Thinkpads Forum

Hi.

This may sound strange... But I am looking for some type of
"Plug"(either plastic or rubber) to cover/fill-in/close the unused U.S.B., Firewire, V.G.A. and Ethernet holes
on my X60s ( or an other type of T.P. for that matter).

I tend to use my notebook outdoors often, and living in N.Y.C. with all its dust, and pollution, I think being able to "Plug" in unused openings may help keep out dust, debris and possibly a liquid spill.

I was wondering if anyone on this forum knew where I can buy something like that?

I can use something "makeshift" but something is causing me to believe that premade "plugs" are out there somewhere.

I would tend to think that there are other notebook people out there that would be concerned about Dust/debris getting into their ports, causing a company to make and sell them.



Any thoughts?

rexy wrote:Any thoughts?

Yes.

Have you ever discussed this with a professional?

Moderator edit: Full quote reduced to one line. No need to quote the entire message for this type of response.

rexy wrote:This may sound strange... But I am looking for some type of "Plug"(either plastic or rubber) to cover/fill-in/close the unused U.S.B., Firewire, V.G.A. and Ethernet holes on my X60s ( or an other type of T.P. for that matter).

That's one of the first things I noticed when going from the 600X to the T23. The 600X has covers for all of the external ports while the T2x leaves them exposed. I wouldn't worry too much about contamination getting into the laptop via the ports. I'd say most of the dirt that ends up inside the system is going to come through the cooling vents designed into the case. When the fan turns on, outside air should be sucked into the system, over/through the heatsink and exit the laptop.

I'm not aware of any company which sells plugs or universal covers which would fit flush with the side/rear of the laptop case. The only thing I can think of is to use "blank" or empty plugs and place them into each port. For example, buy a pack of RJ-45 plugs and insert one into the laptop's ethernet port. The VGA port can be "covered" by plugging in a 15-pin VGA gender-changer plug. However, these items will stick out from the laptop and could snag on something. The alternative is to simply tape over the ports.

Won\'t the thinkpad temperature soar if you covered all the ports?

Sorry about this dumb question. I am curious.

It appears that ThinkPad owners are as anal as Mac owners. This site has exactly what you want (and they are reliable);

http://www.radtech.us/Products/Portectorz.aspx

HTH,

Steve

rexy wrote:Hi.



Any thoughts?

Didn't the older i series have plastic plugs for the LAN and modem ports?

My digital camera has a rubber plug for "it's" version of a USB port, maybe you could find someting there.

I swear I've seen "hard rubber" serial port covers that kinda snap on but I can't remember where.

Thanks guys.

I knew it was going to be a weird question going in.
But you would be amazed at how dusty Manhattan is.

And I knew they were out there, I have seen a couple of other Laptops (including older T.P.'s, and the new ToughBooks I think) that have the ports covered up.

The Mac ones listed above look like they would work, cut down.
If I could find single ones it would be better.