T41 Mini Dock: Unreliable connection

[TKuser]

I just got a Mini Dock for my T41 off of eBay.

The connection seems flaky: The Thinkpad can swivel just slightly on the Mini Dock mount, and when it's swivelled a bit to the left, some or all of the connectivity is lost (i.e. power and USB, or everything), but swivelled to the right, and it's OK again.

I can't tell if this is a bad Mini Dock or just an inherently bad design in all Mini Docks (or somehow a bad connector on my Thinkpad itself). All LOOK fine, and all also LOOK like it'd be a miracle that this connectivity thing would work at all.

Anyone have any experience with these things? I need to figure out whether I need to send this back to the seller, or if all Mini Docks are equally bad.

(Also, I haven't been able to get the Mini Dock's keyboard/mouse PS/2 ports to work at all. It's unclear whether they're supposed to work, on the T41. The manual mentions that certain ports only work when supported by the machine, but doesn't mention the keyboard/mouse ports in that context. Does anyone have any experience with this? I saw a thread discussing other issues with the PS/2 ports, so perhaps I'm just having bad luck that it's not working at all?)

Thanks!

[richk]

I'm not sure which dock you have, but I have 2 Port Replicator II docks, FRU 13R0292 which replaces 74P6735. You need to press firmly on both sides to get it to latch. I use the PS2 keyboard port on one of the docks with no problem. My laptop is a T42p, which should work the same as your T41.

[TKuser]

Thanks. It is the "Mini Dock," a.k.a. 287810U. It is clearly latched. The problem is that I can REALLY REALLY SLIGHTLY apply pressure this way or that within this latched position, and I can break connections in doing so. So I have to be careful not to jostle the computer at all, or the connection may be momentarily broken.

Again, I can't tell if it's shoddy design, or I just got a finicky one.

[Harryc]

Pick up one of the FRU's that Richk mentioned. The locking mechanism is better and they are equally as inexpensive. Here you go, .
$13 delivered to your door

[TKuser]

Pick up one of the FRU's that Richk mentioned. The locking mechanism is better and they are equally as inexpensive.

Thanks for the suggestion! The locking mechanism looks identical to me, which suggests an answer to my original question: I probably just got a defective unit (unless my laptop is defective).

And I want a Mini Dock instead of a Port Replicator II because of the 4 USB ports (vs. the 1 USB port on the PRII).

[TKuser]

Follow up a year later: I decided the unit I received was defective, so the seller sent me a different one. The second one he sent did not have the problem the original did! So, all's well...