The way it used to be:
- Grab [Micro]SD card.
- Go get my card reader from my backpack.
- Unplug controller cable.
- Plug into front panel USB-A.
- Wish I had more USB 3.0 ports
The way me me like:
- Grab [Micro]SD card.
- Grab spare USB-C hub from closet bin.
- Plug into front panel USB-C.
Rimuru has mainly USB-3.0 ports, and her first refit was included a 10 Gbps USB-C expansion card to free up my front panel. So in the back I have two cables run up to my desk to handle older devices.
- USB-A 2.0 extension cable suitable for controllers and flash drives, jacked into one of the A ports in back.
- USB-A 3.0 extension cable suitable for old hard drives and portable devices, jacked into one of the A ports in back.
While leaving my front panel free with its USB-C, USB-A, and audio ports. So most of the time I just end up plugging into the front panel C port. If I want something with SD, rather than fishing my adapter out of my backpack: I just use a USB-C hub. Another perk of sorts is having two of those, one for my backpack and one for home. They were originally intended for my Galaxy Tab S3 and iPad Pro, since my previous PC was built at the dawn of the USB-A 3.0 era. But I had planned ahead based on the assumption that someday my PCs would get with the 21st century, lol.
Can you tell that I don’t really miss USB-A very much? It’s mostly retained here for equipment that lasts nigh for ever, like my web cam; or for flash drives that I usually use for booting older computers.
Actually, I don’t really buy USB-A flash drives anymore either. The newer ones that I have all came from the local Microcenter mailing out coupons, or to phrase it kindly: “Please folks, we wanna get rid of these things. Take a coupon for a free one, and please give a few coupons to your friends!”
Because of performance: I’ll usually reach for my hard disk and solid state portable drives that have a USB Micro-B 3.0 interfaces. Rather than using A to Micro-B cables, I’ve started to use C -> Micro B cable for that ^_^.