ICD Catbox Question

[Tyrant]

I bet you think that these crappy new PCs with USB and Firewire and Audio jacks on the front are crappy too because the cables are all coming out in a direction you're not accustomed to.

 

PC's have cables in the most useful places... in a traditional instalation' date=' thats the back, all cables go to the back and the pc often dosnt change. Now days with more need for plug-and-play devices and interconection between different machines, the ports that are used most are moving to the front, this is good... but the cables are still at reasonable angles to the face of the machine, and tugging on them will more often than not lead to the cable coming unplugged but causing no damage.

 

I did like the transparent area on the label for the LEDs tho' date=' that was pretty nice [/quote']

 

Well' date=' at least you said ONE positive thing about it. Thanks for that much. I just think that you're being overly critical and really reaching for reasons not to like my product because we have had words in the past and I'm not your favorite person. [/quote']

 

There are many good things about the scatbox, and people did say they have respect for you for being an active developer, but at the same time, people hugely prefered the catbox. Im curious as to why you bash it so much. While technically it is the competetion to your scatbox, it HASNT BEEN MADE for a great many moons, and the numbers in circulation are only going down (when catboxes get destroyed or thrown away by people who dont know what its worth). Why are you so insistant that yours is a superior product? Why not accept that people dont like it as much, but be happy that most people cant get catboxes, and market to them. After all, except for networking, who needs several catbox/scatboxes? and networking can be done much much cheaper with JagLink2's and av cables.

[midwest_cdn]

Anyways to hopefully to stop the big debate.

 

Oh yeah love the scatbox tbird, even cleared up the inteference I was having with my RF adaptor. Pretty snazzy thing. The leds flashing upon boot up looks wild.

[Stone]

Anyways to hopefully to stop the big debate.

 

Lol, nice try...

 

Still, from that second pic it looks like an S-video cable with the same length strain relief as those composite cables would run straight into the JagCD. Unless it's a perspective error...please, someone who was having this problem take some photos!

 

Stone

[midwest_cdn]

hey I tried ! LMAO

 

Anyways stone tried to get a better picture/angle. I dont have the cable for it or else I would give it a try and post a pic.But based on how much area it really is a tough call.If it anything hieght wise as the av it would be tight. The is that angle on the back of the jag cd, and theere is a bit of slack between the jag and the scatbox when full insterted. But I it is possible it would fit.Like I said no cable or else I would try it.

[LinkoVitch]

I hope thats just your hairy knee/leg that the Jag is resting on...

[Stone]

I hope thats just your hairy knee/leg that the Jag is resting on...

 

Could almost be a certain famous person's scalp from that view

 

Stone

[+Saturn]

I hope thats just your hairy knee/leg that the Jag is resting on...

 

[Matthias]

Hi!

 

1) Why are all the beloved Jaguars so dusty? Mine is dusty too...

 

2) A GTI-modded Jaguar fits execellent to the Catbox!

 

3) A Catbox keeps people from using the channel-switch on NTSC-consoles when attached to the console.

 

4) Scatbox: What's this single RJ11/RJ45 socket intended for which is on the same "height" of the S-video-socket? Why is nobody complaining about this socket's position? Is it of no use for most of the users?

 

5) Will those questions never end?

 

Matthias

[midwest_cdn]

I am pretty disappointed considering you are jaguar fans , Cant u tell that is Skylars sexy leg in there? LMAO

 

Oh yeah my other jag is dusty also so dont feel bad , it like a dust magnet.

[+Saturn]

Hi!

 

1) Why are all the beloved Jaguars so dusty? Mine is dusty too...

 

2) A GTI-modded Jaguar fits execellent to the Catbox!

 

5) Will those questions never end?

 

Matthias

 

1) *grabs vacuum cleaner* Mine's not..

 

2) What's a GTI modded Jag?

 

5) No, and there's one more...

[+Saturn]

Hi!

 

1) Why are all the beloved Jaguars so dusty? Mine is dusty too...

 

2) A GTI-modded Jaguar fits execellent to the Catbox!

 

5) Will those questions never end?

 

Matthias

 

1) *grabs vacuum cleaner* Mine's not..

 

2) What's a GTI modded Jag?

 

5) No, and there's one more...

 

err, one more...

[Thunderbird]

Perhaps you only tested using low profile or right angle plugs? There is very little vertical space between the top of a scatbox and the bottom of a JagCD, unless the plug is right angle, or low profile (or if the wire isnt very flexible) then the plug wont fit.

 

I tested it with regular profile straight plugs. Perhaps you only have shoddy stiff high-profile plugs available to use? I'm not going to argue about this because if the solution is as simple as buying a better cable than the one you presently have then just buy the cable and quit whining. S-Video cables are not expensive.

 

Please stop being an idiot.  

 

Please stop acting like you can only be successfully communicated to by an idiot.

 

If you have a Jaguar with a CatBox in it, and cables going to the TV, which is for example next to it on the table... and whilst walking behind the table, you catch the cable with your foot, the force will hopefully pull the plug out of the socket, or the catbox away from the jag, at the worst case, pull the catbox and jag on the floor.  

 

However, with a scatbox, the best you can hope for is that the force pulls them both to the floor, since the cable is not going to come loose from the socket, the force pulls the scatbox downwards and back. With a little luck it will seperate from the Jag, but it could just as easily break the socket the cables are plugged into, or the edge connector of the jag (depending how much downwards force is applied).  

 

Is this is your strongest complaint about the ScatBox? "If" this and "if" this and "If" that?

 

a) Are you any less likely to trip over the COAX, RJ11, RJ45, Parallel, or RS232 cables coming out of your PC/TV/VCR/PRINTER/FAX/PHONE ? Those cables have various types of latches and screws to permanently affix the cables to the connectors, and I have NEVER heard anyone complain that tripping over the cable would cause all this devastation. Maybe it would, but people generally don't whine about it all the time as a reason for not using these things!

 

b) The "perfect" Catbox also has latching cables (Catnet, RS232, and RGB), which will result in the same problems if you're dumb enough to trip over the cables.

 

c) The ScatBox sockets will NOT break before the cables do.

 

d) The cable would unplug at the other end if that much force were applied.

 

 

Also somewhere else you made the point about a cable doing a 360 degree bend... but you completely failed to realise (or more likely did your usual trick of evading criticsm by twisting it round to look unreasonable) that the problem is SHARP bends in cable. Copper wire does not stretch, therefore, if you bend a cable too much, the wires inside it snap, and the cable is ruined. Please, try to stop mis-understanding cricisms leveled against you or your products, while its often hilariously funny, its very annoying too.

 

Please stop making nonsensical criticisms against my products. If you weren't trying so desperately to find fault it wouldn't be so amusing to make satire out of the complaints.

 

For example, what kind of a moron would say that copper does not stretch? That's PREPOSTEROUS! Do you really think that people are foolish enough to take your word for it? Perhaps we could get some metallurgy experts here to back up this bogus claim?

 

NEWS FLASH: Copper wire stretches and bends quite easily. Copper is a soft metal and used used for wire because of this property.

 

In the United States, we even have this miracle invention called "Stranded" wire. We use it in video cables and things like that because it capitalizes on the stretchyness of copper to create a type of conductor which can be bent and twisted without "snapping".

 

It's just this kind of ludicrous argument you make which makes your entire argument look you're just grasping at straws to try and argue just to be negative.

 

 

I give up.

 

I doubt it.

 

The cables on a scatbox are only likely to be acidentally pulled out if you pull them UPWARDS... or I guess if your jag was suspended upside down... but since almost all acidents that happen are caused by feet catching in cables, and feet dont tend to be above Jaguars... the force will almost allways be sideways and downwards, thus causing lots of excess stress on the parts involved.

 

If you're so worried about what happens if you have an accident, you must lead an awfully paranoid life. Why not just use the products and not worry about what happens to them if you trip on the cord? If you had any brains at all you'd realize that leaving cords dangling where you can trip on them is stupid. You could trip on a loose cord that's not even plugged into the ScatBox and fall down and crack your skull open. Did you ever consider that?

 

Hey, I just thought of something: If you fell on a Catbox you could be killed by the hard steel body!

 

There are many good things about the scatbox, and people did say they have respect for you for being an active developer, but at the same time, people hugely prefered the catbox. Im curious as to why you bash it so much. While technically it is the competetion to your scatbox, it HASNT BEEN MADE for a great many moons, and the numbers in circulation are only going down (when catboxes get destroyed or thrown away by people who dont know what its worth). Why are you so insistant that yours is a superior product? Why not accept that people dont like it as much, but be happy that most people cant get catboxes, and market to them.

 

If I didn't insist it was a superior product, then I'd be telling a lie.

 

After all, except for networking, who needs several catbox/scatboxes? and networking can be done much much cheaper with JagLink2's and av cables.

 

Let me get this straight.... you're going to rip all over the Scatbox over being "fragile"... make all kinds of noise about tripping over cables, breaking the connectors, blah blah blah... not fitting the connector, etc., and NOW you're going to suggest the Jaglink2 as an alternative?

 

We won't even get into the advantages of the ScatBox electrical and styling design over the other... let's just focus on the "fragile" issue. You can't get much more fragile than that!!!!

 

Now I know you're just arguing for the sake of arguing. That's the silliest thing I've heard since some idiot said that copper doesn't stretch!

[LinkoVitch]

For example, what kind of a moron would say that copper does not stretch? That's PREPOSTEROUS! Do you really think that people are foolish enough to take your word for it? Perhaps we could get some metallurgy experts here to back up this bogus claim?

 

NEWS FLASH: Copper wire stretches and bends quite easily. Copper is a soft metal and used used for wire because of this property.  

 

In the United States, we even have this miracle invention called "Stranded" wire. We use it in video cables and things like that because it capitalizes on the stretchyness of copper to create a type of conductor which can be bent and twisted without "snapping".  

 

I suggest you try that, and not just once. Get some stranded copper wire and repeatedly bend it through a sharp bend of 90 degrees, you will over stretch the strands in parts of the cable, causing some to break and others to weaken, with sufficient repetion or prolonged periods of being bent sharply the quality of the cable at the point of the bend will degrade reducing signal quality.

 

You can see (hear) this effect quite quickly if you get a pair of in-ear headphones and bend the wire sharply back on itself and apply pressure, very quickly the associated ear piece looses quality and eventualy stops working correctly due to cable damage. I know an S-Video cable is a lot thicker and would take a LOT longer to do this, this example would allow you to experience the effects in a few minutes.

 

Your statement of buying better cables is ill-advised. Perhaps buying poorer cables would be better. A lot of high spec AV cables are quite thick and have large plugs/strain reliefs which would make them even more difficult to fit, a cheaper cable is more likley to have a small cheap plug with low grade cable that will fit better. (this isnlt going to be 100% true of all cables, but I dare say a vast majority).

 

The claim of a 'sleak' design I think is really grasping at straws.. it's a modified cartridge shell, it looks wrong to me. After seeing a CatBox I now want one, they look really nice. They may not be the best thing on the planet but they look good. The Scatbox in my mind doesn't, it looks out of place and wrong.

 

Having the cables protrude upwards I must agree I don't like, it's not just about cables being accidentaly pulled, it just seems wrong. How many consumer electronic devices do you buy with the signal cables in the top of the unit? The force applied to the jags AV port by cable weight (if they were to say hang down the back of a desk) would be quite high due to the leverage provided from the length of the scatbox. The Catbox is quite stocky, so even tho it is heavier I doubt it applies as much of a twisting force on the actual jag PCB. (eg, if you have a plank on a pivot that is centrally balanced and 2 meters long, now put a 1 KG weigh on each end at the same distance from the pivot it will balance nicely. If you move one weight to be near the centre the other end will drop, thus proving that the 1KG at the end of the plank is excerting more than 1KG of force at the point where the other KG weight is).

 

 

Thunderbird, I don't see why you have to jump up and down in such an iraite manner because people don't like your products. SOme do, some don't, whats the problem, it's everybodys right to have an opinion. You chose to release something you produced and I am sure you get a lot of pride from your accomplishments, but because some people don't agree that it's the best thing since sliced bread you seem to loose it!

 

you can't please all the people all the time. chill

[Thunderbird]

I suggest you try that, and not just once.  Get some stranded copper wire and repeatedly bend it through a sharp bend of 90 degrees, you will over stretch the strands in parts of the cable, causing some to break and others to weaken, with sufficient repetion or prolonged periods of being bent sharply the quality of the cable at the point of the bend will degrade reducing signal quality.

 

That's odd... I have a telephone that's 25 years old. It has this strange copper wire on it that's all wound up like a big spring. The cord is "bent" about 36,000 degrees. The odd thing is that the cord is moving and twisting and bending and kinking for 25 years and it never breaks. I think copper is a lot stronger than you give it credit for.

 

The real answer is that nobody is suggesting that you take an S-video cable and put it in a vise and take a block of wood to it to make a 90 degree bend with a 1mm radius. Why don't you look at the photos above? At worst case the S-Video cable has to deflect perhaps 10 degrees to clear the back of the CDROM drive. 10 degrees is MUCH LESS than 90!

 

After that, the cable can follow a graceful arc of whatever radius is healthy for the cable to get to the monitor.

 

Your statement of buying better cables is ill-advised.  Perhaps buying poorer cables would be better.  A lot of high spec AV cables are quite thick and have large plugs/strain reliefs which would make them even more difficult to fit, a cheaper cable is more likley to have a small cheap plug with low grade cable that will fit better.  (this isnlt going to be 100% true of all cables, but I dare say a vast majority).

 

Here's a thought: why not buy the right cable for the job?

 

The claim of a 'sleak' design I think is really grasping at straws.. it's a modified cartridge shell, it looks wrong to me.  After seeing a CatBox I now want one, they look really nice.  They may not be the best thing on the planet but they look good.  The Scatbox in my mind doesn't, it looks out of place and wrong.

 

You're entitled to your opinion. I wish you the best of luck in getting a Catbox. Maybe you can send a preorder to the guy who makes them? Why not buy a 4 or 5 of them?

 

I'm not going to argue over something as subjective as aesthetics with you. There's plenty of people who have bad taste in the world and I can't change that.

 

Thunderbird, I don't see why you have to jump up and down in such an iraite manner because people don't like your products.

 

I don't care if people have a legitimate gripe with my products. See the comments about people not being able to get "into' BattleSphere. It's quite true that the game is too hard to enjoy without learning it. I completely agree with the criticism.

 

It's when people concoct bogus criticisms and then create all kinds of wildly improbable situations to support their claims.

 

e.g. "What if you had a ScatBox sitting on top of a brick with your cat sleeping on top of the Jaguar and the cables hanging off the back by the window and and a meteorite fell down and hit tbe cable? The angular mementum of the twisting force of the 3kg brick would exert a 200 NM/Kg force on the axis of rotation of the connector and 'might' break the plastic!!!!!! OH NOOO!!!!!!"

 

It's this kind of argument that makes absolutely no sense to me. It's pretty weak.

 

The fact you have "90 degrees" stuck in your gullet is the reason why I have to respond to these inane comments. People read this crap and don't realize that the criticisms are baseless unless someone points it out.

 

P.S. Steph has a number of professional synths, samplers, mixers, and drum machines that all seem to have cables coming out of the top. This makes for easy access to them in a compact chassis. What better place to put your connectors? Especially on a device you'd move around a lot like when you go to a friend's house to have a Jag-Lan party? You'd want the cables easily accessible, right?

 

You'd also want a lightweight product you could carry easily and wasn't made of some material which would totally destroy your Jaguar carts if you put it in your satchel to carry.

 

Sounds like a great idea. Someone should make something like that!

[Tyrant]

I have buggered up several cables before by making a sharp bend in them, and I've lost count of the number of headphone cables I've lost to the gradual repeated bending their subjected to arround the plugs. So much so I wired a socket directly into my headphones and now use a male to male cable, its much easier to replace when it breaks.

 

Im very tired and cant be bothered to reply to such a huge post line by line, but one thing that should be pointed out is that phone cables do not stretch, they bend. A coil is the same length when coiled up or pulled straight. coper wire may stretch a tiny bit, but not very much, and not enough to protect it from extreme kinks and bends. Copper wire has excelent flexibilty and a single strand can be bent at incredibly sharp angles, but a bundle of wire, when held tightly together by the rubber outer layers, behaves like a block of soldiers marching round a corner. The cables on the outside of the corner get stretched more and more until they snap. You must admit that this happens, if you dont, I can prove it to you by posting you a bit of wire that has snapped in just that way. Also its not only a theoretical thing you can only do when really trying to do it, it happens as pointed out gradually over time normally, but has happened to me suddenly in real world situations before.

 

It is good design to have the sockets facing the direction it is most likely any acidental force on the cable will happen in. For most devices, this is the back. This ensures that when the cables get pulled on, which they will, quite often, by acident, that the majority of the force is translated to the plug, in a direction that will free it from the socket (ie unplug it). This is so neither the cable or device gets more damaged than is unavoidable and the cable is not pulled into a tight bend at the end of the plug.

 

Is this is your strongest complaint about the ScatBox? "If" this and "if" this and "If" that?

Umm... yeah, it is.

 

If I buy a product, I want to know that the designers thought about and tested what happens when something goes wrong. For example, visual basic is a nice language, its very fast to write programs in, but it goes wrong in a great many ways, and its largely because microsoft didnt consider what it would be used for and how it would behave in a less than perfect environment.

 

Im very glad Lincovitch answered so many of the things you said since Im far too tired and rapidly loosing interest.

 

I do find it interesting however that in reply to...

Also somewhere else you made the point about a cable doing a 360 degree bend... but you completely failed to realise (or more likely did your usual trick of evading criticsm by twisting it round to look unreasonable) that the problem is SHARP bends in cable.

...you managed once again to dodge the issue and come back with a great long flame against me when you were wrong. Stranded copper wire does snap when put through extreme bends, because it dosnt stretch. Perhaps it does stretch a few mm, but as elementary physics will tell us, the more something stretches, the thiner it becomes, until it snaps.

 

I wonder... if I ask you a straight forward, simple, yes or no type question, would you answer it directly or twist things into something else... or ignore it? Hmm.... answer me this please TBird, if you would be so kind.

Do you think that a stranded copper wire cable will snap and be made useless when bent at extreme angles?

[Thunderbird]

I have buggered up several cables before by making a sharp bend in them, and I've lost count of the number of headphone cables I've lost to the gradual repeated bending their subjected to arround the plugs. So much so I wired a socket directly into my headphones and now use a male to male cable, its much easier to replace when it breaks.

 

Well it's a good thing the ScatoLOGIC engineers designed a cable connector which needs a maximum of 10 degrees of cable deflection! They though of everything!!!!

 

Im very tired and cant be bothered to reply to such a huge post line by line, but one thing that should be pointed out is that phone cables do not stretch, they bend. A coil is the same length when coiled up or pulled straight. coper wire may stretch a tiny bit, but not very much, and not enough to protect it from extreme kinks and bends. Copper wire has excelent flexibilty and a single strand can be bent at incredibly sharp angles, but a bundle of wire, when held tightly together by the rubber outer layers, behaves like a block of soldiers marching round a corner.

 

Well, only an idiot would fold his cables and force them to bend at a radius beyond the limits of the wire. Especially when a 10 degree or less bend is all that's required.

 

You can argue all you want, but a cable is not going to bend itself past the breaking point under it's own weight. The outer sheath is designed to prevent that.

 

The cables on the outside of the corner get stretched more and more until they snap. You must admit that this happens, if you dont, I can prove it to you by posting you a bit of wire that has snapped in just that way. Also its not only a theoretical thing you can only do when really trying to do it, it happens as pointed out gradually over time normally, but has happened to me suddenly in real world situations before.

 

If a "real-world" situation can break a wire without a ScatBox, then how can you blame the ScatBox for this?

[Thunderbird]

rant[/b]]It is good design to have the sockets facing the direction it is most likely any acidental force on the cable will happen in. For most devices, this is the back. This ensures that when the cables get pulled on, which they will, quite often, by acident, that the majority of the force is translated to the plug, in a direction that will free it from the socket (ie unplug it). This is so neither the cable or device gets more damaged than is unavoidable and the cable is not pulled into a tight bend at the end of the plug.

 

I'd love to see your setup where all your cables come out that way.

 

On every system with backside plugs I have seen (computer, stereo, TV, etc.) the plugs are located facing a wall or back of a cabinet. The cables come straight out and turn 90 degrees to avoid the wall.

 

I'd LOVE to know how you plan on yanking any of these "real world" cables in the direction of the socket. The wall insures that such cables will pull at some sort of 90 degree angle.

[Tyrant]

My point is proven, Thunderbird is incapable of answering a direct question, and instead responds to everything in a way that dosnt address the issues at all.

 

Im regard to these particular issues you failed to address, it was that cables WILL get acidentally tripped over and pulled upon, and the design of the Scatbox will maximise damage to the cables and sockets, rather than reducing it.

[Tyrant]

In my room there isnt a single bit of equipment against a wall, I hate looking at a pc against a wall with my back to the room, and so yes, it is possible to catch on cables, and in most cases, pull them cleanly away from the device. You are correct that most offices, and lots of domestic setups are done that way, and I agree its less than ideal, however, when you cant walk behind a unit because its on a desk against the wall, there is less chance of you tripping over its cables, and thus the point is moot.

[Thunderbird]

If I buy a product, I want to know that the designers thought about and tested what happens when something goes wrong. For example, visual basic is a nice language, its very fast to write programs in, but it goes wrong in a great many ways, and its largely because microsoft didnt consider what it would be used for and how it would behave in a less than perfect environment.

 

This is ironic, since the ScatBox is one of the most carefully tested products for the Jaguar to ever come out. The ScatBox FAQ details the extensive testing that was performed.

 

Do you think that a stranded copper wire cable will snap and be made useless when bent at extreme angles?

 

I'm sure that "yes" you could FORCE some strands in some sizes or brands of stranded wire to break if you FORCE it to bend at an extreme angle. Chances are it would not be rendered "useless" as you certainly could not break ALL the strands with a single bend. You would have to vigorously work the cable back and forth to break them ALL.

 

But this line of reasoning is rather silly in light of the simple fact that the ScatBox DOES NOT cause cables to bend at 90 degrees AT ALL.

 

Why is this simple fact so hard for you to grasp???

[Thunderbird]

Hello Tyrant!

 

Here's my impression of your argument turned back against you:

 

"So, you admit that if you hit a wire with a hard metal object that it will break, right? Well, the Catbox is made of very hard steel and will break your wires if you accidentally drop it on them. I refuse to buy any product in which the designers overlooked such an obvious design flaw!"

[Thunderbird]

In my room there isnt a single bit of equipment against a wall, I hate looking at a pc against a wall with my back to the room, and so yes, it is possible to catch on cables, and in most cases, pull them cleanly away from the device. You are correct that most offices, and lots of domestic setups are done that way, and I agree its less than ideal, however, when you cant walk behind a unit because its on a desk against the wall, there is less chance of you tripping over its cables, and thus the point is moot.

 

Most people hate looking at the backs of computers and TV sets and wires and cables poking out where they can get tripped over, so they face them towards the wall. I'm sure a vast majority of people will arrange their setup in this manner.

 

These people are the target market for ScatBoxes.

 

Just as a N64 owner would have little use for a ScatBox, a "middle of the room cable router" may have to do without one as well. Oh well.

[Thunderbird]

My point is proven, Thunderbird is incapable of answering a direct question, and instead responds to everything in a way that dosnt address the issues at all.

 

Im regard to these particular issues you failed to address, it was that cables WILL get acidentally tripped over and pulled upon, and the design of the Scatbox will maximise damage to the cables and sockets, rather than reducing it.

 

 

EXCUUUUSEEE ME!! My connection keeps dropping so I have to answer in small messages so the site doesn't disconnect when I post. I answered your silly question above...

[Tyrant]

I'm sure that "yes" you could FORCE some strands in some sizes or brands of stranded wire to break if you FORCE it to bend at an extreme angle.  Chances are it would not be rendered "useless" as you certainly could not break ALL the strands with a single bend. You would have to vigorously work the cable back and forth to break them ALL.

You dont need to damage all of them to cause noise on the line, but actually, its not that hard to break all of them with repeated bends, as happens frequently to some cables, although hopefully not cables attached to a scatbox I admit, but acidents will happen.

 

the ScatBox DOES NOT cause cables to bend at 90 degrees AT ALL.

Yes it does, the wires come out of the box vertically, assuming your tv is not sitting directly above the jag, and assuming your not using cables exactly the right length to reach the tv above the Jag, the cables will make a gentle 90 degree bend to lie on the table... if they then slip off the edge of the table, as often happens, and get caught by passing feet, coat buttons, etc, the shallow 90 degree bend will be pulled into a tight 90 degree bend and can damage the cable or the scatbox connectors.

[Thunderbird]

the ScatBox DOES NOT cause cables to bend at 90 degrees AT ALL.

Yes it does, the wires come out of the box vertically, assuming your tv is not sitting directly above the jag, and assuming your not using cables exactly the right length to reach the tv above the Jag, the cables will make a gentle 90 degree bend to lie on the table... if they then slip off the edge of the table, as often happens, and get caught by passing feet, coat buttons, etc, the shallow 90 degree bend will be pulled into a tight 90 degree bend and can damage the cable or the scatbox connectors.

 

Are you aware that you can purchase a right angle male-female cable adapter? They're solid plastic and even can be found made of metal. They will never break and you can point them in whatever cable pulling direction suits your fancy.

 

I recommend these for the 0.00000001% of the people in the world who don't put their TV against a wall.