Improved Laptop Power Jacks

I have seen a phenomenal number of laptops die because their power jack stopped working. I have also had a large number of power adapters develop a short and need to be replaced. I know I am not alone in having this problem.

The issue is poor design. Laptops have received power from outlets the same way  since they were created. There has been very little variation in how power cords feed into the computer. Virtually every laptop I have seen uses a circular connector. History has shown that this does not work very well.

If the connector comes straight out from the computer there is a good chance the cord will end up being bent frequently. This leads to a short in the power cord requiring that it be replaced. It seems that L-shaped circular connectors do not tend to have this problem as much. However, I am uncertain why these types of connectors are not more universally used. I suppose they provide slightly less freedom in terms of what direction the cord can lay.  I think that this is a small price to pay for not needing to replace an often seventy dollar cord.

However, even computers with L-shaped connectors tend to have their jacks die. The problem is that the jack needs to be soldered onto the motherboard of the computer. Over time, after the power cord has been plugged and unplugged and twisted many times the solder connection begins to wear. Eventually a short develops inside the computer.

The easy solution is to not have a solder connection. Rather than have a jack, a computer could have two metal connectors directly on the motherboard exposed through a slot. A power cord similar in design to the type of plugs we use with AC outlets (only with the prongs lying in the same plane) could be used. The cord would then come in direct contact with the connectors on the motherboard.

A short could develop in the cord (though the chance of this can be reduced based on the design as mentioned above), but the chance of internal damage to this 'jack' or perhaps I should say non-jack would be minimal.

Ultimately we are stuck with an infective, easy to break, design of power jack simply because it is the way power jacks have always been made. However, I never believe that this is a good excuse not to inovate.