Forum Discussion

clogwearerwayne's avatar
clogwearerwayne
Binge Watcher
3 years ago

Why no AC plug with the 3960X?

After all my problems with the 3930X, I went to the nearest BestBuy to spend what little money I have left to buy the 3960X. As I was installing the hardware, I noticed there was no USB-C(?) to AC plug; just a USB-C(?)-to-USB cord.

?????

I had to dig into the trash to get out the power cord. What was the logic in not including a power cord? If I hadn't had the old 3930X AC cord in the house, or more importantly, if I had tossed it in the trash before Monday night, I would have to make a return visit to BestBuy to get a USB-C plug.

Anyway, I hope this thing doesn't break like my old Roku device.

TV & Player Setup
  • AvsGunnar's avatar
    AvsGunnar
    Community Streaming Expert
    3 years ago

    clogwearerwayne 

    I am sure some bean counter somewhere realized the extra profit that could be made by not including the power adapter in the Roku Express product.  Some might say this is why Roku can offer this device for $25 instead of $30 or $35.  I don't buy that argument, but who knows.  By now, they likely figure anyone who has a cell phone has an extra one of these USB power/charging adapters lying around anyways.  (i used to grab them by the handful in the dollar stores).

    The power supply for the Roku Express devices (be it 3930, 3960, or the Express 4k/4k+ 3940/3941) use the same setup.  The USB power adapter is a 5volt, 1amp wall adapter.  The power cable is a micro-USB (type B) connector at device end, and USB-A at power adapter end.

    Although you can plug the USB-A end into the USB power port of your TV, really not recommended to do so as most problems with these devices are attributed to being underpowered from the source TV.  This adds to the head-scratching why Roku would discontinue providing the power adapters with these devices to the end user.  

  • Strega's avatar
    Strega
    Roku Guru
    3 years ago

    Amazon is full of cheap gizmos that need you to supply your own USB power supply.  Stuff used to come with extensive printed manuals too.  The excuse for the latter, is: Most people don’t read them anyway.  The excuse for the power supplies is that people have a thousand of them laying around so why contribute to more electronic waste.  (Which appears to have worked in your case!)

    And, of course, people keep buying such stuff, proving them “right”.