Rourke on Technology

I hate carrying cables around, but I also hate being unable to sync my iPod or connect an external drive to my laptop. Cables aren’t so bad if they’re short and well coiled, but who actually takes the time to recoil cables after each use? Retractable cables mean you don’t have to — thee cable does it for you.

I discovered retractable cables about a year ago and have had mixed luck with the first few I purchased. The retractable iPod cable I purchased from Belkin failed completely — first the cable wouldn’t stay out of the winder (didn’t click and stop), then the insulation pulled back from the end of the connector on one side. The first USB-A to Mini USB cable I purchased worked with with my Blackberry, but didn’t work with my portable hard drives.

Enter Zip-Linq. These guys make quality retractable versions of just about any cable you can think of. Their website is well put together and even explains what you can and cannot do with each cable. Just look at the USB page and you’ll see that they point out which cables will power a portable hard drive and which will not. They even let you know that you can’t charge a Motorola cellphone with a mini USB jack via a standard USB power source.

Zip-Linq doesn’t sell their product directly, and I couldn’t find the Zip-Linq cables on Amazon. I poked around a little and found Cables4Computer.com. They seem to carry nearly all of the Zip-Linq cables at very good prices and ordering from them was painless.