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hacker · 12-20-2004, 12:46 AM

(This picture is not me, thanks Alexander =)

As many know, I have a lot of mobile, embedded, and other handheld, powered, and battery-laden gear. I just picked up another pair of 16-outlet TrippLite adapters just to try to keep the office desk and floor cleaner to try to alleviate the headaches of all of the power bricks and adapters.

All of these gadgets means I have a lot of cables, cradles, adapters, parts, pieces, and other things that are all very device-specific. A year from now, when I'm looking at two unlabeled power adapters, I won't remember if they go with my Cybiko units, or the JTAG I was using at the time to reflash my iPAQ devices.

This leads to a cable-management nightmare. I've tried keeping them separated in boxes. I've tried labels. I've tried putting them in "industrial" ZipLock bags with the built-in labelling. I've tried the little plastic drawer sorting solutions, and these don't work well either with all kinds of shapes, sizes, and parts to fit in identically-shaped drawers.

None of these solutions are ideal.

Here's what I'm looking for:

A cable/cradle/adapter management system that allows me to label, sort, and re-label my gadgets as necessary.
Some sort of case, block, foam standup portfolio that lets me hold about 25 PCMCIA cards and adapters inside. Ideally, this should include holding other media as well, for my CF, SM, and SD/MMC cards, but that isn't really a hard-requirement.
Some way to keep the system clean and out of the way, which can be easily relocated or moved around (i.e. semi-portable, not bolted to the floor or wall).

Has anyone found something like this that they've used, or seen used before? Its really reaching the boiling point now, I have an entire 6x8 table covered with sorted wires, cradles, adapters, and other devices.

Note: Ok, I've identified the numbered list bug here. If you have a numbered list, and preview your post several times in a row, while changing nothing, the spacing above the numbered list will continue to grow by one line for every preview you make. Alexander, a small fix?

12-20-2004, 12:46 AM	#1
hacker Technology Mercenary Posts: 617 Karma: 2561 Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: East Lyme, CT Device: Direct Neural Implant	Gadget and Cable Management Nightmares (This picture is not me, thanks Alexander =) As many know, I have a lot of mobile, embedded, and other handheld, powered, and battery-laden gear. I just picked up another pair of 16-outlet TrippLite adapters just to try to keep the office desk and floor cleaner to try to alleviate the headaches of all of the power bricks and adapters. All of these gadgets means I have a lot of cables, cradles, adapters, parts, pieces, and other things that are all very device-specific. A year from now, when I'm looking at two unlabeled power adapters, I won't remember if they go with my Cybiko units, or the JTAG I was using at the time to reflash my iPAQ devices. This leads to a cable-management nightmare. I've tried keeping them separated in boxes. I've tried labels. I've tried putting them in "industrial" ZipLock bags with the built-in labelling. I've tried the little plastic drawer sorting solutions, and these don't work well either with all kinds of shapes, sizes, and parts to fit in identically-shaped drawers. None of these solutions are ideal. Here's what I'm looking for: A cable/cradle/adapter management system that allows me to label, sort, and re-label my gadgets as necessary. Some sort of case, block, foam standup portfolio that lets me hold about 25 PCMCIA cards and adapters inside. Ideally, this should include holding other media as well, for my CF, SM, and SD/MMC cards, but that isn't really a hard-requirement. Some way to keep the system clean and out of the way, which can be easily relocated or moved around (i.e. semi-portable, not bolted to the floor or wall). Has anyone found something like this that they've used, or seen used before? Its really reaching the boiling point now, I have an entire 6x8 table covered with sorted wires, cradles, adapters, and other devices. Note: Ok, I've identified the numbered list bug here. If you have a numbered list, and preview your post several times in a row, while changing nothing, the spacing above the numbered list will continue to grow by one line for every preview you make. Alexander, a small fix? Last edited by hacker; 12-20-2004 at 09:08 AM.