Ethernet cable stuck??

[MudkipMonkey]

So about 2 weeks ago I got this new laptop partially for my studies, put if down in my room and plugged an ethernet cable into the port on the side. At first I could not figure out how to plug it in, but then I noticed that there was for some reason a little plastic bar that you had to push down wile inserting the cable. Now I actually want to take the laptop to my first class, but the ehternet cable is completely stuck. The piece of plastic won't budge and the little nudge you have to press while pulling out the cable is on the downside, so it's physically impossible to pull both nudges at the same time. Nowhere in the manual or on the internet does it even mention this dumb useless plastic bar  (like seriously, why is it there?), and I can find no information on how to remove the cable. Obviously I tried pulling it pretty hard, but quickly stopped because I shouldn't be having to do that. Please explain how in gods name I am supposed to take out this cable to actually use my laptop like a laptop.

[ChrisM_L]

I had something very similar happen last month. In my case at least, it was down to the cable end's hood getting in the way of the little bit of plastic you push down on to extract the cable.

Don't know how long it will take for the image to be approved, but if your cable has a similar hood over the plastic tab, make sure it hasn't caught underneath it.

As for why some laptops have expandable network sockets, I believe this is done to keep the case as slim as possible. A full height normal ethernet socket requires a thicker case than one that has an expandable section.

You should NOT need to pull down the plastic hinge on the laptop case, I think this will only increase the chance of you breaking it. You should only need to push down on the CABLE'S plastic bit on the end, as you would normally do to extract a cable once connected.