• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Selfish power cords

American

Unregistered
A
Joined
Jul 24, 2001
Messages
3,831
(I am calling this "technology", unless there's a better catagory....)

I have a powerstrip. It has 6 outlets.

Of my many electrical appliances, I can only fit 3 items at one time. Every damn plug, just about, is bulky and L-shaped, thus covering two or three sockets. I used to solve this problem by placing those cords at the end, hanging off of the strip. That was 2 years ago.

Then- things changed. The world turned kinda weird on me.

Friends shyed away from me, the smallest tasks took a Herculean effort to achieve, and this whole power cord thing is just tearing me up inside.....

Is there some new safety requirement that plugs need to be designed annoying and large now? Is it a conspiracy by electrical manufactures to sell more adapters this way?
 
TobiasTheCommie said:
Look for a powerstrip that have the plugs in a 45 or 90 degree angle, they exist.
Click to expand...

Ah- but my plugs are not only longer, but fatter!

I do have one such 90-degree type somewhere, but most of my plugs would then cover 2 adjacent outlets (taking up 3 total).

We are all getting screwed here, I feel.
 
Yes, a conspiracy. The black helicopter people are behind it. Also, you may be interested in (oops, I can't add a link because I have less than 15 posts--thanks a lot, black helicopter people!)

Try a search for "CBL10141 - Power Strip Liberator". surpluscomputers.com carries them.
 
The problem is that everyting (well nearly) uses these power adaptors these days. In them good ole days, an apliance had it's own power transformer built into it, but a lot of manufacturers realized it was simpler and cheaper to get an OEM adaptor. This also means that when you export your gadget, you don't need to worry about local mains voltages and regulations. You just have your local branch get a suitable local adaptor. So this will really warm your heart American: You problems are really due to globalization :p .

Hans
 
It's just as bad in the UK, where appliance plugs are larger to start with . All domestic power is 240V. My PC power strip has 8 outlets, but the monitor (flatscreen), scanner, 1 external drive and the router modem all have large plugs containing transformer / regulators. These plugs are so big that I can only just get the PC plug in, leaving 3 unusable spaces.

Life is so unfair!

I was stared at once by a real black helicopter. A Bell 206. It was very unnerving.
The three Apache gunships alongside it were pretty spooky too.
 
And what about children's car seats? There must be a school of poor design somewhere that all the children's car seat designers go to. We can build spaceshuttles but we cannot make a child's car seat that is easy to use.
 
Same here, I'm afraid. What's more, the "standardised" Oz plugs are usually just big enough to foul each other in adjacent sockets, thus wasting the real estate. It becomes a real puzzle to juggle the adjacent plugs of various shapes and sizes to get them all in together!
 
The strip I've got has 2 dedicated 'large' sockets, and all the other sockets are far enough apart to not cause any trouble. And I bought it at the Warehouse! :rolleyes:
 
The newer solid state power adapters should be a lot smaller and lighter since they don't have transformers in them. I have a new 6V 1.8A DC adapter that is only slightly larger than a plug alone would be.
 
jimtron said:
Yes, a conspiracy. The black helicopter people are behind it. Also, you may be interested in (oops, I can't add a link because I have less than 15 posts--thanks a lot, black helicopter people!)

Try a search for "CBL10141 - Power Strip Liberator". surpluscomputers.com carries them.
Click to expand...

Any Percy Dovetonsils fan has to know what he's taliking about!
 
I'm glad videogame console manufacturers seem to be shifting the bulk of their AC adapters away from the plug. It's hard enough plugging my NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, PS1, and PS2 into the same strip.
 
Originally posted by Hodgy
And what about children's car seats? There must be a school of poor design somewhere that all the children's car seat designers go to. We can build spaceshuttles but we cannot make a child's car seat that is easy to use.
Click to expand...
What age children?

My experience is that Britax makes some pretty convenient ones. Their Starriser is a piece of cake to use and it holds kids from 30 to 80 pounds. It also was the narrowest one I could find which is particularly helpful if you have more than one kid. It's not cheap but not too expensive considering you will get several years of use for about $90. There are many things I am frugal on but with carseats, I learned that the better ones are really worth the money.
http://www.elitecarseats.com/britax-stariser-comfy-booster-seat.shtml

CBL
 
The way most engineering companies handle this is to get a big power strip with lots of widely spaced plugs and mount it to the wall. Here is what I am talking about:
http://www.xg1up.com/.sc/ms/dd/1129.../EPS-2063G -- 2 ft 6 Outlet Power Strip Beige

This is big (2 feet) but with 6 widely space outlets, it should handle what you need in a house. It even claims to have a surge protector on it. If you are a real technophile, you can get bigger ones with more plugs.

BTW, I know nothing about this particular product. It is the first one I found with Google.

CBL
 
Try an Isobar. The plugs are set far enough apart that wall warts don't interfere. And the surge suppression is among the best in the business.
 
CBL4 said:
What age children?

My experience is that Britax makes some pretty convenient ones. Their Starriser is a piece of cake to use and it holds kids from 30 to 80 pounds. It also was the narrowest one I could find which is particularly helpful if you have more than one kid. It's not cheap but not too expensive considering you will get several years of use for about $90. There are many things I am frugal on but with carseats, I learned that the better ones are really worth the money.
http://www.elitecarseats.com/britax-stariser-comfy-booster-seat.shtml

CBL
Click to expand...


Thanks - he's only 2 but when I get the next seat I'll look at Britax. I agree with the approach to car-seat buying but even the expensive ones I have bought have been hard to use.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom