Poll: would you prefer breakout boxes to fiddling around at the back of your case?

[Rigoletto]

I have 3 USB devices now, and 3 parallel port devices. I also have the Soundblaster Live! which as we have seen benefits from a breakout box.
It occurred to me that the USB was in a dumb position below the PS2 ports- they were obstructed and I unplug USB more than PS2. Actually I would prefer something else to PS2 because people have ruined their motherboards by having the leads yanked out with power on. (Nothing wrong with serial mice, is there?)
I have an amazing rat's nest of wires around the back of my PC. It's gone a bit beyond cable ties.
I see that USB hubs are now commonly available, which is a good start. For a start I suggest moving USB to a floppy bay, and more connectors there. I would also like to see keyboards with locking screws to the port.
I suppose however as a techy fiddler who does a lot of different things with my computer, that most people don't have my demands though.
Even if you prefer all the sockets to be at the back of the case, do you have any stories about accidents with ports, etc? THX sorry if this seems a bit pointless but ergonomics are not often discussed.

 

[Lord Evermore]

The number of people who need easy access to the ports on the back of the computer on a regular basis and are always pulling things out is too small to provide high profit for a manufacturer to make cases that appeal to them. The number of people that plug things in and leave them there is by far larger and that is who most cases are designed for.

I prefer having the cables all at the back. Who wants wires sticking out all over the place when you're not actually messing with them?

 

[subhuman]

they do make some pretty cool USB hubs that fit in 5.25" drive bays...

 

[superbaby]

I would love a breakout box.
I hate crawling under my desk, it's cramped and it's dark.

Also it's not only for people who tweak their system, imagine the typical dumbass user who just brought a brand spanking new computer. Now, wouldn't it be easier if all the connectors could be done on the desktop instead of crawling to the back? Even connecting 1 power cable to the back is bad enough for some idiots, imagine trying to do a video passthrough for a hardware decoder.

Not to mention all those idiots who reverse the keyboard and mouse PS/2 ports and end up damaging the connectors because they can't see the labelling correctly in the dark.

 

[tom3]

I remmeber reading a product review of such a breakout box. It was essentially an extension of the ports from the back of the computer, and mounted in a 5.25 bay.

I cant find the review anywhere though..

 

[Rigoletto]

Well, yeah guys. Doesn't have to be mounted in the case. If only there were a way of incorporating several different ports at once in a real box plugged into a lead...

 

[IaPuP]

Pulling out a PS2 keyboard will not hurt it
its the mice that are picky.

I pull PS2 keyboards all the time. =-)
mices being pulled will usually lock up the system and definately won't work (in my experience)

Eric