Ask Engadget: Best accessories management solution for cluttered desks?
By Darren Murph 
posted March 18th 2010 10:31PM
posted March 18th 2010 10:31PM
Anyone got a great mechanism for keeping these adapters and cables in some sort of order? We're certain the neat-freaks in attendance would love to hear your input in comments below."I am overwhelmed by power cords and travel chargers and am looking for a good way to organize them until I need them. The top drawer of my desk is no longer cutting it. I've got too many power cables and AC adapters to count. I can't be the only one with this problem. Is there a solution? Thanks in advance!"
Empty tin soup cans. They come in a variety of sizes, and you probably can get them free if you try hard enough.
Try to find a way they can charge off USB.
I had a similar problem for charging my Sony ebook, iPod, d-link travel router and Nokia cellphone when traveling and ended up buying a USB Mains plug and ditching all the other chargers for short USB cables for charging. Much easier than carrying 4 different chargers.
I have a similar problem. I keep all the original boxes organized into a shelf. Inside each, all the manuals, media, cables and related accessories. This is also useful if you ever decide to market items. The cables are wrapped behind the desk with braces. Cheapest solution. All I could figure so far.
check this DIY link, I think this is the perfect solution.
http://www.decluttered.com/
I have the cable drops by bluelunge and they work great but if you do not want to attach something permanently to your desk check out the following solution.
http://www.quirky.com/products/11-Cordies
I went to the local hardware store and purchased a sheet of pegboard for about $20, and had them cut it to size in order to mount it on the back of my desk. Then, I bought an assortment of hooks for the pegboard for about $5 or so and mounted my router, modem, and power strip on the pegboard. From there, I used cord wraps to bundle cords and a variety other hooks and mounts to keep them in place. My desk is a glorified rolling cart with a flat service, with a crossbar across the top - so the reverse side of the pegboard is visible for about a foot on the top, where I mounted my speakers and a USB hub, for which I used picture-hanging wire threaded through the pegholes. Overall, it resulted in the decluttering of my desk, as well as a functional and aesthetically pleasing cord array which you might call "nerd-deco" on the back.
I have the cable drops from bluelounge also and I like them. If you have to move them you will have to buy extra double sided tape (the thin kind) and re-attach using that. Even with the cable drops I still have cord management issues, I have a full powerstrip under my desk that is a nightmare. I bought the cablebox but never set it up. http://www.bluelounge.com/cablebox.php I cannot do the peg board idea since my desk has a sliding keyboard drawer.
I also have a nightmare of a wire problem behind my HDTV (cablebox, bluray player, receiver, Wii, Xbox 360, router, x10 receiver, hdmi switcher) that I am afraid to even try to organize...
@Raistlin
Right , I have a glass top desk Not excited to route cords, but rather replace them entirely. I think I might build an xbee wireless usb adapter to resolve the mountain of usb gizmos I have , well if I cant find one to just buy and be done with.
@Raistlin how about self adhesive magnets. put round bits along the bottom of the drops and then run a long piece on the back of your desk.
You mentioned desk drawers as holding your cables. I have a habit of using a sharpie to write a device's name onto a plastic sandwich baggie, then storing the cables and accessories in there. Makes it easy to pick them out when I travel. The ones that I use all the time, obviously, are out on the desk, but their baggies are in the drawer just waiting for me to use when I need to take them with me.
What I do is use some cable straps that wrap around the cables, and/or pieces of velcro to wrap the cables together, and then I use a USB hub and plug all my USB cords into that one hub and then I only have one USB cable in the back of my desktop so if I need to take my desktop somewhere there is only one USB cable to unplug, not 6. As for the power cords that are plugged into AC power, I use a series of two power strips. My desktop, and 2 LCD's and audio receiver are all plugged directly into my UPS, then I use one of the power plugs on the UPS to plug in a simple surge protector and I run that to the opposite side of my desk and I plug in anything else that requires AC power into that surge protector and wrap those cables together using velcro. So really I only have two bundles of cables running under my desk aside from monitors and desktop power. You can then run the remaining power anywhere you want and just bundle it all together. This method is a very easy and clean DIY setup and it works well for me.
i don't have access to any photos but I was at my cousins about a month back and he had a rather sweet custom desk done up. I'll try to describe it.
to start, he prefers working on a stool and sometimes standing up cause he's a very tall fellow. so his desk is higher than most. Think extra wide breakfast bar. The top is flat and wide and long enough to hold his computer (a 27 inch imac) with either the regular keyboard, a music keyboard or a Cintiq in use depending on his project. For eye level he actually has the imac on a mini shelf that runs along the back and is also his cable hiding area, plus he has his reference books shelved there. Underneath he has two pull out trays. one for stashing the music keyboard and the other for stashing regular keyboard, mouse and the cintiq when not in use. Under this are a couple of built in cubby spaces on each side. One has his rack of eternal drives including an external blu-ray burner and 4 hard drives. the second is kind of like a standard desk drawer space. the top is a mini tray charger area that holds his phone etc all plugged in nice and neat. Under that is a shelf for his laptop. Under that is a mini drawer for pens and such with dividers built in to keep things neat. then under that is a deep drawer for various cables and things, also using dividers. He's even got a hook on the inside for his laptop bag to hang when it's empty. All the stuff underneath is set back a little so he has leg room. There's also a little rolling piece with his printer/scanner and a paper shelf that he can pull out when he needs it. He said he was working on some kind of collapsable stand or something for holding the cintiq while he uses it and will probably have a hook for it somewhere if it doesn't fit on the tray with the tablet.
I throw all my cables and such in a box next to my Desk
if im missing a cable first place i look is the box
found my phone in there once..
Cheap as chips!
http://9gag.com/photo/19954_full.jpg
Do people ever actually read the question? The reader is asking about storage for a multitude of AC adapters, power supplies, etc. First wrap the cords and secure them with a velcro strip. They are inexpensive and work very well to keep stray cords contained. Label each item for the device to which it belongs - Mom's cell phone, Kid#1's laptop, etc. I also put a piece of colored tape on the cord or charging device and color code them by their owner - Kid #`1 has blue tape, Kid #2 red. I keep all of the power things in a box (I use one of those translucent plastic file boxes with a hinged lid) so any time someone needs to charge their device, they have the right one. Between cell phones, laptops, MP3 players, gaming devices, digital cameras, and so on, we have so many cords it's mind boggling. I do the same thing with USB cords. They are not all interchangeable, but when we get a new device it gets color coded and labeled so it can be located when needed.