GET RID OF UGLY WALL WARTS

Years ago when I first herd the term "wall wart" I thought to myself that there must be a nicer name for them. I was wrong. The name isn't bad enough. I hate wall warts and wish they would all go away. Unfortunately, that's most likely not going to happen in the foreseeable future but at least there's a way now to deal with them more effectively.

So what exactly is a wall wart? Take a power cord and look at the end that plugs into the electrical outlet. If the power cord is being used by a fairly large peripheral like a printer for example, chances are you'll just see a typical three-prong electrical plug. That's mostly because the electrical transformer, which is basically a large coil of copper wire, is contained inside the printer itself. But if the device is somewhat smaller like say a label printer or an external hard drive, then chances are you'll see a big, black, ugly transformer stuck on the wall socket end of the power cord. That's a wall wart and anyone who has tried to plug more than one of them into an electrical outlet knows the outcome of trying to do so. For those of you who haven't tried yet, what happens is that the wall wart is so physically big, it either partially or entirely blocks the adjoining socket which makes it physically impossible to use.

Some manufacturers have heard the cries of anguish when that happens and have attempted to correct the problem by placing the transformer in the middle of the cord. In this case, another power cord plugs into the transformer with a normal plug at the end. Thankfully you see a lot of these on notebook computers since they're usually to thin to internalize the transformer as well. But when it comes to LCD monitors and smaller or less expensive computer peripherals, you can almost be assured that there's a wall wart lurking at the tail end of that glamorous product photo from which you made your purchase decision.

So the first reaction to the problem is to simply go out and buy a power strip. That won't help. While most power strips will give you five or more power sockets, the fact of the matter is that the power bricks (that's another endearing name for a wall wart) typically make you waste two or more sockets on the strip. So you'd think that someone would have come up with a better way to deal with wall warts and you'd be thinking correctly.

I recently had Christopher Hawker appear on my radio talk show, Computer America. Chris is the inventor of the PowerSquid and the concept is a clever one. Basically, the PowerSquid is a power strip but without the strip. Instead, each individual electrical receptacle is on the end of its own power cord. And the other end of each of these cords feeds into a single oval-shaped body that joins all of them together. Also the lengths of the cords are staggered. Depending on the model, you'll find either five or six of them paired at equal lengths which helps to stagger their positions on the PowerSquid which in turn minimizes the bulk when all of the power tendrils are in use. At the other end of the ovoid body is a single male power cord that plugs into the wall. That's pretty much the basics of the PowerSquid. By the way, with its ovoid body and power tendrils, it really does look like a squid, hence its name. So now each wall wart can plug into its own power cord receptacle with room to spare and with no plugs wasted. In fact, looking at the PowerSquid makes you want to slap your forehead and wonder why you didn't think of this yourself.


There are several PowerSquid models available in a variety of colors including ones that offer surge protection. You'll find even more features on the top-of-the-line Calamari Edition that sports a flat, rotating power plug. In addition, two of its tendrils contain glowing blue LEDs that make things easier to find when the PowerSquid is lurking somewhere in a dark, dusty corner deep beneath your computer's desk.


Prices range from about $19 to $85. You can check out many of the available and upcoming PowerSquid models and pricing at www.powersquid.net.

Craig Crossman is a McClatchy-Tribune newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. He also hosts the nation's longest running nationally syndicated radio talk show on computers and technology, Computer America, heard on both the Business TalkRadio Network® and the Lifestyle TalkRadio Network®, weeknights at 10PM Eastern time.  Visit his website at http://www.computeramerica.com

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