Do you prefer ports on the back or sides of the notebook?

For your personal notebook, do you prefer input/output ports (USB, etc) to be on the sides or the rear?

Over the years the trend appears to be to move the ports to the side of the notebook. For example, here is the desktop replacement notebook I had in 2005:


..... and here is my current notebook, with most of the ports on the side:


What say you? Please vote and leave a comment below.

 

Definitely the sides. Since laptop screens are lower than the distance between your hands and your face, I use two little balls on the bottom near the front, to prop the laptop up. If the ports are on the back, they tend to not fit as well as they press into the table.

 

Sides, easier to plug/unplug devices. However, leave all the ports that require a lot of space like HDMI, VGA to the sides rear to avoid getting in the way of a mouse. Vents to the rear of course.

 

Sides. However, the power plug needs to stay in the rear to help reduce cable stress. Most of the time I have my laptop plugged in (with the outlet behind the laptop) and if the W520 had a side connector, the power cord might suffer damage from constantly being bent a certain way.

 

Power plug in the rear, HDMI too. USB, Firewire etc on the side. And nothing in the front.

 

I'd prefer the rear. Sides are causing cable clutter on my desk. I don't want to see the cables around.


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Power plug to the rear, power jacks to the side always get damaged more. For bigger DTR laptops, connectors/ports on the rear is more convenient. For ultraportable laptops it is far more convenient on the sides.

The biggest thing would be for manufacturers to change the design of the cooling system, have like the rear to draw in cool air and have it come out the side.

 

Back. I'm hooked up to an external monitor more often than not... and I'd prefer the cables and wires to be outta sight. Baby.

 

Nicely said, that's just the way I like it except I would need one USB port on the back for Logitech Unifying Receiver (I don't like having it on the side) and the power should be on the side (easier to come loose off the back if moving around).

 

Anything except front to mid right side, really. That gets in the way of the mouse.

If I were left handed, I'd want anything except front to mid left side. So I guess to accomodate both me and my evil left-handed twin, back is the option.

I do kind of appreciate having the speaker port more accessable on the side, though. And I like that Dell put USB ports on both the back and the side of my laptop. So there's advantages to both.

 

Well, the "front" sides of a laptop is a big no imo. I still prefer my ports on the side, but i want them towards the rear of the laptop where they won't be in the way. I wouldn't mind video out and power at the back, but i prefer my USB and audio on the side.

 

Most laptops have the card reader up front as it most convenient as well as it doesn't waste precious real estate on the side.

 

Sides, definitely much easier to access. Having two USB ports on the back of a note makes them almost useless.

It makes sense for DTR's to have ports on the back, it keeps desk clutter down.

 

I don't mind ports in the rear, that's of little concern to me. In fact, I think cords such as ethernet, power, and VGA/DisplayPort may even work better on the rear edge. The cooling system, though, takes priority in my mind: I like how Lenovo has an intake at the rear and exhaust to the left edge.

I would prefer they put the card reader on the side, and then relocated any ports that don't fit to the rear. The front edge should be clear of any ports, in my opinion, although speakers there are fine (ie: Thinkpad X120e). One of my biggest annoyances with my T500 are the headphone jack and memory card slot at the front edge... makes using it with my Logitech Alto Wireless more annoying (I have to use two wood blocks to prop it up just enough for the headphone jack).

So, I voted "side," but really I'm fine with either.

 

In my opinion a little of both.

Side ports are nice for accessibility.

Back ports are nice for me since I'm very often constrained for lateral desk space. Side ports get annoying when I need to take notes on a large textbook and I need to plug in a flash drive or a mouse, since I lose 1-2 inches of space on either side when I have stuff plugged in.

Ideally, I want at least 1 USB port on the right side (for mouse), a USB or two on the back, a USB on the left side, the majority of other ports (esp. display, Ethernet, and Power) on the back. Power should be near the corner so it's easy to plug in but not intrusive.

 

Something I usually complain about in my reviews is when ports on the side of the notebook interfere with using an external mouse. USB ports located on the sides close to the front of the chassis - big no-no. My current notebook is like that and it's very annoying.
I also complain when the vents are located on the side and blow air where a mouse would usually be; left-handed users almost always get the shaft by such setups. I haven't tested a notebook in a long time that had a vent on the right side.

 

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I'd go even further and say I actually prefer all the USB and audio ports isolated to one side (the left) and overflow to the back. But, I confess that I'm right-handed to say that, hehe. I don't like having cables sticking out of both sides of the laptop. That just makes the laptop set-up way too wide.

 

I really have no preference. As long as the placement is competent (i.e. enough space between ports so that they don't block each other and the HDMI connector isn't, say, in the front of the notebook), I'm fine with the being placed anywhere.

 

My laptop (in the sig) has the vent on the right side. It is very good in the winter, very annoying in the summer.


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I don't have a preference for that exactly, but my preference caters towards more on the back...

I like to place my notebook on it side, without covering the fan output, and without covering the audio jacks or power jack so I can hook it up to a stereo.
Can be difficult to find this particular combination, unless the audio jacks are on the front which tends to be problematic otherwise.

I'm curious, anyone heard of or used a laptop that has a vent in the front blowing towards you?

 

Sides - travel with mine quite a bit in a messenger bag, and ports on the back tended to get some abuse over the years. (one of the few so far who likes his power port on the side)

 

Although I voted 'sides', I would love a notebook with ports duplicated on the rear and sides - including the SD card slot. Why are we limited to 2 or 3 USB ports? Give us the ports the platform/chipset supports and with adequate spacing between them to plug in any USB (thickness) key we want.

The new systems look sleek, stylish and futuristic - yet they are much less functional (connectivity-wise) than a 12+ yr old Micron workstation notebook was in 1998.

 

I don't care as long as it has a good number of ports and that they aren't very close. sometimes you can never use the other usb port because a device occupies too much space.

 

You can always get that USB port saver cable (really just a short USB extension cable).

 

Side for USB, Firewire, Memory card slot
Rear for power, HDMI, Ethernet
Front for speaker, microphone

 

No, the top center of the display for microphone (on the system's base it would be picking up too much mechanical noise (fan, HDD, etc.).

 

I agree. A lot of the USB ports are spaced too close together so you only get to use 1 port of the 2 which is very annoying.

 

Same here.

 

I also like to see my desk as clutter free as possible and I hate it when the USB port are on the sites near the keyboard and you can't really work with a corded mouse.

 

THIS!

Actually power and video cables in the rear. Maybe two USB ports too. Then USB and headphone on the left side. Leave the right side clear for the mouse. Hate it when cables clutter up my mouse area.

 

I think all of the ports that won't need unplugging regularly should be in the back. This includes HDMI, at least 1 USB, power, and headphone jack. Vent should be on the back too.

 

Yes, bring back the docking station! I loved having a docking station. I don't mean a USB piece of crap either.

 

I prefer having most ports on the back, except for maybe the headphone port and a few USB ports on the side, the rest of them are annoying when you have HDMI, eSATA, USB one one side, then a headphone cable and power on the other like my desk x_x

 

For powerful gaming notebooks, usually most the rear is dedicated for heat exhaust. But even Clevo's have some ports in the back, and I like it that way.

Speaking of which, why oh why can't Clevo and/or Sager offer switchable graphics? Manual switching is fine. I miss my Sager, but the battery life just isn't there.

 

Well, wait half a year or less, and Clevo will deliver.

 

that would be proper design for a laptop, and when needed it should blow hot air at the back like a hair drier When not needed, integrated GPU would do just fine.

 

I think the best position is the back half of the sides. The back is inconvenient and only should be for things that don't get plugged/unplugged a lot (VGA, ethernet, power). Near the front interferes with people who use external mice and stuff. I plugged in a mouse to my X220 for some Minecraft once and it was really hard to use since the ethernet comes out where my mouse would be.

 

I prefer rear. Annoying when USB leads occupy my mousing space.

 

+1

10char

 

Me..in the rear..but don't take that the wrong way!

The Asus has rear exhaust, check. On both sides as far back, start with big IO's, like eSata/HDMI. Unfortunately, we still have the internal burners which is slowly being phased out. Any IO ports forward I would prefer anything that can use right angle plugs or small dongles. Don't forget that God first made the left handers, then all the rest

My FX is an ergonomic nightmare on the right side and yes I would love to see real docking stations as an option.

But I think most, but not all, check screen and performance but cable management is an afterthought, no?