- Sep 7, 2010
- 94
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- 18,545
I mostly use my Dell Inspiron 13-7359 laptop plugged in even when working around the house. That means I have the power plug to the left always in danger of being pulled, bent, broken, etc.
I have never actually damaged my own laptop in this manner, but my wife has bricked a couple of laptops (one mine, one hers) and an iPad by being careless in handling it while plugged in.
That means I live in fear of snagging the power cord and damaging my computer. I could probably fix it, as I have done previously, but it occurred to me that there should be solutions to this problem, however, google did not come to the rescue.
When I use my laptop for music or photography, where I often risk stepping on something that will in turn pull on the power cord, I actually double clamp the cord to the table so that if I pull on it somehow, it will avoid yanking the plug out of the computer the wrong way. I also make sure to have a clamp positioned so that should a large force be applied to the cord, it will be redirected perpendicular to the plug itself so it won't bend the plug and just yank it away. Which is the best case scenario.
However, that's a royal pain in the ass that really should not be very difficult to fix.
For starters, many laptops have a relatively long plug that seems designed to apply the most leverage possible to screw up either the plug itself, the female plug inside the chassis or both. Often both. Why not design something more foolproof?
For instance, a L shaped adapter, maybe with a magnetic ring, would safeguard a laptop from such an incident. No such things seem to exist. There are Lightning and USB plug with magnets, but not power chords.
Another solution would be some sort of capture device glued to the laptop itself where one can place the chord. Not ideal, but it would leave some play that may be just enough to stop before damage is done.
This is one of those "we could put a man on the moon" things. There has to be a better solution. For my purposes, and given my habits, a L saped cord would be great, except that for my laptop the cord and the brick are one and the same. I actually have 4 of them so I don't have to carry the whole thing around the house: I have one on my desk, one near my chair, one near my piano, and so on.
Still, when I play music or photograph something (I connect the camera and use the PC as a remote) wires are everywhere and often I have to walk around an obstacle course of tripods, power bricks, flash, etc.
I could really use some peace of mind knowing that I secured the cord in such a way tat I cannot brick my computer by simply tripping on a cord.
As a DIY, I was thinking of buying a Male and Female plug for my adaptor and then build my own L shaped add-on. But I figured I'd ask here first because:
Lots of smart people read this forum
The product may already exist, but I am searching for it wrong.
Thank you for reading this. Should you be Elon Musk or a friend of his, let him know this is an untapped market, if sold with the appropriate marketing "SAVE YOUR LAPTOP FROM BROKEN PLUGS" or something.
I have never actually damaged my own laptop in this manner, but my wife has bricked a couple of laptops (one mine, one hers) and an iPad by being careless in handling it while plugged in.
That means I live in fear of snagging the power cord and damaging my computer. I could probably fix it, as I have done previously, but it occurred to me that there should be solutions to this problem, however, google did not come to the rescue.
When I use my laptop for music or photography, where I often risk stepping on something that will in turn pull on the power cord, I actually double clamp the cord to the table so that if I pull on it somehow, it will avoid yanking the plug out of the computer the wrong way. I also make sure to have a clamp positioned so that should a large force be applied to the cord, it will be redirected perpendicular to the plug itself so it won't bend the plug and just yank it away. Which is the best case scenario.
However, that's a royal pain in the ass that really should not be very difficult to fix.
For starters, many laptops have a relatively long plug that seems designed to apply the most leverage possible to screw up either the plug itself, the female plug inside the chassis or both. Often both. Why not design something more foolproof?
For instance, a L shaped adapter, maybe with a magnetic ring, would safeguard a laptop from such an incident. No such things seem to exist. There are Lightning and USB plug with magnets, but not power chords.
Another solution would be some sort of capture device glued to the laptop itself where one can place the chord. Not ideal, but it would leave some play that may be just enough to stop before damage is done.
This is one of those "we could put a man on the moon" things. There has to be a better solution. For my purposes, and given my habits, a L saped cord would be great, except that for my laptop the cord and the brick are one and the same. I actually have 4 of them so I don't have to carry the whole thing around the house: I have one on my desk, one near my chair, one near my piano, and so on.
Still, when I play music or photograph something (I connect the camera and use the PC as a remote) wires are everywhere and often I have to walk around an obstacle course of tripods, power bricks, flash, etc.
I could really use some peace of mind knowing that I secured the cord in such a way tat I cannot brick my computer by simply tripping on a cord.
As a DIY, I was thinking of buying a Male and Female plug for my adaptor and then build my own L shaped add-on. But I figured I'd ask here first because:
Lots of smart people read this forum
The product may already exist, but I am searching for it wrong.
Thank you for reading this. Should you be Elon Musk or a friend of his, let him know this is an untapped market, if sold with the appropriate marketing "SAVE YOUR LAPTOP FROM BROKEN PLUGS" or something.
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