USB Data Transfer Cable

I want a cable that connects my laptop's usb port to my desktop usb port. Is that called a USB Male to male or is it called a female to female?

 

USB cables don't have male or female as far as I know!

 

The different USB connectors are called "A" or "B" and are indeed available in male and female versions (how would they otherwise fit together? ). The connector that would fit both a normal laptop and a desktop computer is a Male Type A connector. However no passive cable can connect two USB hosts together directly, you would need a special data transfer cable, something like this: http://www.cwol.com/usb/usb-2-usb-data-link-file-transfer-cable-uc250.htm

/Werner

 

****, that cable looks expensive

 

You'd probably be better off using an ethernet crossover cable. If you're lucky, your notebook and PC ethernet adaptors are auto-sensing, in which case a standard ethernet cable will do.

A crossover cable will set you back about $10.

 

I Agree With TedJ

 

Might very well be better with an ethernet cable, but in some instances linking two computers together using a real network connection might be a problem security-wise. In those cases the USB transfer cables have an advantage as they're (normally) only designed for file transfer.

/Werner

 

I was gonna say ethernet as well, but most computers only have a 10/100 ethernet port. If you're transferring large files, it'll take a while at that speed. I'd go with ethernet over USB probably since the speed won't fluctuate as much and it won't use CPU power, however. Ideally though, I'd go with firewire. Speeds will be much higher than ethernet and more consistent than USB without the CPU resources.