Very Slow iPad Backup/Sync

I've seen a number of posts here about extremely slow backup/sync speeds and may have stumbled across the answer in one of them. I'm posting this in hopes of saving people with similar issues time when searching (and because I can't bring myself to post a "this worked for me" response to all of the threads I found on the issue).

My iPad seemed to be taking forever to backup and sync. It would eventually finish, but it was a go make myself a pot of coffee while it updates the 2 podcasts that are new kind of thing. Really irritating.

I didn't realize that I had been using the sync cable that came with my 1st Gen iPhone. It's universal, right?

Apparently, not. When I swapped out the old cable with the new one, it flew through the sync. How to tell the difference (at least on mine): The USB connector on the old one has sharp corners. The corners on the new one are rounded. That's the only difference I can see, but it made all the difference in the world.