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Featured in this articleThe humble cable is often the simplest and fastest way to charge your devices or move files from one device to another. But these ostensibly straightforward power and data conduits come in many shapes and sizes. Even cables that appear identical may perform differently when you plug them into your or laptop. Various connectors, specifications, charging rates, and data transfer speeds make for a confusing, messy scene.
Don't worry. We dived into the dreaded box of cables, identified the ones you need for various scenarios, and untangled them, ready for use. You'll find some advice here on USB-C, Lightning, and MicroUSB connectors, as well as a primer on everything you need to know about cables. After all, we're WIRED.
Updated November : We added cables from Anker, Scosche, UGreen, and Native Union, added specs tables for each entry, removed several older picks, and updated prices throughout.
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My boss recently gifted me an Elgato HD60 S capture card that he was not using. I plan to use it to stream Nintendo Switch and/or Wii games to Twitch; I cite these two consoles because I would be using real hardware to do so, and none the other consoles owned by me & my wife currently have HDMI output. The computer that will receive the captured footage is a Mac Pro (henceforth abbreviated to MP) with&#;hopefully&#;sufficient power to stream to Twitch at a consistent 60fps (its GPU is an MSI Armor RX 580 with 8GB of VRAM). I already have a couple Sonnet USB 3.x PCIe cards in mind, so this problem is effectively solved.
The issue I am trying to solve&#;and the reason I am posting here&#;is one of physical distance. My consoles and my MP are on opposite sides of the room; there is a sliding glass door that goes out to our patio between my desk with my MP and our TV & consoles. I do have my MP connected to our TV via a 25&#; HDMI cable (and I am using all twenty-five feet of that length) that I&#;ve run above this door, so I can use it as a third monitor&#;but all the Googling I have done tells me that the maximum USB cable length falls well short of that distance. Moving our consoles or my desk & MP isn&#;t an option, as I do not want to upset my wife. Running another 25&#; HDMI cable from the capture card at my MP to our consoles & TV would remove my ability to stream Wii games from real hardware, as the Wii&#;s HDMI cable ends in the Wii-specific proprietary A/V plug. Furthermore, the capture card in question appears to get power from the USB-C port on the device itself, as there is no battery or external power jack on the unit, so any solution to extend a USB run length must also include sufficient power transmission.
Rather tricky problem to solve, isn&#;t it? I would greatly appreciate suggestions & advice on how to solve this in a way that lets me stream and also keeps my wife happy with the arrangement of our living room.
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