The Universal Serial Bus or what is known as a USB today, was invented by the seven information technology leaders (NEC, Compaq, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Northern Telecom) in the late 1994. This innovation became an instant hit and since has been incorporated in numerous electrical devices. Today it is hard to find a device that does not include a usb port.

The Usb cables transmit data from one device to another and are widely used due to their compatibility, low cost of implementation and ease-to-use feature. However, finding the right Usb cable can be a daunting task sometimes. With so many Usb cables available online, finding the one you requires time and knowledge. To help you find the one you are looking for, we listed few simple ways to choose the right usb cables. Usually most computers come with a USB receptacle, which means in most cases you will need to look for a Usb A. But there are some devices that might use mini or micro usb receptacles, so other type of usb cable will be needed.

USB A to Mini B – Probably one of the most common usb cable is the usb A to mini B. This type of usb cable is used for almost all portable devices. If you want low and full speed usb connections, choose the thin, light and more flexible usb A to mini B usb cable. Although an older version, this type of usb cable is still perfectly capable of transmitting data from one portable device to another.

USB A to Micro B – Micro B is a newer version of Mini B, suitable for portable devices such as cell phones, GPS units and digital cameras as well. This type of small usb connector type is common for almost all cell phone models. Even though smaller in size than mini B, micro B usb cable is capable of supporting high speed transfer rate of 480 Mbps.

USB A to B – If you need usb cables to connect your computer to a printer or other larger peripheral devices, then choose the USB A to B cables. Manufacturers designed this usb cable to be compatible with most of the USB arduino boards and SFE usb board designs as well.

USB A to A – We mentioned that there are other non standard usb cables that perfectly fit in your computer, but are not able to transmit data. The Usb A to A is one of them and is used to connect two computers. Before mini B usb cables were invented, the Usb A to A was used to transmit data.