New Computer!

[Boogs]

USB C is by far the best solution yet

Absolutemon! Best USB offering to date I reckon. I haven't even broken one yet!

I once had an onboard USB socket get mangled too. Can't begin to figure out how, I just plugged it in and al the pins got twisted. Fortunately as long as the 5v doesn't get fed into one of the data pins, it's generally ok to leave it as is and just make a mental note to avoid it.

I've had this happen, and I'm pretty careful how I handle tech (being in the business so to speak, I've had to be - laptop repairs, server builds, etc) - I reckon poor quality control results in those contacts not being as flush as they should be, and sometimes the plug will catch them and pull them off and mangle them. Rarely repairable, and when built into a case, a right sod to repair.

Let's hope that before too long we will have a big selection of USB C ports all on the front of the case and we will have finally become a technologically advanced species!

I see no reason why a compact 6 or 8 port USB C hub couldn't just be built into the front of the case, thus only needing one neat internal usb connector to the motherboard. They are cheap and small enough now.
But would it be as profitable for the manufacturers and retailers? <cynic_mode=on>

 

[tkcartoonist]

If ever that Chromebook goes out of support but you still want to use it, there are tutorials out there on how to boot a Linux distro on it. It may require a little bit of technical know-how though because of the chipsets they use, but it's not impossible. I know a guy who was able to put I think Kubuntu onto a couple old Chromebooks.