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Comment by fit2rule | Hacker News Reader

Damn, did they just Osborne themselves? I for sure have decided to hold off on a Pi-4 until this issue is fixed, since its really a hassle.

Maybe a smarter move would've been to bundle the Pi-4 charge (non E-cable) to avoid dissatisfaction with this mis-design ..

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It's really only an issue if you're trying to power a pi4 from a high powered USB-C power delivery source source like a macbook, macbook air or macbook pro AC wall adapter. It would be a waste of money to use a $18 USB-C cable on a pi4.

I can see how this would be discovered quickly, since a lot of the early purchasers of the pi4 probably tried to power them up using the nearest USB-C power source at hand, which was their laptop's power adapter.

If you use a USB-C phone charger or any of the cheaper USB-C power sources intended to power things under 20 watts, it shouldn't be an issue. But they definitely do need a new board revision.

They provide their own charger. It works, I’ve got one.

Yes, but it's an extra expense. If you've got spare USB-C chargers you could use, it's tempting to wait.

Their USB charger costs 7€. From my experience: Just buy their charger and you'll have no problem. I've seen so many attempts at powering the Pi with alternative sources that suck and cause problems. 7€ is worth avoiding that.

Remember when the EU had to pass laws to prevent everyone from making their own bloody chargers with proprietary plugs for mobile phones, because _no one needs their own custom charger_? Yeah, that.

It doesn't matter how cheap their charger is, no one should need to even buy one. RasPi botched their USB-C implementation, and the solution to that is not "buy yet another charger", it should be "we're fixing the design immediately, and it's going to cost us a fair bit but you can send your board back to get it replaced"

That's actually a good point I didn't consider.

But some folk already have decent pd-usb3 chargers that damn well ought to work.

Mine, that can charge my gpd pocket can barely power my pi4.

I still see the yellow lightening bolt which indicates a "poor" power supply - which is just plain lying.

It's not only that there shouldn't be a need for their charger if you already have one, but if you integrate the Pi into something custom you'll possibly want custom power delivery as well, and then it's a PSU redesign when you find out.

Them fixing this issue in a future revision is almost a given (it's a simple fix), so them making that statement doesn't really affect anything. Therefore it's not really the Osborne effect in the sense that people are holding off for a better product, people are holding off buying because it's defective.

or you can just buy a $5 cable on amazon

it sucks but it's not a deal breaker.

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