in the 90's, TYVM

Cause I live toting a do gle around and risk breaking the laptop because of it.

I did enough of that in the 90's, TYVM

Unless you want a desk setup. I have 2 monitors, kb, mouse, external dac, usb extension for thumbdrives, ethernet, usb soundcard for my mic and a kvm. That's dp, hdmi, 6 usb-a, ethernet and I still sometimes plug-in 1-3 devices to charge them.

I would love one but spending that much for something I won't use that often seems like a waste on money, especially since my current laptop got a decade of life left with Linux.

I do like apple as a company over Microsoft and Google but that's like saying you rather eat a frog over spiders and cockroaches.

The laptop may actually be too thin for either. Want those ports? Vote with your money, buy a different laptop.

As for hdmi at least, you can get a usb-c-ended cable too.

Thankfully USB-C can handle both of those protocols. Just like with Micro USB and Mini before it, it will just take time until the ecosystem catches up. Just, this time, you can run the entirety of possible data streams through a single port.

For those in particular, they had 2 and 4 TBT3 models.

It's not like the power port is power only, or even only power or accessory. It can do both at the same time.

MAC is useless as a component of the security check. It's trivial to change; either with a dongle, as you said, or in the network configuration of every major and minor OS.

There's always a MAC address, it's just the dongle's then.

I only have one Usb-c port on my Surface Go 1, but it’s linked to my screen with 4 usb-A ports and one more Usb-c port.

Same as you, I feel I have enough, at least when it’s hooked up to the screen.

You can only do that because your monitors are not high resolution and high refresh rate. The data cap for usb-c is not that high.

I actually carry a single USB adapter completely covered in ports.

That's the most straw in a straw man I've seen in the whole thread.

Most new laptops have USB-C, A, and SD/micro SD, and HDMI. That's 95% of all uses.

If you really need more then you just bought the wrong laptop. Get a Thinkpad or framework 16. If you need to interface with old hardware, get a contemporary machine.