I’ve been trying to standardise on USB-C for my charging cables (they usually offer faster charging), so I am tossing some of my charging cables that have the older USB-A connectors. — Jim Rossman/TNS
If you are anything like me, you have a box of stray or unused cables somewhere in your house.
My box of cables might be bigger than most, because I get a lot of gadgets to review.
I try to keep my box to a manageable size, so when the box gets full, it’s time to cull some out. But how do you know what to keep and what to donate/toss?
I like to take a few minutes and go through every cable, and keeping in mind the types of gadgets and cables you actually use daily.
Most phones today either use USB-C (for Android) or Lightning (for iPhones). My guess is you already have charging cables where you need them – perhaps near your bedside table, in your car or at the office. If you have too many unused USB-C or Lightning cables, especially if they are too short, you can get rid of most of them.
What do I mean by short?
I bought a couple cheap rechargeable LED flashlights last month and they each included a foot-long USB-C cable. Cables that are a foot or shorter are not very convenient to use, so I just get rid of them.
I’ve been trying to standardise on USB-C for my charging cables (they usually offer faster charging), so I am tossing some of my charging cables that have the older USB-A connectors.
If you have multiple Micro USB or mini USB cables, pick one of each that’s a good length and get rid of the rest.
Same goes for USB-A to USB-B cables (commonly used for printers) – keep one, toss any extras.
I’d keep one or two HDMI and DisplayPort cables, but toss DVI, VGA or S-video cables.
Ethernet cables are handy, so keep a short one and a longer one and toss any others.
Short coax cables are not of much use. Keep a decent length one and toss any others.
RCA audio cables (red, white, yellow) are not used much these days. Keep one if you use them in your home theatre system and toss any others.
Every device comes with its own power cable, so any extras should get a hard look. Perhaps keep one and toss any more.
Sometimes I end up with an orphaned power brick – perhaps I’ve tossed or lost the gadget. Get rid of those.
This exercise should take less than 10 minutes.
Overall, you decide what to keep and what to toss. Maybe your box is bigger than mine and you want to keep more. I keep telling myself I very rarely go to the box to find a cable I need, so I try to be pretty strict about what I keep. I try to keep things neat with cable ties or plastic sandwich bags.
You should try to donate or recycle your extra cables. Check with your city to see if they offer electronics recycling or ask if a local thrift shop will take them. – Tribune News Service
