Thinkpads Forum

Who here uses a docking station and why? What is your opinion on them?


mod note: changed title from "Question for everyone" as it was too ambiguous.

I use my T60 basically as a desktop replacement, and an advanced dock lets me do that. In no particular order, here's why I love it:

- DVD Drive + Ultrabay. I have two hard drives in my T60p and I don't always want to, or can't, hotswap.

- External monitor. I love the 4:3 aspect ratio when I'm mobile, but I do like widescreen when working at my desk Plus I like the bigger screen.
Also, I have a lot of movies and a lot of times I'll have one running on the T60's monitor while I'm working on my external monitor.

- Other peripherals. I have two MyBooks, extra speakers, a wireless mouse, a keyboard, and a Palm Treo charger/stand all hooked up to my dock.

- Security. I don't use the lock on my docking station at home, but a few years ago when I worked at IBM we had to lock our computers down. The key was a lot more convenient than a cable lock (provided that the docking station itself was secured )

I haven't had any problems with the docking station yet. Some people have had problems with adding an extra graphics card to the pci slot (on the advanced dock), but most of that seems related to drivers.

I use one in the office since I have a 2nd external monitor, keyboard, mouse, external HD and extra power adapter.
At home I use one in the living room for connecting the laptop to the HDTV via DVI.
And also one in the home office for connecting the external monitor there.

I think the Advanced Mini Dock is an exceptional value (makes cable management so much easier + DVI port). The full Advanced Dock is only really needed if you need an additional Ultrabay or have a need for 3+ monitors or some other use for the PCIe slot.

I actually use a dock in most places that I have a ThinkPad. There's a full dock for the A31p in my AV media system, a Dock II on my desk next the full on Desktop setup which is connected to the HD15 input of the 20" WUXGA LCD, and a Port Replicator on my R60 at work.

I guess you could say I'm fully docked.

My advanced mini dock is mainly a glorified hub at the moment, but I will add stereo monitors and a serial IR adapter shortly.

I use mine to get an extra USB port on my old 600e.

I love my Advanced MiniDock for my T61. It allowed me to mothball my big noisy desktop tower case to simple use as a stand for my scanner.

FWIW, the Advanced Minidock gets me 4 additional separate full bandwith and powered USB 2.0 ports (in addition to the 3 ports on the T61) plus a parrallel port for my old HP890C color printer that used the good-old-fashioned cost effective high capacity ink cartridges. I also get separate DVI and VGA external monitor ports plus the dock raises back end of the T61 off the desktop to allow for better ventilation and cooling. With an external 22" WS monitor, external USB KB, and external USB mouse plus a couple of external USB HDDs I have a great desktop replacement that produces virtually no noise or heat. Plus, I never have to open the lid and undock it except when doing Bios updates (thus the T61 still is "as-new" 18 months into it's 4 year on-site warranty and damage protection program).

never had a need for a dock. i don't use external monitors, no need to have additional USBs, additional graphic card would create more problems than help and my T60 has internal CDrom drive.
im getting x61 tablet. now for this one an external dock would be nice so that i could get that cdrom drive functionality but $200 is way too much to justify it.

Yea, when I finally get my x61 tablet in the hopefully near future, I'm just going to buy an external standalone DVD player. I've never really needed docks for anything... not fond of using external monitors. I only use my dock now because my handy little USB hub broke ages ago.

eecon wrote:plus the dock raises back end of the T61 off the desktop to allow for better ventilation and cooling.

That's the only part that seems not to be true. It does raise the laptop to a more ergonomic angle, but it increases heat buildup at the base of my T61, and I have Intel graphics.

I'd still recommend the Advanced Mini Dock, but maybe have a deskfan pointing at the laptop would be wise.

I use a Mini-Dock with my T43 primarily for its serial port (yeah, I know, who uses those anymore?). But I have a communications receiver (AR8600 MkII) whose control interface requires serial communications between the radio and my T43.

I tried using a serial-to-USB converter cable along with its associated software but was never able to get it to work properly.

The side benefits of the Mini-Dock include additional USB ports and raising the T43's keyboard to a comfortable angle and increasing airflow underneath the unit.

I use a DockII (I think it's called that) on my T30 simply because I couldn't resist a bargain and boughtita brand new boxed recently for £30.

I use it with the dock in the office for all those day to day office type tasks.

I have a mini-dock that I used with my R52 to take my work home and have a keyboard, external monitor, and mouse ready for me to just "jack in," connect to work over the company VPN, and do more work than they paid me for. I only used it that way for a short while.

I haven't bothered to purchase one for my T61p. In fact, I've lately become curious about USB external displays for second monitors.

http://www.displaylink.com/multi_monitor_101.html

That's more interesting to me than installing a dual-output video card in my desktop, and it would act as a dock, and port replicator, too, for the ThinkPad.

It's interesting that Lenovo has one,

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... 639312E18E

but, unlike some of the competition, it doesn't size up to the 1680 x 1050 resolution I want. It's also not compatible with any of the dual graphics models of ThinkPads. That's a common story in my experience with ThinkPads. Things stay the same until I decide to purchase something, and then they change. (Not that my T61p is a dual-graphics model.)

I haven't actually seen a demonstration of what a monitor running on USB looks like (they claim full-screen DVD is okay), but I think that the rise of these products is going to be the kiss of death for expensive dedicated docks. (My managing editor at Bright Hub has asked for a review unit. I hope I get to test it.)

Interestingly, notebooks may be moving to external graphics, too. The idea is that we'd use embedded graphics on the go and hook up to hot rod external graphics at home base. I can't predict how this will be received, but it could mark the end of dual graphics as well.

We live in interesting times.

Lamar

SafeHarbor wrote:but it could mark the end of dual graphics as well.

unless you are on the move

Radioguy wrote:

eecon wrote:plus the dock raises back end of the T61 off the desktop to allow for better ventilation and cooling.

That's the only part that seems not to be true. It does raise the laptop to a more ergonomic angle, but it increases heat buildup at the base of my T61, and I have Intel graphics.

I'd still recommend the Advanced Mini Dock, but maybe have a deskfan pointing at the laptop would be wise.

I beg to differ .... my T61 runs cooler on my Advanced MiniDock per every temperature monitoring utility I've used plus its internal fan runs less often. Maybe my having the nVidia discrete graphics card is the difference, or the fact that it sits 2 feet closer to a window when docked behind my external monitor.

I have a Dock II for my T42, which I purchased (for $35!) with the intent of adding a PCI graphics card (haven't done that yet). Unfortunately, the USB ports on the dock are finicky and don't seem to work most of the time (have to do a weird combination of suspend/hibernate to get the TP to see them). Driver issue or faulty dock?

I use my T41p as a desktop replacement (hopefully a T60p soon) and like to have a full-sized keyboard & normal mouse ready & waiting. I also run the DVI out to a 22" widescreen monitor, which is just plain nicer than a 14.1" screen when nerding for hours & hours. I also have my external 500GB "media" drive hooked up to the dock, so I have full functionality when sitting at my desk, and easy portability when needed.

I am running my T41p on a Dock II.

Here's my story...

I came across with a dock after sticking with my T60 for roughly two yrs. My passion for photography pushed me getting more precise and accurate colors. Same time prices for TFTs dropped to my price level I desire. So I shot the NEC MultiSync 1970NX (the NX is important: that means it's a so-called S-IPS display panel with a stunning viewing angle and therfore awesome colors stability) Great monitor for great pix - just rippin' me of less than 100 bucks incl. shipping.

Now since the T6x only come with a VGA port I did give'em a try and felt very disappointed. So the only and cheapest way enjoying same great sharpness as the internal LCS offers is a docking solution. I bought one beginning this year not spending more than 150 bucks. Now connex works like a charme and I now use the internal LCD for some side-shows: Photoshop's palettes, Winamp or displaying system performance. Comparing both, the NEC beats up the T60 LCD in any course and make it look kinda crappy!?

This was my personal approach for getting a docking solution. Now I more and more appreciate all the other ammenities: all 4 USB ports are actually occupied - couldn't believe that. My T60 now acts more like a workstation rather than a mobile companion. I'm pretty fine with this situation and my desktop is now plenty of space

Enjoy your day, yours meshua.

headless/keyboardless x30 makes a fine mini-workstation with an external LCD:
port replicator 08N1536 provides "on" button & PS2 connector for "M" keyboard.

tom lightbody wrote:headless/keyboardless x30 makes a fine mini-workstation with an external LCD:
[...]

I use my X30 "off the road" ant its compactness and sturdiness is remarkable. Indeed it's a decent mini workstation but I found the VGA output being to much blurred beyond 1024x resolution. An X30 featuring DVI - that'd be great!

Brgds, meshua.

meshua wrote:I use my X30 "off the road" ant its compactness and sturdiness is remarkable. Indeed it's a decent mini workstation but I found the VGA output being to much blurred beyond 1024x resolution. An X30 featuring DVI - that'd be great!

Running my X31 in the Dock II is perfect for me. It has both the HD15 as well as DVI video connections and most importantly, it has a UB2K so I can put in an optical drive and do any installs that the X31 needs. It's kept me from having to go out and buy the X3 UltraBase so far!

I use a minidock with my T42. It provides me with more connectivity (4 extra USB connectors for instance), the ability to connect and disconnect all my peripherals (external drives, ADSL router, external screen, printer, mouse etc.) in one simple move. The laptop also sits slightly angled which is more comfortable for typing, and keeps it free of the table for better cooling.
Whenever a thunderstorm starts, I can lift the machine out of the dock to disconnect it from the power and all peripherals instantly.

I use a dock because 85%+ of the time I'm sitting at my desk with a nice big monitor, gigabit ethernet to my NAS, speakers, ergonomic keyboard, etc. But when I do travel -- especially when it's just getting an hour or two of work in while taking my daughter to a lesson of some sort -- I've found it essentially impossible to adequately synchronize application preferences and files between a desktop and a notebook... particularly when the applications include things like Apache web server and MySQL (I do web application development) and deliberate additions to my hosts file for various testing sites (client1.localhost, client2.localhost...).

Mini-Dock here.

Why?:
It currently keeps me from plugging and unplugging 4 USB devices and an Ethernet cable from my R50. Also, it has the external floppy adapter that I've used a handful of times that my R50 doesn't have.

It formerly kept me from plugging and unplugging my VGA monitor, mouse, and audio cables.

For me, it's too convenient to press a button and lift up on the ThinkPad to disconnect 5+ cables. I don't know if I'll ever own a ThinkPad that I can't dock in one way or another.

Note to all ..... I just learned that it's important to plug any dock into a UPS and not simply a surge protector.

I lost power the other day and all my USB devices and External monitor went dark.

Fortunately, no harm done .... other than to my ego for being dumb enough to have overlooked this "minor" detail

I have been running a pair of A31p boxes and have acquired an Advanced Dock, 2 Dock-II and one MiniDock (which I never use). Mostly I have only one of the A31p's up and running.

My docks are configured for different tasks. I have a mid-size UPS .. a real benefit here with occasional if brief power outages.

The dock under my A31p (now in use) is the Advanced Dock (2877). It is populated with an ATI FireMV-2260 video card to drive my 2560x1600 external LCD via DisplayPort .. and this setup really cooks .. (I'd like to use another LCD 1960x1200 on DisplayPort to DVI .. but have no space on my desk). All my ports on the Dock are used .. have 2 x 7-port USB via PC-Card for USB2, have flat-bed scanner and film scanner (both on USB to scuzzy loop), calling card scanner, 1TB Raid-1 backup, DVD-Multi-Recorder with LightScribe, Brother P-Touch Printer printer, Canon i9900 and HP-PS8450 photo printers, HP-hx4705 PPC, Digitized Tablet with Mouse on the serial port, cordless Laser mouse on USB1 port, etc.

One of the problems in having such an array of peripherals is that each needs some cable connection to the Dock and each has its own power supply ... in addition to DSL-Modem, Router, FAX and various battery chargers for cameras, GPS and other gadgets. To cope with this I acquired a Tripp-Lite industrial grade power strip, and use cable straps in an attempt to contain the chaos on the back-side of my rather large desk .. and below it.

With all these peripherals a Dock is the only solution ... if one expects to take the ThinkPad on the road, to the client location, to the boat...

My 2nd dock, a DOCK-II [2631], populated with various frame grabber cards (one at the time) and PC-Card formats), to capture the output of various industrial/scientific cameras .. and have a suite of relevant applications.

The 3rd dock is redundant (Dock-II).

I grabbed all of my docks in the used market .. for a total of about US$ 125.

Enough said.