Computer Act!ve - UK (2022-01-19)

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ULT-WIIQ’sUSB-Ccablesarelong,strongand
letyoustream4Kvideo

yourphone,tabletorlaptoponamonitor,
you’llneedacablethatsupportsfastdata
transferandvideooutput.Also,yourbig
screenwillrequireaUSB-Cinput.Because
thecablewillneedtostretcharoundthe
backofthescreen,itmayneedtobe
longerthanthestandardonemetre.
ULT-WIIQofferstwo-andthree-metre
USB-Ccablesthattickallthoseboxes,
pricedatareasonable£15and£1 7
respectively(www.snipca.com/4 0477 ,
picturedabove).Thesecablesusethe
latestUSB 3 .2technologytotransferdata
atthesuper-fastrateof 2 0Gbps,support
DisplayPortforstreaming4Kvideotoa
high-resolutionmonitor,andcharge
devicesextremelyquickly,atupto1 00 W
(watts).Additionally,thecablessupport
theThunderbolt3and 4 standardsused
bythelatestAppleMacsandgamingPCs,
andaremadeof‘militarygrade’material
thatULT-WIIQclaimscanwithstandup
to 1 0,0 00 bends.
Ifyourmonitordoesn’thaveaUSB-C
port,oryouwanttoconnectadeviceto
yourTV,youcanbuyaUSB-C-to-HDMI
cabletoenjoy 4 Kcontentonthebig
screen.This onefromUni costs£11.99:
http://www.snipca.com/40478.

Best 3-in-1 USB-Ccable
AlthoughUSB-Cisnow themostcommon
meansofchargingand transf erring data
on newerphones, tabletsandlaptops,
your olderdevices mayhaveother types
of ports. Applehas addedUSB-C to many
of itsproducts, butnotably notyet the
iPhone,withthe latest iPhone13 models
still usingLightningconnectors.
Rather than carry ar oundandswitch
betweenseveral cables,you should
consid er a3-in-1cable,suchasthe
Gianac MultiCharger Cable(£6 from
http://www.snipca.com/40481)..) Thishas a
USB-Aconnector at oneend and
connectors forUSB-C,Lightningand

microUSBattheother,whichshould

covermostbases.It’s1.2 metres long,

with abraidednylon cord,and comesin

an eye-catching shadeofblue. Note that

it onlycharges devi cesand does n’t

tran sfer data.

Anothe roption is to buyaUSB-C

dockingstation that plugs into your

laptopandincludes portsfor othe rtypes

of connector. Forexample,the YXwin

USBCHubAdapter (£38 fromwww.

snipca.com/40482)letsyou connectthree

USBType-Adevices ,aswellasHDMIand

Ethernet cables.

Best budget USB-Ccable

Most laptopsstill have USBType-Aports

as well as USB-C, so youcan save money

by buying acable that hasbothtypes of

connectorand plugone into your

computerandtheotherintoyourmobile

device.ThetrustworthyAmazonBasics

rangeincludesa 1 .8mUSB-AtoUSB-C

cableforjust£6. 60 (www.snipca.

com/4 0485 ,picturedabove), butthere

areoptionsfromthird-partysellersforas

littleas£1.50.

However,makesureyoucheckthereviews

andreturnspolicyfirst,andthatthecable

iscertifiedbytheUSBImplementers

Forum(USB-IF). Thisconfirms that it has

passed compliance testsand won’t

damage your devicesby making them

overheat, as canhappenwithcables with

twodifferen tconnector types. All

Amazon Basicscablesare USB-IFcertified

–seewww.snipca.com/40489tolearn

more about compliance test ing.

Formaximumspeed andconvenience,

youneedaUSB-CtoUSB-C cablethat

uses theUSB 3.1 Gen2standard. Again,

Amazon Basicsprovidesarelia ble,

great-valueoption: its0.9m double-

braidednylon cable(£10fromwww.

snipca.com/40486)providessuper-fast

charging anddata tran sfer.“Is implydo

not unders tand howsuchanoutstanding

qualitycable is so cheap,”saysone

reviewer. We canonlyconcur.

WhyyouneedaUSB-Cadapter

EvenifyourlaptophasatleastoneUSB-C

port,youmayhavemanyolderdevices

thatstillusecableswithUSBType-A

connectors,suchasyourkeyboard,

mouseandwebcam.Forthisreason,it’s

handytohaveanadapterthatletsyou

plugUSB-AperipheralsintoUSB-Cports.

Newdevicesoftenincludethese

intheirboxesbut,ifnot,you

canbuyasingleUSB-C

adapterfromAmazon

(£3 fromwww.snipca.

com/4 0491 ,pictured)or

apackofthree(£7from

http://www.snipca.com/4 0492 ).

Lookforanadapterthat’s described

asa‘USB-CMaletoTypeAFemale

converter’,orsimilar.Wefindtheseare

particularlyusefulforplugginginUSB

sticks,whichdon’ttypicallyuseUSB-C.

Similarly,youmightneedanadapter

thatletsyouconnectaUSB-Ccable

toaUSBType-Aport. Thesearealso

verycheap–buya

packofthreefor£6

fromwww.snipca.

com/4 0494 –but

willreducethecable’s

charginganddata-transfer

speed.

these

ou

.

toa USBTypeA p

ver

w

cha

spee

Gianac’s MultiChargerCablehasconnectors

forUSB-C,LightningandmicroUSBdevices

Ifyoudon’tlikebuyingunknownbrands,

AmazonBasicsoffersexcellentUSB-C cables

Issue 623 –1February2022