USB Sync Station
I got a bit tired of the tangle of USB cables under the shelf on which I place my laptop, so I decided to make myself some kind of sync station to tidy things up a bit. Being lazy, I wanted to get a container to house the USB hub and the bulk of the cables which wouldn’t require much modification. I spotted a ‘vanity box’ in one of my favourite shops — Muji — which looked as if it would be just the job. It’s a semi-translucent plastic box, with oval cut-outs at the side which act as handles, but also allowed me to route the cables through them without drilling or cutting any holes. I bought a lid to go with it, which has a handy lip on it, so that it stops my USB-connected items falling off the top.
I’ve got a Belkin USB hub inside, which I raised up on four cut up pieces of rubber (by which I mean eraser, North Americans!), as it gets very hot resting on the bottom. The semi-translucency of the box helpfully allows the LED lights on the hub to shine through, so I can tell if there’s any problems with a peripheral, but it hides the worst of the clutter. Also inside the box is the USB receiver for my Logitech S530 wireless keyboard and mouse — it seems to work fine like that. On top of the box, I placed a small USB card reader, and used bulldog clips to hold the cables in place. I’ve still got a few USB ports free on the hub, so I can always add a few more cables or peripherals in the future if I need to, but this serves my needs for now.
I’m pretty pleased with it — not bad for just over £5 for the materials. There are few notes attached to the image on Flickr if you want to know what’s what.
1
Nice job, but it constitutes proof that it's time we had bluetooth built in to everything.
by Martin @ 30/03/2008 9:02 pm • Permalink •
2
@Martin: And wireless charging too...
by Martin Polley @ 31/03/2008 10:05 am • Permalink •
3
Smart.
by Tony Iovino @ 31/03/2008 3:07 pm • Permalink •
4
Had a smooch around on your Flickr pages. You really are a very good photographer.
by Lighty @ 01/04/2008 10:57 pm • Permalink •
5
Are there any photos of the inside of it?
by Rostyslav @ 03/04/2008 8:25 pm • Permalink •
6
Martin: Bluetooth is great, but it does mean that you need an independent power source for the peripheral, rather than drawing small amounts of power over USB, which is often quite convenient. Wireless charging could solve that, of course, but it seems very inefficient at the moment. I'd rather incur a bit of inconvenience in terms of plugging things in and unplugging them, rather than wasting energy.
Lighty: Thanks! There's more on Wings Open Wide
Rostyslav: No, but there's not much to see: just a mess of wires connected to a hub, bundled up with zip ties.
by bsag @ 06/04/2008 5:40 pm • Permalink •
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