Combat Laptop Cable Clutter With Bluelounge SpaceStation

Cable Decisions Needed

But before you start wrapping cables, you need to make some decisions about your cables first. For example, you probably don't want to wrap your laptop power adapter, because you often take that with you and it makes no sense to continually wrap and unwrap the power cable. Some cables, like the cable from my Apple DVI-to-ADC adapter, or DVI display cables, are too thick to slip through the opening between the SpaceStation and your desk (you could give the SpaceStation a boost by padding the rubber feet with additional rubber feet you can buy at your local hardware store).

Mostly, you want to wrap cables you seldom need to take with you. Of the non-USB related cables I have, I ended up storing only my Ethernet cable underneath the SpaceStation. I left the power adapter cable and my headphone cable out because I take those items with me at the end of the day. The DVI cable was too thick, so I left that out, as well.

With your cables hidden underneath the SpaceStation, your desk will look nice and neat.

You'll want to take a similar stays-at-my-desk approach with the SpaceStation's USB hub. Since the hub is underneath the SpaceStation, lifting up the SpaceStation to attach and reattach USB devices may seem like a hassle, but actually, what was a bigger inconvenience was that every time I lifted the SpaceStation, the hub's power adapter plug would slip out of its connector, cutting power to the hub and causing items like a bus-powered hard drive to shut down.

I decided to attach USB cables that I'll never remove from the hub, such as my iPod cable, keyboard, and my external display's USB cable. I still have one available USB port on my MacBook Pro and two in the rear of my external display for devices I need to attach and remove frequently.

After organizing most of my cables, I'm left with a much cleaner and less chaotic-looking desk. The rubber pad makes for a nice resting place for my iPhone, and the page holder is handy. I still have cables from my power adapter, external display, and headphones hanging out, but now I have only one USB cable to connect, and the difference in mess is considerable. The only major quibble I have is with the amount of lift the SpaceStation provides for my MacBook Pro; it's not nearly high enough to meet my ergonomic needs. I actually use the SpaceStation with another laptop stand to get the height I need.

You may not end up hiding all of your cables underneath the SpaceStation, but it can certainly help control any cable madness around your workspace.