well the shape and the fit mean that you can push in at certain angles and it won't go in readily either way, you are unsure of just how much force to use. this was especially bad with some dell desktops with hidden front usb slots under a cover that only lifted up slightly to allow access, literally they were up and inside the bottom front of the case, you had to plug in at an angle..blind.
while this is obviously a necro thread, it is also true that the design was very poor.
Gonna be a little bit of a sticker here but that is not the case your talking about. I owned a Dell in that case as my first PC. The USB and Audio front ports are in that little oval at the way bottom of the case.
Dell did make those stupid cases but thats not a picture of one.
The one with the "panties" cover that flips up and takes USB peripherals at an angle is the devil.
As far as laptop power is concerned they really need to have a standard, one size fits all, connection.
Imagine if you NEEDED a Sony monitor for a Sony PC, Dell monitor for Dell PC and so on...
Ditto for mouse, keyboard, and printers. That would be horrible.
so, how many of you have been out-witted by a usb plug, and you blame usb. nice tech forum
It's still a crappy design. It's like buying an audio CD, and neither side is labeled. Yea, if you look close you can figure it out, but you shouldn't have to do that. Computers are supposed to make life easier. Making things needlessly difficult violates their core purpose.
Intel, Compaq, Microsoft, NEC, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, and Nortel. Morons.
Six pin firewire can be inserted the wrong way with not too much force. And boy does it screw up if you do that. :whiste:
lol do tell
I'm not understanding the confusion on the way it should be inserted though, I've never been able to insert one incorrectly. I guess with force you could but why would you try to jam any cable into a port on a computer?
Also, isn't part of the standard the requirement that the USB symbol be indented on the top of the male connector? I always just feel for those "bumps" before I insert it. Some don't have it indented, but I haven't seen many that don't at least have the symbol on the top (aside from flash devices which are usually brand labeled on the top of them).
However, if the female port side of it is upside down, sideways or angled so you can't see them (which I've seen quite a bit) I would blame the case manufacturer, not the standard.
USB connector on PC, not likely to get in backwards. 1394 six pin is definitely possible with not much effort as I described above.
It was hard for me to see in the back of our poolside mobile rack and I did not have time to fetch a torch (left mine on my desk) and I was doing it by feel and managed to push it in the wrong way.
When the laptop could not find the 896HD interface I thought it was strange and by that time I had some light. Yanked it out and noticed pointed end was in on the straight side! YIKES!
Luckily there's another port next to this one, pushed it in the right way and the CueMix FX picked up the 896HD right away. Later when I had time to check it out the port is blown out.
I don't understand why they made it so easy to break in the first place. I don't see why there needs to be a protruding piece inside the slot. Why isn't that on the outside of the internal connector?