So I’m struggling to understand all the different types of usb standards like 2.0, 3.1, 3.2, 4.0, etc. I am interested in only USB c to USB c. I’ve read about higher data transfer speeds? I’m confused by what that actually means. Is that like transferring files from your laptop to an external drive? Basically sending files between devices in the network? I’ve read you can get 8k video resolution? I have no need for that.I just don’t quite know what is best for me.
I have a dell xps 13 9310 laptop and the only two ports on the laptop are usb c. I’ve had major connectivity issues after the years of wear and tear. I just had a shop replace one port, so the major plan is to get a docking station with pass through charging capabilities.
But for now, I feel so foolish I don’t even know what standard or protocol cables I need. Since all of the fancy features like video display don’t appeal to me and I never do file transfers via usb, does that mean all I need is simple usb 2.0 cables for power delivery? Do the newer 3 series standards provide more power and or helpful features? What is the best sort of cable to link my main device, my laptop, to a docking station? I need to start there to reduce wear and tear on the new usb c ports on my laptop.
Any pointers would be great, thanks I RUN LINUX BTW SO THATS WHY I POSTED HERE lol
Still trying to figure out this Lemmy ordeal
Consider changing your post title to a relevant summary of your question if you want people to actually read your post and answer it.
Which is possible on Lemmy, unlike Reddit
I’m sorry this went over my head, but what do you mean by this?
You can change the title of a post on Lemmy. You cannot change the title of a post on Reddit.
Wtf??Gosh this Lemmy universe is so much different. Doesn’t feel extremely micromanaged lol
Not sure if snark or sincere? But thanks? Its so hard to get a feel for this placecomparesd to reddit, its mostly nasty, snarky individuals
You are totally right to be confused, the USB naming is a total mess. A quick Google search told me that your two ports are Thunderbolt4, another thing to mix in. TB4 to my knowledge integrates USB4, so you can basically connect anything that is USB2,3,4 or Thunderbolt3 or 4. Luckily, none if that matters for your use case, pretty much all proper docking stations support charging (usually the functionality is listed explicitly on the docking station description), so you can probably choose almost any. If you go with one of the big laptop manufacturer’s product (Dell, HP) it is pretty much guaranteed to work. Personally, I use HP’s Thunderbolt 3 dock for my gf and HP’s universal Thunderbolt Dock for myself across my work and private devices. Even works on my android phone!
Thanks a lot! So to be clear, the cable that links my laptop to a dock isn’t as important as I’m thinking it may be? Or are you saying I’d be best off investing in a nice thunderbolt 4?
It is only important when you want to connect displays to the dock, if that is not your use case, any travel dock for 40 bucks will do :)
Man I get stingy and always have to go for the nicer products, even if I dont need them lol I’ve been eyeing thinkpad, dell, anker, and pluggable docks mostly. There’s a brand called wavlink too that has great deals but can seem to find much info on them
Type A to C (almost) only describe the physical dimensions of the sockets/connectors. There is a (non-standard) color coding for A sockets that let’s you see at one glance which USB version is supported (look for “Usual USB color-coding” here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hardware). Color coding is rare on laptops, though. The best kind of cable is one that can be plugged in without force on both ends (/s). If you want to use a docking station, more important is, what protocols are supported on which port of your laptop. What you want/need is DisplayPort over USB-C (DP Alt Mode) or Thunderbolt. There is no easy command to check if you have it, and the most common advice to look for certain emblems next to the socket isn’t really reliable. A quick google search suggests, that your machine can speak DisplayPort 2.0 and Thunderbolt 4. You should look into the technical specifications of your machine to be sure.
My laptop does support thunderbolt 4 and I have heard about alt mode but haven’t quite dug in enough to understand it yet. Thanks
Type c is a physical connector. I’ve had my phone charger cable use this connector on a usb 2 cable, I’ve had another for usb3, I’ve used a dell dock that pipes thuderbold accross and plugs into a type c. Since it’s all digital - pretty much anything can be connected using it.
Ahh ok so you connect your laptop to the dock via thunderbolt? Thats sorta been the idea I’ve been thinking; just focus on first getting one great cable to link the laptop to a docking station
In my case - yes. But those docks are tricky. I got lucky and my work provided a dell laptop with a matching dock. I’ve heard some stories that did not sound nice when shopping for a dock separately.
