I used to be one of those people who thought my average specced laptop was enough for me to occasionally work from home, watch movies, and do certain basic computer things. At work, my setup was more than enough for my tasks. I don’t even have a desk in my house. Since I have not really needed one for years.

As working from home becomes more permanent, everyone I talk to finds themselves wanting a proper home office setup with a desk and filing cabinets and more. If you have previously worked remotely a few days a week, or month, it was very easy to just use the special equipment when you were in office and use a laptop for those few days at home.

But now things are much different. Your home office is the only office you have and will have for a long time now. However, it is even more important to get your work done more efficiently. With economical imbalance, the better work will be rewarded. Or the steady business will remain afloat.

If you live with your family, then you will even have slightly different kinds of distractions at home, as compared to the office. At the office when you have your headphones on, it is a sign that you are not to be disturbed but at home, your kid will not get that signal. With no physical lines to separate work and home, you need more help from your tools and space to create and maintain that balance.

This is what will make your work smoother, and more efficient. While there are more distractions at home, it is also easier to not have to commute, or not have to wake up at crazy hours to cook meals for the whole day before heading out. Add the right working environment to the mix and you have a winning combination.

Let’s Explore All That You Might Need In Your Work Office:

• A dedicated work space:
  
  Whether you can have a whole room or simply a desk, it should be a space where you can get into the headspace of working. If possible, have it be a place with natural light without getting hot. This will enable good lighting for video conferencing and video shooting if your job requires it. And you or your devices shouldn’t be in direct sunlight for long periods of time. The desk and chair you use should be comfortable and have enough space to put a number of things on it.
  
  
• Computer:
  
  If your work doesn’t require too much computing power, you can get by with a laptop. But if you require a more powerful setup for video editing, development, audio work, etc., then you are going to need elaborate equipment.
  
  The computer you use needs to be upgradeable. This makes it easier to swap components instead of having to change the whole thing when you only need to change a couple of things.
  
  
• Cable management:
  
  Computer cables are plenty. There’s the monitor cable, keyboard and mouse cable, a cable connected to the webcam, one connected to a mic, and one to headphones. All of these need to be managed properly so that they last longer, with less wear and tear.
  
  
• Additional peripherals:
  
  Depending on your work, you will have additional computing items. Extra monitors will connect via different monitor cables. Look for a setup with a daisy chain mechanism. If you need a color grading gear, that will need a cable and port. If you need to connect a sound mixer, that will be another computer cable. You can, of course, connect gaming tools like a joystick to the computer as well.
  
  
• Infrastructural changes:
  
  If you are recording audio or video in your home office, it is important that you have a soundproof space. You cannot simply depend on natural light for the video. So, you might want to play around with the lighting so that the white balance and coloring is perfectly suited to your video needs. A home based soundproofing can be simple enough to do using sound absorbent materials. Place a rug on the floor, draw the curtains, and place books on shelves if you can.

The idea of a home office right now is not about getting the best equipment if you don’t need to. But it is about having the equipment you need to get your work done as smoothly as possible.

In all of this, let’s not forget the most important devices and cables to get any of this done: ethernet cables and the right modem and router.

At SF Cable, we don’t stock the perfect standing desk, but we do have all the necessary cables for your home setup. Contact us here and we will help you put it together.

Source: https://www.sfcable.com/blog/cables-that-power-your-home-office

The technology industry is known for disruption. Many in Silicon Valley live by the motto “live fast and break things”. This means that the minute tech launches something new, they are already inventing three new things in the background. These are not always new inventions, they can also be iterative inventions to what they launched the previous day. But the point is that nothing in tech remains new and latest for too long a time.

At the same time, new tech is often, if not always, expensive. So if you buy a $1000 computer today, then you are not likely to buy the new one that comes out tomorrow, or even for that matter, one that comes out next year. With each iterative update of gadgets, come new connection standards. Therefore with each iteration, we take both, a step forward and a step backward.

The backward step is when tech tries to make their new ways of doing things backward compatible. It’s a cha-cha!

In an average person’s life, they have a computer/laptop, TV, phone, power banks, hard drives, headphones, tablets, and a variety of other gadgets, give or take. With all these gadgets come to their unique life cycles. While we may change our phones every two years, we are not likely to change our TV as frequently. A contributing factor to this is also price. What price are you willing to pay to always be up-to-date? Especially acknowledging that new tech may not always work.

This is where computer cable adapters come in. They help the old connection adapt to the new one. Or the other way around.

Currently, there’s one example that comes to mind: USB C. It is everywhere. But not quite everywhere. So the adapter market has risen. If your latest laptop only has the USB C port, it might be difficult for you to connect your old HDD to transfer your data. Because old HDDs connect to a computer through a USB A port. One of the gadgets that we update perhaps even slower than a TV is our printer. You are probably still using a wired printer. And that was working fine in your older workflow where your computer had ports to accommodate it. Now with the USB C port, things are different. Your printer cable suddenly needs an adapter, until you phase it out, of course.

Let’s Go Through The Different Computer Cable Adapters You Will Need With This New Computer:

• USB C to HDMI:
  
  In order to connect your computer to your TV, you will need an HDMI cable. And therefore a USB C to HDMI adapter for your computer. Make sure to check that the version of the HDMI ports and cable is the same for promising results. It is the quickest way to bring entertainment to the biggest screen in your house.
  
  
• USB C to Ethernet:
  
  Of course, your fancy new computer uses Wi-Fi but so do three other people and ten other devices in your house. When you don’t want a connectivity issue, you know a wired connection is better. This is where the handy USB C to Ethernet adapter comes in. You can use your same old Ethernet cable to connect to your computer that doesn’t even have the port for it!
  
  
• USB C to USB A:
  
  Storage devices, printer cables, cameras, and a number of other gadgets use the USB A port. Your previous workflow was efficient because you always had the port to plug in your peripherals. The easiest replacement of this is a USB C to USB A adapter. Keep one in your bag and one on your desk so you never have to scramble for it in a pinch.
  
  
• USB C to SD card reader:
  
  An SD card is the easiest way to transfer photographs or videos from a camera. Nothing beats it. If your laptop cannot directly read an SD card, it makes your workflow cumbersome. If you are someone who takes a significant amount of photos you know the ease of an SD card reader. Not only does it make your life easier, but it also makes it easy to collaborate with other photographers. No matter what camera anyone uses, the SD card remains a common standard. This makes the USB C to SD card reader an essential tool in your kit.

At SF Cable, we believe in gadgets, old and new. If you have bought a new computer that makes computing difficult for you, browse our store to get adapters for a variety of connection standards in various form factors. Choose the ones that work the best for you.

We are always available to consult on the varying versions and standards that your particular workflow may require.

Source: https://www.sfcable.com/blog/computer-cable-adapters-old-adapting-to-new

The technology industry is known for disruption. Many in Silicon Valley live by the motto “live fast and break things”. This means that the minute tech launches something new, they are already inventing three new things in the background. These are not always new inventions, they can also be iterative inventions to what they launched the previous day. But the point is that nothing in tech remains new and latest for too long a time.

At the same time, new tech is often, if not always, expensive. So if you buy a $1000 computer today, then you are not likely to buy the new one that comes out tomorrow, or even for that matter, one that comes out next year. With each iterative update of gadgets, come new connection standards. Therefore with each iteration, we take both, a step forward and a step backward.

The backward step is when tech tries to make their new ways of doing things backward compatible. It’s a cha-cha!

In an average person’s life, they have a computer/laptop, TV, phone, power banks, hard drives, headphones, tablets, and a variety of other gadgets, give or take. With all these gadgets come to their unique life cycles. While we may change our phones every two years, we are not likely to change our TV as frequently. A contributing factor to this is also price. What price are you willing to pay to always be up-to-date? Especially acknowledging that new tech may not always work.

This is where computer cable adapters come in. They help the old connection adapt to the new one. Or the other way around.

Currently, there’s one example that comes to mind: USB C. It is everywhere. But not quite everywhere. So the adapter market has risen. If your latest laptop only has the USB C port, it might be difficult for you to connect your old HDD to transfer your data. Because old HDDs connect to a computer through a USB A port. One of the gadgets that we update perhaps even slower than a TV is our printer. You are probably still using a wired printer. And that was working fine in your older workflow where your computer had ports to accommodate it. Now with the USB C port, things are different. Your printer cable suddenly needs an adapter, until you phase it out, of course.

Let’s Go Through The Different Computer Cable Adapters You Will Need With This New Computer:

• USB C to HDMI:
  
  In order to connect your computer to your TV, you will need an HDMI cable. And therefore a USB C to HDMI adapter for your computer. Make sure to check that the version of the HDMI ports and cable is the same for promising results. It is the quickest way to bring entertainment to the biggest screen in your house.
  
  
• USB C to Ethernet:
  
  Of course, your fancy new computer uses Wi-Fi but so do three other people and ten other devices in your house. When you don’t want a connectivity issue, you know a wired connection is better. This is where the handy USB C to Ethernet adapter comes in. You can use your same old Ethernet cable to connect to your computer that doesn’t even have the port for it!
  
  
• USB C to USB A:
  
  Storage devices, printer cables, cameras, and a number of other gadgets use the USB A port. Your previous workflow was efficient because you always had the port to plug in your peripherals. The easiest replacement of this is a USB C to USB A adapter. Keep one in your bag and one on your desk so you never have to scramble for it in a pinch.
  
  
• USB C to SD card reader:
  
  An SD card is the easiest way to transfer photographs or videos from a camera. Nothing beats it. If your laptop cannot directly read an SD card, it makes your workflow cumbersome. If you are someone who takes a significant amount of photos you know the ease of an SD card reader. Not only does it make your life easier, but it also makes it easy to collaborate with other photographers. No matter what camera anyone uses, the SD card remains a common standard. This makes the USB C to SD card reader an essential tool in your kit.

At SF Cable, we believe in gadgets, old and new. If you have bought a new computer that makes computing difficult for you, browse our store to get adapters for a variety of connection standards in various form factors. Choose the ones that work the best for you.

We are always available to consult on the varying versions and standards that your particular workflow may require.

Source: https://www.sfcable.com/blog/computer-cable-adapters-old-adapting-to-new

CES was just last month and it gave us yet more incremental updates. As is too often the case with laptops. Over the last few years, one of the incremental updates that has been a trend is decremental in nature.

I am talking about the lessening of ports and bezels around the screen. While I like thin bezels because that means I can have a larger screen in a smaller form factor, I am not a fan of the disappearing ports. We are not wireless yet and the inconvenience is greater than the promise of the future.

We carry heavy computing power in smaller bags, and interaction with these computers is no longer limited to a mouse and keyboard. There is touch interaction as well as gesture interaction on top of traditional methods.

However, decreasing ports create limitations when it comes to plugging things into a laptop. Things that we need every day like an external hard drive, or perhaps an Ethernet cable, all need a port. The ease of ports is what made these devices possible, and now the death of ports will eventually fade them out.

The death of ports happens every time there is a new connector in the market. Each new generation of computers come with newer ports. While some of the things we attach to our computer evolve too, legacy gadgets like a VCR most certainly do not have a USB C port.

This change often renders our old cables and devices useless. Let's look at an example in detail:

Device: VCR player

So, how do you connect a VCR to your laptop and why would you want to?

First, if we are to address why you would want to connect a VCR to a laptop, it can be to transfer old videos! Video cameras have been around for a long time and they no longer use VHS tapes for storage. So you need a way to save all the videos that are on your old tapes.

Circling back to the original question, the answer is USB adapter. They are just dongles before we started calling them dongles. The idea is that no matter what port a laptop doesn't have, it is sure to have a USB port. Therefore, you can connect all kinds of computer cables to it.

Essential things to look out for in an adapter are:

2. What you need to connect to your computer. This is basically the reason you are getting a USB adapter.
4. Knowing the correct version of all computer cables and ports you need. The cable on the device, the port on your computer, etc. This determines the speed and efficiency of data transfer between them.
6. The physical design of the adapter. You need to check the size and shape of the adapter so that when you plug it into your laptop, it fits well next to other ports and the devices that use those ports. Apart from that, the design should be such that it doesn't snap off the laptop easily, nor should it dangle too far out from the laptop so that the cable doesn't experience too much wear and tear.

Often overlooked in a conversation about computer cables, a USB adapter is a hidden hero behind many workflows. The plug and play functionality makes it simple to use for situations where there is no power connection available.

These adapters are also available in most stores that have computer accessories and peripherals. Depending on your need, some stores, both online and offline, offer them in bulk quantity as well. This is highly useful when you need them in an office.

Source: https://www.sooperarticles.com/shopping-articles/electronics-articles/lack-usb-ports-increase-adapters-1763943.html

One of the most intriguing questions in 2020 is ‘what is a computer’, but there is no specific answer to it. Yet. It kind of comes down to your own workflow. Your definition of a computer depends on your workflow.

If all you need to use a computer for is some light typing, web scrolling, and entertainment consumption, you are better off with the most portable version of a computer, a tablet. Or one of the new 2-in-1 things that add a decent keyboard and a computer’s operating system with a touch screen.

On the other hand, if you are planning to do any editing, text, video, or audio, those computers are not going to do the trick. This is where you need to have a custom desktop workstation. The best thing about customizing it is that you have to make no compromises. Feel free to get a mechanical keyboard, a mouse that is right for you, and a monitor or monitors that suits for your workflow. The CPU, of course, can have components that work best for you.

It is very easy to dismiss the monitor when setting up a workstation like this. However, you shouldn’t get just any monitor. The monitor you get should be able to connect to various peripherals that come in your evolving workflow.

Now, of course, you can also use monitors as simply additional screens sometimes just as output devices apart from your primary computer setup.

Let’s explore a few computer monitor cable types that you can use to attach certain gadgets and components to it:

Central Processing Unit:

There are several different monitor cable types that you can use to connect a CPU to your monitor from VGA cables, DVI cables, HDMI to USB C cables. The cable you use depends on your monitor and on the kind of output you want. An HDMI or USB C cable would be able to give you 4K resolution with almost no lag, while it might be difficult to get such a result with a VGA cable.

Media Devices:

If you need to connect a camera of any kind to your monitor, you will need to have an HDMI connector on your monitor. Since that will be a standard port, you can use a computer adapter. Camera generally has an HDMI mini port, and therefore an adapter can bridge the gap if you don’t have a mini to full HDMI cable.

Tablet As The Primary Computer:

Some tablets have a pretty extraordinary computation power. But the screen is still small. In this case, you use a monitor as an extended or secondary display. For this, you can use a USB C cable as it can transfer both data and power to the monitor. In case one of your devices doesn't have a USB C port, you can use a computer adapter to connect the two. This becomes an ideal setup when you want to have a mobile workflow that can easily adapt to a desk when it comes to editing video or designing graphics.

Simply As An Extended Screen:

More screen real estate makes it easier when you are editing audio or video per frame. For this, with the use of the right cables, USB C or HDMI, you can attach more than one screen, and enjoy a more comfortable workflow. This is also an ideal screen setup for graphic designing, photo editing, game building, using building design software, etc.

The last thing that comes to mind is relatively new. But it will soon be in use a lot more. Phones that can connect to monitors and power them. You can use the monitor as an output device for presentations, movies, games, etc. A simple USB C cable can do the trick here.

At SF Cable, we are gadget enthusiasts and understand the importance of wanting the absolute perfect custom workstation. This is why we offer cable solutions as well as computer adapters when you want to connect something unique to your computer. Whether you are trying to build a personal system or setups for a whole office, we provide individual as well as bulk solution.

Explore our adapters as well as various monitor cables here and get in touch with us for a custom solution.

Source: https://www.sfcable.com/blog/computer-cables-what-connect-monitor/