Product: Cable Management 6ft.
Manufacturer: ULTRA
Warranty: 3 years
Date Reviewed: 6-11-11
Retail Price: $12.99
Price Paid: $5.99
Behind every sleek computing setup is a splay of jumbled cables and wires.
Despite being unusually attentive in both cleaning and maintaining my workspace areas, a recent reorganization of my studio space brought to light the fact that I had done pratically nothing to address the sprawling cable clutter underneath my desks. Witness Exhibit A and B below:
What a mess!
Outside of being an eye-sore, cable clutter can potentially damage your wires: Ask anyone with little kids or pets.
Two weeks ago I started looking into cable management solutions. I needed something that would look good, be easy to install and not break the bank in terms of overall cost. I think I found all three in the ULTRA Cable Management solution.
I ordered three 6′ kits, largely based on the positive reviews I read on the CompUSA website. I placed my order last weekend and received the products yesterday. Here’s what it looks like, in the box:
Each ULTRA cable management kit comes with a 6′ flexible plastic conduit and a specialized tool to facilitate placing the cables inside the conduit. (The kit can also be ordered in 25 and 50 feet sizes as well.)
The conduit is durable, flexible, and easy to cut if you need to trim the size down. The supplied tool is very easy to use, and documented on the back of the box. I had no problem whatsoever in using the tool to place the cables into the conduit. I was literally finished with the install in a matter of minutes.
Was I happy with the result? I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
‘Nuff said, huh?
ULTRA’s Cable Management earns 5 out of 5 Bob Weiners.
Nice, but I find a roll of black Velcro, some screw down metal hoops for the underside of a desk, and as few zip ties as possible, combine into something easier to manage when you need to change things up. For example, it looks painful to remove a single cable from the conduit that requires a tool to do so. In my case, I just undo a bunch of Velcro and rebind. I use the zip ties to attach the Velcro wrapped bundles of cable to the metal hoops under the desk. There are also open channel plastic conduits you can affix under the table and the cables just tuck in. I try to hide all the cables as best I can.
However, I have a customer with a plain desk in the middle of a room and I may just order a few of these conduits for him. Looks better for exposed cables.
Good point, James. Taking the cables out of this system would require more work than, say, velcro. If your setup doesn’t change too often (like at an office), the ULTRA cable management solution makes sense. If you change your setup, velcro strips and fasteners may be the way to go.
I use these all the time and I find them easy to change them out. Waaaay better the velco and zip ties which I USED to do.
why are you hipsterfy-ing these images? there is no need to have them look artistic if you are trying to convey a point. Better take real photos with full resolution and color quality and do some post to make your point come across better.
I was testing out Instagram on the iPad. Good point, though.