Combat Laptop Cable Clutter With Bluelounge SpaceStation

In the morning when I arrive at my desk at work, I pull my MacBook Pro out of my backpack and then I proceed to do my best impression of a 1920s switchboard operator, plugging all sorts of cables into my laptop. There's a power adapter, an external keyboard, my headphones, a DVI cable for a second display, and an Ethernet cable.

Then there's my USB hub, which has connected to it an iPod sync cable, a USB cable for the two-port USB hub on my external display, and an external hard drive. The resulting Frankenstein-ish look is the least of my worries--what bugs me the most is the unruliness of all those cables, a mess that hogs up precious desk space.

When Bluelounge's SpaceStation ($80) arrived, I could see that cable orderliness was attainable. Bluelounge calls the SpaceStation an "extended desk organizer;" it's basically a laptop stand with a cable organization system and a USB hub.

SpaceStation Specs

Available in white/black and black, the SpaceStation has a rubber-padded top.

Measuring 24.5 inches wide, 4.25 inches deep, and 1.75 inches at its tallest point (the top of the SpaceStation is angled; it's 1 inch at its lowest point), the SpaceStation is made of a sturdy plastic and has a rubber pad on top of it, so your laptop and other items don't slip off. There's also a narrow slot above the pad that runs the length of the SpaceStation; Bluelounge includes a clip that fits in the slot so you can use it as a page holder, but you can also slip business cards, a bus pass, a library card, a few dollar bills, or even a picture into the slot.

Underneath the SpaceStation is the hidden treasure: eight pairs of cable clips and a 4-port USB 2.0 hub. Rubber risers lift the SpaceStation up to leave enough room for your cables to come out from underneath. To use the SpaceStation's cable management system, you wrap each cable around the clips, leaving enough slack so you can connect to your laptop.

The USB hub is powered. Bluelounge includes a power adapter.