Post #1520495

2026-04-21 16:35 UTC

@burger @masklayer The only good flash drives fit 80% inside the USB A slot so they're not a giant lever sticking out the side of your laptop about to pry the port off the motherboard if you make the slightest wrong move. If they were USB C, they'd have to be outside, and while USB C is designed not to ruin the host's port when it breaks, you'd ruin the drive and have to pay thousands to recover your data. USB C should only be used with detachable cables (because they're designed to break first so the device doesn't). Never with a builtin connector.

Replies (3)

@khm@hj.9fs.net 2026-04-21 16:44

I have a bunch of these USB-C and USB-A flash drives I use from time to time, and they've never broken a computer. That could be because I don't use them often. But I also have an LG monitor I loved fail because the USB-C connector broke off the mainboard inside the housing, and more than one Dell Precision laptop that has fallen to broken-usb-c-port problems over the years. I don't think the form factor matters much; usb just sucks. CC: @burger@social.burgeronthe.net @masklayer@slime.global

Open ##1520496
@lispi314@udongein.xyz 2026-04-21 16:44

@dalias @burger @masklayer Generally one should always use such cables if it's an option, for exactly that reason.

Open ##1520500
@khleedril@cyberplace.social 2026-04-22 09:14

@dalias @burger @masklayer I don't disagree with you, but then I don't care about this non-issue. If I could get USB-C sticks I would. I would also note that all the cables I have have 'sticks' at each end which protrude rigidly from the laptop.

Open ##1520503