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geekhack Community => Input Devices => Topic started by: noisyturtle on Tue, 12 March 2013, 03:02:23
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So all these cords be up in my shizz, bein' all long an' dangly. Man, I has gots to find a good looking and elegant solution for these mo'fos. Elegant not meaning twist ties. Specifically, I have a lot of cords coming from the front of my setup. Headphones, controllers, amps, and boy do they get in the way. I need something that covers them and holds them back while still leaving them accessible and able to be pulled out whenever I need.
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I have a powered USB hub at the back of my desk. Things like cameras that swap in and out are accessible there.
I have a large screw eye screwed into the back of the desk with a large carabiner on it. The computer sits on the floor and all the cables coming up to the surface pass through it. There is also a carabiner on the back of the case (attached with a small cable tie through the cooling holes for the fan) to gather various things coming out. Everything else, such as AC power and ethernet, runs along the floor in the back.
There are still cables snaking around on the desk to the back of my (2) monitors and my (2) mice, as well as my keyboard cable, but that is not "too" bad.
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There are several types of cable organizer sleeves, my dad loves those and uses them wherever he has more than one cord to bunch them all into one big one. Not sure if that's what you're looking for, though, since while you can unplug the cables in the sleeve, it'll still hang in there unless you remove it, so it's a bother if you need to add and remove cables frequently.
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I hate sleeves because anytime I have to adjust something I have to undo the whole sleeve to get at one cable. It is worse when adding a device/cable because it too much hassle to open the sleeve to add it so it runs outside the sleeve until I get so tired of looking at it.
My crappy solution is to create a sort of makeshift channel between the rack with the PC equipment and my desk and run all cables loosely in the channel. It is still ugly (but less so) and it mostly contains the anarchy.
I also bought a 10 port USB hub from newegg that is mounted on my desk and all peripherals connect to that. Problem is that it is USB 2.0 and the USB 3.0 ones are smaller/more expensive so new flash drives have to connect direct to PCs for now.
When I do need to bind up cables under the desk I use velcro ties rather than zip ties since usually 10 mins after I use a zip tie I need to adjust it for some reason (murphy's law) and that means wire cutters and more zip ties.
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I have a USB 3 small hub up on the desk where I connect what I need when I need it (it's built into a dock, which is fastened to a shelf). Under the desk I have a USB 2.0 hub where I connect things that don't need speed or need to constantly be changed, such as cell phone charging cable, mouse receiver, things of that sort where speed isn't an issue. Keep in mind, my system is in the basement and I'm upstairs so I have a long ways to connect everything. The use of two hubs means fewer cables going down to the basement.
As for cable management, I use velcro straps and the hubs reduce the number of wires going down, I can keep a lot of wires tied up under the desk.
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I do hate cable organizers. Ohh yes, I do hate them! Worst than cable organizers are loose cables on my desktop ...
Whenever I can I do cut and rewire all cables I see. I'm a paranoiac guy - I know.
Sleeves are cute but I agree, it's a pain to remove the paracord just to cut a cable ...
Anyway, I've lost the count of cables at home, 15cm, 20cm, 30, geeeee
There is any elegant solution out there? Really? I'm still waiting for it.
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Laminated PCB desk to replace cables with traces. Elegant and impractical.
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Laminated PCB desk to replace cables with traces. Elegant and impractical.
You would end up using a protoboard as table.
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I imagine the most elegant way of doing this would be to design and make your own custom table (not the easiest or cheapest way about things, but if some forethought is put into it, it could be a lasting solution). If you have the time and are inclined to such things, it'll be a fun project.
There was a failed kickstarter for something like this, except the design still wasn't perfect. And definitely not cheap. Here's a link. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/155163930/gamers-paradise-gaming-desk-a-new-way-to-play/
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I imagine the most elegant way of doing this would be to design and make your own custom table (not the easiest or cheapest way about things, but if some forethought is put into it, it could be a lasting solution). If you have the time and are inclined to such things, it'll be a fun project.
There was a failed kickstarter for something like this, except the design still wasn't perfect. And definitely not cheap. Here's a link. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/155163930/gamers-paradise-gaming-desk-a-new-way-to-play/
Oh, that's not a bad idea. It doesn't look too complicated to build, but the time man, where do I find the time.
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So all these cords be up in my shizz, bein' all long an' dangly. Man, I has gots to find a good looking and elegant solution for these mo'fos.
I lol'd.
I prefer velcro ties from monoprice, accompanied with your favorite cable management rack. Ikea has a good one for their galants.
USB hubs have never really satisfied my need - I figure they just add more cables. I prefer everything as neat and clean as possible.
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A hub will need 1 or two cables, depending on the type, but if you have a lot of devices, 2 may be a lot less than the alternative.
I need 6 usb devices/ports, so dropping down to two before leaving the underside of my desk, is a whole lot cleaner.