Hi everyone, after much comparison, I will most likely go with X220 with Premium HD display.
Now I am debating over getting one of the Mini Dock's or UltraBase Series 3.

The benefit of Ultrabase is that I can add a DVD drive and keep it all together, but it is a bit cumbersome to use (the eject mechanism, being too light it will just move around during dock & undock, etc..)

Benefit of Mini Dock is that it is very easy to use, and I really like the push to eject with no wait time. Also it will sit nicely on the desk.

I checked around, external DVD drives cost about $40-$50. But I wonder if Ultrabase dock connector will offer any faster speeds? I won't be doing much, it will be just for occasional DVD burning for backups. That's about all.

What do you think? Is there any benefit of one over another?
I would probably have to make a decision tomorrow since sale ends tomorrow, so any input will be highly appreciated.

If you have an i7 X220 with USB 3.0, I'd have to believe that would be faster than an SATA DVDRW drive... that is if you find/own a USB 3.0 DVDRW.
On an i5 X220 with USB 2.0, an external burner would be slower for sure.

You won't get faster burning speeds through the Ultrabase compared to an external USB DVD.

However, remember that the Ultrabay can be used not only for a DVD, but also for a second hard drive, a second battery, and possibly a few other accessories. And for a hard drive you will get better performance through the Ultrabase (SATA) compared to external USB.

I say that the benefits of the Ultrabase become relevant if you want to sometimes take it with you on the road and have the expansion capabilities, or if you want to use a permanent second internal hard-drive.

If the idea is for it to be stationary, and you don't need a fast second hard drive, by all means you can do fine with the Mini-dock, and plug a USB DVD.


Not sure any of it is relevant for a DVD burner, in all honesty. Even at 20x, the DVD burning speed is 27MB/s, well within the real-life capabilities of USB2 even.

Yeah, I suppose. It all boils down to what is more convenient.

This covers the most important part of my question/comparison. Ultrabase DVD speed vs External DVD speed.
It surely is a lot more convenient to use a base which can actually be attached onto the laptop, something you can carry around, and still be lighter than a full size laptop.




I do not have the Thinkpad yet, this is going to be paired with a new X220, most likely i5 2.6 to save money. I also did not find any USB3 DVD writers, I think USB2 should be more than enough. Based on reviews at newegg, most of them are usable.




Having another HDD is nice, but that would still be limited to when I have my laptop docked in the office. So any USB hdd would do the same thing via one of the USB ports of any dock. HDD would have to be just for backup because it will connect/disconnect, so it can't have anything important that I would use everyday when I am out.

It looks like the only difference between the two is really just portability option, and being able to include a drive in there. If I need battery, I would have to have it with my anyway, and I would rather not carry the dock with me, so I can just get 9cell or the battery slice later on. The add-on DVD is $140 with ultrabase, that's really expensive.

Thanks everyone, I think i will go with Mini Dock, whichever offers dual display option (two is enough).

I bought the Ultrabase Series 3. I'm not really sure about what you mean by being too light.

I find no problem docking and undocking. Press the Eject button to safely remove the device in Windows (or Linux), then pull the lever back and lift the back of the X220 up and away. To dock, put the front of the X220 in the Ultrabase and lower the rear down until it locks. Once locked, you can move the X220 with the Ultrabase and they are stable together and do not separate. You have to pull the lever to unlock the X220 from the Ultrabase.

GomJabbar, thanks for the input. By too light, I mean it is not sitting as stable as the mini docks (they are called mini, but they are not that mini). Mini docks sit on the desk like they are part of the desk, but UltraBase looks like it is just a part of a laptop and when you are docking/undocking, especially if you don't have enough room on the sides, you would most certainly have to move it, and it is really not a one-hand operation as it is with "push and eject" mechanism of the others.

Also, from what I read, ultrabase requires a button press to start disconnect/eject before you can pull it (not a huge deal) whereas mini docks are pull and go.

One more benefit of mini dock, some of them are paired with a power adapter at a discount (vs purchasing one separately). This means I can keep one at home.

Does anyone know what is "Thinkpad Display?"
from Lenovo website:


Do they mean that laptop's display cannot be used when it is docked? no matter with single or dual external displays?

I have always been just "pulling and going", regardless of which dock/base I use, and whether it has an "eject" button or not. My experience has been that "playing nice" and using the eject button actually leads to more problems most of the time.

You are a renegade!
Which base do you have?

Have been doing that with T42, T60, T410, and a little bit with some X series models.

Hmm.. Don't you ever have problems with the screen resolutions afterwards? When I just pull my VGA cable off my laptop before I start hibernation or shut down process, it acts weird and I have to re-select and adjust my monitors resolution on the next day for some reason.

What does the eject button actually do? Probably it makes sure that it cuts power/electricity/connection to all other devices, and it doesn't actually eject them like the old Windows 98 docking services did. Because if USB is plugged, it is still plugged on the dock, and not ejected "safely". So it is user's responsibility to make sure there is no disk activity.

Of course I do, by the simple fact that the resolution changes between docked and undocked setups. Usually it just changes on its own without me having to do a thing. Sometimes, if I have two different docked setups, I have to change things manually, because the computer remembers a setting that doesn't match the current setup. And then I use Desktop Restore to restore the position of the desktop icons to the current resolution.

Well, that makes sense if you are switching between different monitors, different locations.