Are My USB 30 Cables Compatible With USB 20 Devices? Common Cable Questions Answered
Feeling up to becoming a guru on USB, HDMI and CAT cables? Then you’ll want to keep reading. As you likely already know, the bar for quality is steadily raised year-after-year. People want their Internet faster. Their video quality more crisp. Their options more flexible and able to multi-task no matter where they are. If you want to take advantage of all these tasks and then some, you need to be clear on what cables do, how to protect them and where to fit them so you can play, work or both without an extra care in the world.
CAT cables are the bridge between your devices and your Internet. For those that work from home or just like to stream video, good Internet is everything. Nothing is more terrible than when a page takes forever to load or your download keeps getting interrupted! CAT5 cables are a little old, but they still deliver in fine fashion for those that want some solid basics. For those that want to step it up a little further, the CAT5e is just what you need.
Are you a touch more experienced in these matters? Perhaps you want a CAT6 cable. These are considered by many to be a little more difficult to install, but they also boast some of the most impressive speeds seen in the Ethernet cable world. If you feel like experimenting, try choosing the one that’s closest to what you want. This could be a bulk CAT5e cable or some CAT5 cables. See how you like it and, if it’s not your thing, return it and make the upgrade.
Now for video quality. As mainstream media becomes more accessible by the day and video streaming services compete for top dog, consumers are more keen than ever getting the best possible results for their favorite movies or shows. HDMI is able to pass video resolutions from 480i to 4K. Now, that doesn’t mean you should ignore what the manufacturer has to say about compatibility. Reviewing the manual for your product will save you a lot of heartache when you visit the store. Additionally, HDMI 1.4 can accommodate 3D Blu-ray Disc standards.
Got a cell phone? This is where it gets a little simpler. Bulk USB cables can be pulled out in a pinch when your cord isn’t charging like it used to, keeping you from scrambling to and fro trying to find some juice to put into your iPhone. There are well over 100 million iPhone users in the United States, making it the second most popular model by many estimates. When it comes to which bulk USB cables you should buy, USB 3.0 cables are compatible with USB 2.0 devices. They won’t, however, offer capabilities beyond 2.0.
Now let’s talk about safety. There’s no reason to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on equipment only to have it all fry during one particularly bad storm. A surge protector is able to protect your hard work from thousands of volts, saving you a lot of trouble when you least expect it. While a surge generally measures less than 500V and lasts less than two seconds, a spike can measure thousands of volts in one-thousandth of a second. When insurance claims for these incidents reach $10,000 on average, shelling out a few hundred for a surge protector isn’t all that much!
Refresher time. If you want good video quality and regularly find yourself watching videos or playing videogames, HDMI 1.4 is a good pick to keep you varied across the board. Your cell phone should have some decent bulk USB cables so you’ll never be without power. As for Internet, this depends wholly on how frequently you use it, whether or not you need it for work and what kind of standard you want to maintain. Being a cable guru isn’t as distant a goal as it may seem at first.
Ready to get yourself some bulk USB cables or a surge protector? Take your new confidence with you when you shop and reap the benefits year-round.