does it take a straigh use cable or a powered one?


straight?


powered? piggyback thing on there??

takes the bigger one, the powered (i guess thats what its called)

Those cables are identical in terms of USB functionality - both pass power from the computer to the device, the cylindrical bits just stop the cable from picking up noise/interference (which normally isn't a problem unless you run a hairdryer right near your PC or something.. (some unlucky people/people in really old buildings get weird EM fields in their room).. It could also help if you're using a shitty USB device that inserts its own noise into the cable

A piggy-back powered USB cable is one of two things...

A - it will have 2 USB plugs so you can plug it into 2 of your computer's slots.. this is because some cheap USB ports dont receive enough power to properly power some devices, but 2 combined is enough..

B - It will be a USB cable with a power supply attached to it that plugs into the wall power (for completely unpowered USB slots - and more commonly, USB hubs)