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Thread: Why Do Some Devices Still Use Mini-USB Connecteors?

  1. #1
    The User DemonDragonJ's Avatar
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    Default Why Do Some Devices Still Use Mini-USB Connecteors?

    I just purchased a new GPS device-specifically, a Garmin Nuvi 57LM- and I noticed that it has a mini-USB connector. I thought that mini-USB was being phased out in favor of micro-USB, which is a very similar, but smaller, connector, so I wonder why some devices still use it. This also displeases because it means that I cannot use the same charger for both my cell phone and my GPS device, as my cell phone has a micro-USB port, which means that I shall need to keep two chargers, rather than one, in the glove compartment of my car.

    What does everyone else say about this? Why do some devices still use mini-USB connectors?
    "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." -Thomas Jefferson.

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  2. #2

    Default Re: Why Do Some Devices Still Use Mini-USB Connecteors?

    I think the reason is its life time. It have design lifetime of 1500 and even improved mini-b connector has the lifetime of 5000.

  3. #3
    Anodized. Again. Konrad's Avatar
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    Default Re: Why Do Some Devices Still Use Mini-USB Connecteors?

    USB specification defines "full" and mini and micro (and now Type-C and other) USB connectors - the standard encompasses them all and none are officially approaching EOL obsolescence. Micro-USB is perhaps the most common version because it's favoured on small-form-factor devices like smartphones and tablets so consumers seem to see it everywhere, but the other versions are still around and are hardly being "phased out" by anyone other than android phone manufacturers.

    Mini-USB is larger and sturdier than Micro-USB, I find it usually has about twice the metal thickness and more firmly anchored solder points on the PCB. The plugs don't bend or snap as often, the ports don't break as often - an important consideration when you throw a bunch of USB junk into your pocket or backpack a lot. I present to you the theory that the latest-greatest $1000 smartphone or tablet deliberately uses Micro-USB (instead of Mini-USB or Full-USB) in no small part because the manufacturer knows it's far more prone to physical breakage, ie: another way to encourage the consumer to buy a new device within a couple years.

    The final workaround is a full-size USB port on a wallwart, outlet, power bar, hub, or powered computer along with a full-size-to-needed-size USB cable. You can still buy any kind of USB cable or adapter (even useful out-of-spec ones) at your local dollar store. You can also obtain multi-type cables like this one. I always plug a USB hub into a hard-to-reach-back-of-the-computer USB port and leave one of every kind of USB (or Apple) output into it ... yeah, I have to stuff a small bundle of cables out of sight all the time, but I can also charge/sync with every kind of USB(ish) device I own at any time.
    My mind says Technic, but my body says Duplo.

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