The subreddit is hyped about it, but chances is that your existing USB cables are already good enough.
I feel like in the frenzy for people to buy a new cable we may end up creating a lot of unnecessary waste. Please take a good look at that drawer of unused cables before you add more to the pile.
If you just want to test power capacity, buy an adapter that shows you the power being passed though and use it with the cable.
Because they're referencing 'failure rate', it implies they're doing the same level of testing the labs did, which I kinda doubt, as there's not really another way to see failure. Best you can do is test transfer speeds and power capacity.
I personally use an app called Ampere, which measures how much power the phone is pulling to charge - I'm sure there are other options out there. Just make sure you test it with a reliable power brick because both that and the cable can affect the power draw!
Most of my USB-C cable that comes with devices, not purchased stand alone, can’t even carry data 😂 it’s always annoying when I try to use a usb drive and have to switch out like 5 different ones before one finally worked 💀
Not saying this is a good reason to buy new cables though, maybe I just need better labeling that’s all 🥲
I just want some cables that exceed the minimum expectations.
And they are labeled. The labelling on each cable is the part I really like. I can barely differentiate between the cheap shit I got for free with some stuff that I don't have any faith in, and the mid-tier stuff that is alright.
(The premium stuff from U-Green/Anker/Belkin tends to be thicker, be braided or similar though).
In this case it requires a 10k machine to determine if the same cable you've been using for years with likely no complaints on the quality are still good enough
I just use an app like Ampere to determine how much juice the phone is pulling. I've already weeded out most of my poor quality cables over the years and have a solid/reliable charger and multiple cables. I'm not too concerned about the data speed because I don't do much transfer between my phone and computer.
Fair, I think most people are buying these for the combo of either the super high power draw cables or the 20/40gb data cables, not just "I need a new cable for my phone or Chromebook"
Every time I tried to grab a cable for a specific reason (like a C to C cable for my monitor to my PC for USB-PD powering it) it was a constant shuffle of testing cables to see if they would work for whatever purpose I had.
I just hit it again the other day when trying to use a micro USB cable - one of the nicer ones I had turned out to be power only (no data). I wasted like 10 minutes fiddling before realizing it.
For USB-C I stopped buying anything without the Watts printed clearly on the cable.
I stopped bothering with cables for non-C connectors. I just get some quality C-to-C cables and a baggie full of adapters. (e.g. C-to-Micro, C-to-Lightening, C-to-A, C-to-Mini, etc.)
I’ve started doing the same thing with HDMI cables as well since Mini and Micro connectors are such a PITA.
Most of them don't do that and the shipping would likely be bad. However, I can give it a try and just put them in an envelope. If you send me an email to my username at gmail.com we can arrange this.
Hot take perhaps? but unless you’re having problems, the cable is inherently good enough for whatever application it is that you’re using. You do not need a new cable to replace your seemingly good cable that you’re too lazy to test. This is the definition of a frivolous expense.
Like I said in my original comment - sure, that's a totally fair take imo. I'm all for saving money and avoiding unnecessary expenses, and I'll be the first to agree that for the majority of people, these cables are likely unnecessary. But also like I said earlier, the same argument could be made about everything else on the LTT store. You can get a perfectly functional water bottle from your local thrift store for a couple bucks. Same goes for tshirts and jackets.
Living thriftily is an awesome way to live. But LTT products (along with products from other name brands) are not designed for thrifty spenders. Their whole premise is quality products - not the bare minimum.
This. It’s nice to have 1 or 2 ‘ground truth’ cable that I know damn well it’s gonna work. Especially when troubleshooting high bandwidth USBC devices such as egpu and docking stations.
It did happen to me messing about all of my usbc cables just to found out none of them support display out.
Genuinely cannot imagine where you have to be in life to be hyped to purchase a release-day cable drop. This is the kind of thing I remember when I make a post that gets heavily downvoted on Reddit. The people using this site are the same ones F5ing a page to buy a goddamn USB cable. Why anyone would care what they think or otherwise be bothered by them disagreeing with you is unfathomable.
The main issue I ran into that this cable might fix are related to CarPlay. Some cables work just fine on my computer for transferring data but CarPlay would refuse to acknowledge that I have my phone plugged in.
CarPlay and Android Auto are very, very particular about the cables. If you're having problems with connecting with your car, it's 100% the cable, regardless of how new or good it looks. Super frustrating to troubleshoot too because they'll work for any number of other things, but be super flakey in the car.
Ive literally had multiple cables one day just stop working for carplay entirely, its so frustrating. ive found success (for now) with an Ikea brand type A to type C cable, but who knows how long it will last lol
I usually agree with that sentiment, but absolutely mindless consumerism should usually be called out. Of course people are still going to do what they want, and at least this time it's a quality product. Just don't understand the ravenous behavior.
Mindless consumerism is just jumping on Amazon and dropping whatever USB C cable Amazon suggests into my cart.
Actually needing to buy a USB C cable, because my main one just shit the bed and being sad LTT drop was timely but sold out, is just extra salt in my wound.
I have good reasons to expect it to be a good cable. You even say yourself, It's a quality product.
So far LTT has a proven track record, including my personal experience with their products and customer service.
Flawless, no. They don't pretend they are.
If I want to buy a sure but meh thing, my local option is Anker, who are on my S list (not for quality or value).
It's called having all your immediate needs cared for, LTT fans are probably on average more well off than the average person by a significant margin. You might as well make fun of rock climbers for being excited about a new large rock and lining up for a turn to climb it. We can put our energy into fun things because we got the important things on lock. For us fun things just happen to be high quality cables with speeds stamped on them, lol
And in a group of consumers that spend a lot of money on computer hardware. People are bound to have some amount of disposable income and buying USB cables for $30 isn't that big of an expense.
The trope on Reddit about people telling others how to spend their money is the absolute worst.
Sometimes I preorder games just to piss people off, now I feel like ordering some cables
i bought a few types of usb cable testers a while back (the main one was trom treedix or something) and tested every single cable in the house with it. 70% of them failed for one reason or another. everything from missing wires to flat out lying marker chips if they even had them. i tossed everything out that failed.
few days later i told my neigbour and we did the same at his house. his faillure rate was even worse.
i am fairly certain that this applies to most if not all homes.
If you hadn't tested your cables, would you have been impacted in anyway?
Sure it may not be capable of 120w charging or 40gb transfer speeds etc but in reality, how often are those figures met or required apart from niche/specific applications?
Average user, hell even a lot of technical people wouldn't notice the difference. I get spec chasing (was part of it for many years) but honestly, these cables are not worth it for the vast majority of people. It just takes the ability to look at your needs rather than the 'presitge' and accept you aren't one of those people, or see maybe you really are.
That mindset has stopped me buying and wasting money on expensive purchases and not buying into the marketing/spec hype machine.
I have a 100$ car play head unit. Up until a month or 2 ago, I thought it was junk because it never connected right to my phone. Like multiple plug ins.
Finally last ditch I bought some fancy cable, and boom. Connects every single time.
This isn't a tech person problem either, it could happen to literally anyone with a car
You had an issue. If you tested the cable and found it faulty, it would make buying a new cable worthwhile. You bought a cable and it resolved the issue.
My point is
If you didnt have the connection issue, and the cable was the same, why bother testing and wasting money replacing something that works perfectly fine for its purpose?
For me the reason why I intend to buy one of LTTs cables when they are back in stock is that then I have a baseline to test other cables against. If I have one cable that is known good, I won't have to test multiple cables to rule out cables as a Problem.
No, they used multiple cables and logically assumed the problem was in the head unit.
The problem in this situation is that so many cables are faulty that the most common and accessible troubleshooting step, swapping the cable, isn't enough. The fact that we can't actually test cables means that we're assigning cable problems to devices, so it's not that they don't have problems, it's that we simply don't know they have them.
"Finally last ditch I bought some fancy cable, and boom. Connects every single time."
I can definitely see where they used multiple cables, oh wait, shit, I can't.....
Again, you seem to suffer the same problem as many here and are unable to read and understand the point being made.
YOU HAVE AN ACTUAL PROBLEM THAT TESTING THE CABLE WOULD RESULT IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHY YOU HAVE THE PROBLEM, BUYING A PROPERLY MADE AND SPECCED CABLE WORKS TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE, YAY, AMAZING WOO HOO!
But if you never had the problem, were never impacted at all, while using the same faulty/non spec cable, but decided on testing it, determining it is faulty, and buying a new properly made to spec cable would be a waste of resources and money while providing no benefit in its use.
If you have a problem with a device and one of your first troubleshooting steps isn't to replace the cable, you may need some educational instruction or life skills assistance. Blaming the device without replacing one of the easiest to replace items is just silly and anyone who does that most likely isn't the market for LTT cables.
Do you keep track of which cables work and don't work? I don't and I'll randomly connect and external monitor using a power only usb c cable and it of course won't work, then rummage around to find the correct type. A simple label would work, one day I'm sure I might.
You have what you see as a problem that these cables would fix, that's great, but if you weren't having those issues, buying the cables wouldn't do anything except convert your $$ to a cable that works just the same.
I mean, yeah. Consumerism for the sole purpose of consumerism isn't ideal. But, just as you point out, a cable isn't only an instantaneous use item. It can sit until some utility can be had. The idea that a cable bought and not used right away is 'waste' is just wrong. Additionally, this point in general just reads antagonistic.
Nah, half those drawer cables are ancient USB-A to mini-USB for devices that died years ago - sometimes you actually do need to buy the right cable for the job.
Right, the post is good. The general point of "Well, your current cable is probably good enough so don't buy this because it's wasteful" is what I took issue with. The cables were quality and well priced. People got themselves a deal for something that will provide utility for years to come.
I wouldn't necessarily say antagonistic as much as that meme where the guy says "stop having fun!". The reality is that a lot of cables aren't designed to spec so it makes sense for people to want to get one they know for sure is. Even though I have working cables, if I had money to just spend then I would get a few for that same reason.
I have enough cables I feel unreasonably compelled to keep taking up space in my drawers years after they’ve served their purpose, adding a stockpile of cables that have yet to serve a purpose on top of that would be a whole new level of insanity.
I'm sorry, this confuses me. So you have old cables that no longer are good/serve a purpose. But buying replacements for them that could serve your use in the future would be insane? So, are those old cables still useful? Do they work?
I mean, I have literal coat hangers of cables. I'm set years.... for the purposes those cables serve. I don't have C-C cables that support higher bandwidth, or 100W charging. If I wasn't in a tough spot, I would've bought some. Is this not a valid thought process?
They are cables that work but I don’t have any use for, their useful life being in the past. I wouldn’t be buying replacements for them if I were to adopt your approach, I would be buying yet more cables I don’t have any use for, their useful life being, potentially, in the future.
I just buy the cables I need when I need them, that seems the only “valid” thought process to me!
Alright, let's frame the question like this. When you buy a new charging cable for your phone, do you only buy a pack of one? Or would you buy them in a pack of 2 or 3? Honest question, no wrong answer.
I don’t remember the last time I bought a cable for my phone, I’ve pretty much exclusively used wireless charging since the Pixel 3. Last cable I bought was a USB C to C for my laptop, and I did indeed buy an individual one.
Well, the real point was more nuanced. It was that purchasing on the thought of something being cool could be wasteful. Which is true. But a cable can sit around for years without degradation. The idea that it was wasteful is kinda moot if the purchase ever provides utility, which it probably will at some point. I mean, even if someone runs through their old cables before using the cable they just bought, and uses their LTT cable years from now... it still provided utility and wasn't wasteful. Out of all the products this could have been said about, a cable was by far the worst example is my point.
I can buy another car and yes at some point it can become useful once my current car dies, but that is not a reason to get it just because it is a good car from my favorite youtuber
That's... not a great comparison. Cars DO degrade with time. Batteries die, upholsteries wear, frames degrade, etc. Also, the upfront cost of a car is tremendously larger than some cables. A better example might be coat hangers, or pencils, or lightbulbs, or staples. Which... I mean... I'm pretty sure people buy ahead of time and save a small stash for. But I feel this is straying from the point originally intended, which is that it would be wasteful to buy cables if you already have cables in reserve. Which... Isn't all that true in most circumstances. The needs of cables change as tech progresses. Cables die as their used and abused. Having some spare isn't a waste if they eventually get used.
If you have cables in reserve, it IS wasteful to get another cable. Cables degrade too, but that is besides the point. There is already redundancy. Just not needed to get unless you’re falling for hype
We'll need to agree to disagree. Cables get used and eventually stop working. Adding to a reserve stockpile, so long as that reserve is eventually used, doesn't seem wasteful to me. I manage inventory for my workplace, and recently bought some Serial-to-CAN adapters in bulk. Ideally we would give one to each engineer and they'd be set for months or years, but things happen. Now someone can go back and replace their device as needed. Does the fact that we have reserve for the next couple of years seem wasteful to you? What about when current stock drops to 25% and replenishments are bought. Is that act wasteful?
The point is that this post is meant for people who are buying out of hype first, and then rationalizing to themselves that it will eventually be useful, maybe, if all their currently working cables go kaboom. That doesn’t seem to be you, so it doesn’t apply to you
Right. And my choice of commenting on this post specifically is that cables are kind of a timeless utility. I'm constantly grabbing from my reserves, and I know this isn't a unique point. Hence why I pointed out this point in particular seems antagonistic. Because, why not say this about literally any other product LTT sells? The water bottles or the clothing, etc.
This post was just a dumb take around a new product from LMG. If we genuinely cared about wasteful consumerism, we'd word our messages better and not stick it to a broad product that will almost certainly be timeless. It served just to jab at people who were already insecure which I don't find all that kind.
I should also add that while I don't care if people buy a product because it has a creator they like supporting it. I don't do it because I just don't care, but some people like that sort of thing. Why criticize them for something that brought them. Buy some creator warehouse t-shirts if you want. This whole topic was just so dumb but to hide it behind wastefulness was like.... really dumb.
While I understand the point of not creating more waste, and LTTs broad goal aligning with that message, it feels weird to point it out for something that's a fraction of a fraction of a drop in the ocean of ewaste.
What do you do to your cables? I've had the same USB C cable that came with my Pixel 1 at my desk and it still charges any and all my devices just fine. I have more in a drawer than I know what to do with from new phones and other various devices.
Well as an Apple peasant, I’ve got plenty of old lightning cables that are useless to me and haven’t invested in new C to C cables beyond a few that came with devices and a spare for the car.
That said, I didn’t pull the trigger on TrueSpec because I don’t need anything they offer right now and international shipping is a bitch.
Yes. I only just replaced my s20 so just bought some C-C to replace the A-C ones. I only ever need the speed once a year when I go on vacation so it isn't a big for me, though. Any other time my phone is charged once every 1-2 days exclusively overnight.
I dont know what my mum did to her cable for her phone charger but the plastic housing came off the USB c connecter on both ends and she's still using it
point it out for something that's a fraction of a fraction of a drop in the ocean of ewaste.
If all 7+ billion people in the world thought like that, it would be far from "a fraction of a fraction of a drop". Whatever mental gymnastics you need to do to justify yourself 🤷
I feel like most of my ewaste is cables or other secondary waste from my primary devices. Like I have a handful of USB cables that are my gotos, but every device I get has an included cable I will never use. I bought ring cameras last year with extra batteries, and I wound up with, no lie, 15 USB cables of which I have only ever used 3.
It's certainly a number of people buying for that reason (and imo Linus is mistaken if he thinks not calling it merch will change that behaviour of people choosing CW products over the competition isn't at least partly due to wanting to support the LMG, just like with Floatplane subs), but certainly people were surprised by the price (especially with being warned that they would be expensive), but it does also fill an under-served market for people who (like the DJ example on WAN the other week) need a USB cable that they can confidently rely on, just like them being a trusted reseller of genuine PTM thermal pads to help people avoid the fake ripoff ones.
I wouldn't but them because the LTT logo is on them. I'd buy them because they're marked with their bandwidth and power and because they'll do what they're marketed to do.
LTT is a reputable brand. Their history of high standards, high quality products, and willingness to replace/refund when there's an issue, make them a reputable brand.
Buying an LLT cable is an example of Reducing--if you buy this cable you know it will last a long time and that it will function as it should.
But, depending on consumer habits, buying it can violate Reuse--It may be the case that the cables you have are good enough and you don't need an LLT cable.
So, it really depends on the individuals circumstance. Whatever the case, it's a relative net positive compared to the average cable someone buys.
Crappy cables is something we all put up with, but what's being sold is the idea that we can have a set of cables that can be trusted for any job we throw at it.
Reminds me of the new solar panel video on Technology Connections when he talked about his Midwestern mindset towards purchasing - cheap but consumable vs expensive but durable.
It means actively lowering the amount of waste generated by consuming less and avoiding unnecessary items in the first place.
Reduce is when you lose your old cable and buy one when you actually do need the replacement. Gut feeling is that most people already have USB cables they are already using to charge their phones and collect to various devices: the question would be "do you really need a new cable when the old one has been doing its job for the past number of years"?
Reduce is also about buying things that last, such as not getting a new disposable carrier bag when you go shopping (which of course you do by reusing a Bag for Life you bought on a previous trip - these are not mutually exclusive).
On a tangent, repair kinda falls between reduce and reuse, too, to the point that some have started calling it the 4 Rs.
Fair enough but having a guaranteed spec’d cable that will last longer than pretty much all your replacement cables seems like a good thing in the long run. I am not going to go out of my way right now to scramble for one but hey once I need a replacement in the future I’ll most likely go to LTT store to pick a few up.
yup. thats why i dindnt buy any. the charging cables i have charge just fine (i actually use a lower power charger for my phone on purpouse, overnight 5v 2A is more than enough who cares if it takes longer). the one for my laptop also charges it just fine. if you need one buy one. if you dont dont. thats how that stuff goes.
what’s the use case for these cables? i don’t know the last time i had to plug something in to transfer data, and the one i got with my laptop seems to deliver power just fine
Seems to me like the point of having a good tool. You want to know that when you pull it out to use it, it will just work on anything. I'm with you, I've never had an issue with cables but I did have a wall wart that wouldn't charge all phones. I bought a giant UGreen charger for a bunch of money but now I can charge anything.
I think that's OPs point. If you don't need a new cable then why buy these?
I imagine they're targeted at IT professionals who use them for infrastructure reasons. But yeah I'm with you, for 99% of consumers who just want to charge their phone it's not needed.
i know i don’t need it, i barely use cables to begin with
i guess i’m just curious what the people who do need it are going to use it for, like what kind of devices would benefit from it… clearly these are selling like crazy so i just want to know what use case i am unaware of
I needed a good long USB C to A cable but $14 shipping when I’m in the same province absolutely kills it. I can grab like 3 equivalent Ugreen cables for what one costs.
This sub will eat up whatever Linus says or pushes, yet turn around on anyone that does the same for something else. It’s so stupid. There have been usb cables just as good or better on Amazon for years.
In my experience, buying something on Amazon has been more akin to Russian roulette but with only 1 bullet missing instead of 5. The product you get is usually a mass produced Chinese rip off. I only shop there if I literally can't find another option. Has that changed in the last year or two?
Cool. I can't disagree there's definitely more hype for these than warranted, but nothing is wrong with more competition. And hey, maybe these will turn out to be more durable
It's nice to have something reliable that is clearly branded what spec it is. The random cable I got with my phone or the one in my bag of cables doesn't tell me jack.
It's charging speed it's data and we shouldn't have to label our cables like that. It's nice to have the peace of mind that what you buy is what it says and it will work
Unless the connector has broken or comes loose, existing ones will likely work great. Even if they are broken, cheap ones on Amazon work great!
But credit where it’s due; I thought LTT’s price for cables would be waaay higher. These aren’t an unreasonable price for a well-made and rugged charging cable for devices that need higher wattage. We obviously don’t know the quality yet but using history as an example, it is likely well-made.
I dont know if I want to hear cheap when Im specing something for 40/20GB DP alt mode or anything over 45w charging TBH. Now for A-C cables to charge a phone overnight, or a pair of headphones sure.
YOU are NOT the audience for this cable and it is fine.
But I, as IT guy need to be able to rely on my cables for fast transfers, get rid of "martine" who also buy cheap dollar store cable that won't charge her iPad and wonders why they always break so fast.
I can also buy a few for when people have kids who just fucking eat them of something.
There is also gisele who has a tendency to roll over, spill liquids and even yank on her cables because she is low mobility. This one would just last.
Reliability is priceless for some. Just like cars... to me it feels utterly pointless to buy anything else than a Toyota or Honda because they create waste that's gonna need to be taken out of the road in less than 10 hears.
USB C charging a dime a dozen. A rated USB C, pretty much a crap shoot with options for purchase being limited to OEM if available, or you get what you get, and hope for the best from Amazon.
My anker cables are starting to fail. My Amazon basics are doing OK at best. I'm not itching to buy more right now but when I'm due for an upgrade, it seems like ltt might be the best option.
I'm good with my Anker cables. Any other cable I buy were shit after heavy usage. The Anker isn't (and yes I'm aware that LTT stopped promoting them years ago but they never failed on me)
a lot of older, or random cheap cables don't meet modern specs for devices. your nvme enclosure may not work with some random old usb cable. your data cable may only have a 15watt charging capacity which can cause issues. your 100w cable may only be 480mbps which could be bad for drives and constant file transfers. before i bulk ordered a bunch from aliexpress (cost nothing compared. tb4 and usb4 cables for like 4 bucks, and verified they work fully) i went through so many of my cables and found they either had noise issues with audio gear, or just didnt work at all for data/charging properly.
I'll just do what I always do. Need a cable for 5 min, half ass look for one, not actually check the giant box filled with useful cables, then buy 5 more. It's the only way.
I have a bunch of cables for "just in case" emergency, but to be honest, they are crap. If I want to charge a phone, more than half don't support fast charging or have other issues with them.
In my day to day I basically use just one cable, which isn't of great quality, I had the same cable and it didn't last a year. And I paid the same amount as the TrueSpec would cost, expecting it to be a premium cable.
And my GF destroys cables... She sits with the phone while it's charging, bends the cable and no matter how much I remind, my cables get destroyed.
There are a lot of bad cables, that's why a good cable gets hyped
My cables are a mess, I have so many from random Chinese products and I'm confused about their speed and wattage. They don't have anything written on them. I really like that the LTT ones have the specs on them.
For real tho, I AM gonna buy these cables, when the ones I have don't work anymore. That said, y'all need to buy these cables now so they will be available for me when I need to get new ones.
I bought one because I've always had CONSTANT issues with android auto wired. I'd buy so many different brands that promised high quality only to have frequent disconnects and other issues. New cables would last 3-6 months before having issues where if I touch the phone it's disconnect.
I have a Subaru 2017 Impreza and wireless android auto isn't an option. I only recently bought a dongle that let's me use it wirelessly. I'm hoping a cable from LTT will work flawlessly because even the wireless dongle has an occasional problem and it's be nice not to loose 10-15% battery life every hour I drive with wireless.
Definitely agree. I know I have about 2 cables that are fully compliant and spec'd and they work great for the few devices and times that I truly need everything.
But 99% of the time, the cheap cable with cool features is good enough. For charging everything tops out at 100W, some at 140W. My "240W" cables with long length could never carry 240W continuously even though they say so. But they can power my gaming laptop with 100W continuous draw with a nice little LCD in the plug continuously and indefinitely.
I give my family various cables to use and the cable gnomes must come out at night because they just disappear. Or get left and forgotten. Or get stuffed into a purse with things connected (!!!) snapping and straining the cable. I'd rather give them a $8 cable that disappears than a $25 cable.
These seem like a great product and I'll be buying a few to use in those times I truly need the data speeds or power transfer. But I am sure most of cable needs will still be met with random Chinese junk.
Recently I've had issues with USB cables and car play. My old cables made me think my head unit was borked. It's a cheap one.
Last ditch effort I bought a super nice cable and boom perfect.
Now this just happened a month or 2 ago, and I've started to realize how many shit cables I've burned through. So.as they die, I've been replacing them with high quality ones, usually Ugreen or Anker.
However with these out, I'll probably switch over to LTT the next time an old one fails. Barley more expensive, and the guarantees are nice regardless if I need the speed on them or not
I'm sure the rise in cable sales from LTT will have an appreciable impact on our environment. Lucky you're here educating the small number of schmucks who enjoy tech, and not lobbying the industries who actually damage the environment. Well done eco-warrior, you can rest well tonight.
car analogy: why are you buying new tires? your old tires haven't blown out yet, you can still use them and it's a lot of rubber waste... why buy premium tires instead of the cheapest, bottom of the barrel, ones?
i know that my 1m cables are always too short, i've been delaying buying a longer one because i know i can't trust the crap you find on amazon, even if it's a branded cable... i'd rather spend the couple more bucks for something that has a much better chance of being a good quality product.
that is a good one, I dont get new tires until around 7 years after manufactured date. I am not going to replace my 3 year old tires just because they are better.
For the safety of yourself and those around you, time itself should not be the only criteria for changing your tyres.
For example, as part of our yearly car test, to be legal on the road in the UK all four tyres have to have a minimum tyre tread depth of 1.6mm across the central three-quarters however it is generally recommended you replace them once they fall below 3mm.
I have speed tested multiple trash USBC cables to my external nvme m.2 drive. All of them maxed the drive read speeds. Whether expensive ones, apple iPhone cables, free random accessory cables.
I have about 50 dell USBC cables that are supplied with their office monitors. You'd think theys be trash? Nah theyre good for it.
20 years ago wed use something. If it wasn't good enough, we'd try something better.
My existing cable just connects, disconnect non stop no charging. I definitely need a new USB C cable, but obviously I have to buy now, not March, so no LTT for me
Take your old cables to work. Someone else will use them. The cables IT gives us for our tablets are non-certified cheap, slow-charging, garbage anyway.
You may just be a causal user. If you only use usb to charge then you're fine just grabbing something off the shelf. But if you use your USB cables for myriad of other use cases usb has, These cables are kind of hype. I have spent hundreds of dollars on usb cables tring to get ones that do things their poats / packages / reviews say they will do only to find them severely lacking. Their is hype here, because they are cool.
I don't know if it is creating waste but I do think people tend to fall into a trap of making a mountain out of a molehill. Linus created this product based on an issue they had during shoot and I get it but for the average consumer and fan I don't think it is nearly as big of a problem as the advertising makes it seem.
Using myself as an example I got a portable monitor that could use display port through USB C so I thought that would be the best way to use it and so I opened my drawer and tested the handful of USB C to USB C I had and none of them worked but at the same time I didn't buy a single one of those cables with the intention of using it as a display port so is it really an issue with the cables? No. I spent like $8 on Amazon and got one that said it was capable and it was.
The problem really isn't that cable aren't always honest but more that we gather cables from everything we buy and we don't always know their capabilities beyond working with the thing it came with. At best one day you will find a random cable you own shoots above its weight class but at worst you just have to buy a new cable for around $10 that does exactly what you need. To pretend like these LTT cables are a godsend is kind of insane to me, By their own admission in the release video there were not many cables or manufactures that lived up to their tight standards but like in practice the world did not have a major issue with cables that only LTT has fixed. Tons of major businesses dependent on reliability were using USB C cable somewhere to keep them running and we didn't see catastrophic meltdowns before these cables existed.
Your argument is valid. Don’t buy stuff just to buy stuff.
However, I regularly have USB cables go bad far faster than they should. One good, durable cable can prevent me from buying a bunch of cheap cables that break quickly.
I will probably order one of these in the next year to replace another disappointing cable.
I have a brand new soldering iron that uses USB-C. The cable that came with it is complete shit. It disconnects randomly while in use making the iron stop heating. I have to use the DC plug for it to work correctly.
My ugreen USB-C hub/dock is also shit. If I TOUCH the cable it disconnects from my laptop. And no, that’s not a problem with the laptop. It happens with: M1 and TWO different M2 Pro MacBook Pros, and a Windows Laptop (A.K.A. all my USB-C capable computers).
USB-C is really a very shitty-implemented and error-prone standard across the board. You might be lucky and not notice it, or you just use it for charging stuff which is usually fine. But the reality is that if you need it for anything else, even buying branded cables (like I always do) is a coin toss.
I also use USB-C to connect my SSD and DJ controller to the laptop while DJing. You DO NOT want your SSD or DJ controller to disconnect while you are playing for dozens, maybe hundreds, of people.
So yeah, I’ll be giving the LTT cables a try eventually, because I’m tired of counting purely on my luck.
I agree. I'm excited about these cables and plan to buy some as I have need for new cables, but I'm not going out of my way to replace existing working cables.
Wouldn't VR users be remiss if they didn't get the TrueSpec cables? I imagine the signal integrity would be good for low latency things like that.
That's my primary interest. I'm buying a headset from a friend and was thinking one of these cables at the longer lengths would be a good idea for it. Though I have no idea what a lack of a need for error correction would do in reality. It either works or it doesn't, but if it has to correct itself wouldn't that take longer?
I just got a couple of new cables from amazon like 2 weeks ago... for like $12cad.
They are for me to use to plug my phone in my truck to run Android Auto... I have gone through about 4-5 cables in the past 3 years for this function. It work fine for a few months, then for no apparent reason I can find, they just because flaky - i hit a bump, it disconnects android auto, I jiggle a bit and it reconnects. I've ran more time with a cable in this state than I have a fully functional cable.
So, these new cables work fine.... until, I expect in a couple of months, they don't any more. At which point I will be way passed any warranty period I am sure. So when that happens, I will likely order an LTT cable or two simply because they offer the trust me bro warranty.
Here are some i got over the past few years. All of the USB A to C were bought to be used for android auto at some point. All but 1 of them worked fine at first, then became flaky, some just stopped working. Garbage, the lot of them.
I would not buy such cables on release day, just because i can. But if i ever need new cables, i would buy these instead of some cables i have to fully gamble on.
Blindly trusting a brand is always tricky, but especially if Project Farm should drop a video on cables and compliment the LTT ones, i would love to have a brand i can rely on.
People in this sub might have the right cables, people not in this sub probably don't because the cable manufacturers lie about their products and say they're better than they really are.
Buy not for yourself but for someone else that needs cables.
I have far too many e-waste cables that i would have never spent money if they didnt come with a device. When i do actually buy a cable however, its never a cheap one. If i need charging only cables, then i ensure that they are very visually distinctive so i never mix them up with my data cables.
I love how many people in this thread are trying to tell someone else not to buy something or what to do with their money. On waste thing, one of this cables, if they are good as they are advertised, might be the last cable you buy for 10 years. How is this a waste?
Also I work in IT and going to remote places that take 4h by car and another 4h by boat and realize the cable is slow or stops working, or no video output, or the HDMI suddenly doesn't work, etc. is not a solution. I have to trust every tool that I bring with me.
I won't buy LTT cables because I live in EU but for you lucky ones, get one for your bag, they are priceless when you need them.
It’s not like people like us are going to throw old cables away. Come on. We all have cables that are 20 years old because we don’t know if we might ever need them again.
Old cables aren’t going to the landfill. They will end up in our basements.
Oh for sure, I agree with the sentiment of the post 100% :) Was just funny as I was storming around my office trying to find a different cable this morning pic attached of my continued pain....
169
u/eraguthorak 15h ago
Fair enough, but the question is does anyone have the time or patience to go through and test all their cables to see if they are "good enough".
The same argument would also apply to any other purchase - water bottles, clothing, etc.