Thinkpads Forum

I have been using my T60 with no Docking Station. Docking Stations are selling cheap now adays and I was wondering if it is worth getting. Any thought on this idea ? Thanks.

That depends on your pattern of use and needs. If you tend to use your laptop both in a desktop setup with devices like keyboard/mouse, printer, monitor etc. connected, and other times as a standalone mobile device, I would say that a docking station is very handy. That allows you to simply undock when you need to bring the laptop around, without the need to disconnect several connectors. It also helps to keep your desktop setup a bit more tidy.

On the other hand, if you carry the laptop around with you most of the time, and have no particular place designated for a desktop setup, it's not that big of a deal, since the dock isn't meant for coming along when the laptop is moved and carried around. The dock is also dependent on external power, so any devices connected to it will not work if you try to run you laptop on batteries while docked.

I believe there are 3 docks for the T6x series. The basic one is a port replicator - not that useful in my opinion. The next two models up are more interesting. The mid-level dock (I have this) gives you a DVI port and 4 USB ports. The high end one gives you a DVI port AND a PCI slot. Both the higher end models come with a 90W power brick as well.

One thing to note - the docks come with legacy parallel and serial ports. I had to disable these on mine (via the BIOS) otherwise I cannot hot dock/undock without a bluescreen!

Another thing - if you use a laptop cooler, the dock will render that ineffective.

zern wrote:One thing to note - the docks come with legacy parallel and serial ports. I had to disable these on mine (via the BIOS) otherwise I cannot hot dock/undock without a bluescreen!

Interesting. I never had that issue with my T60, but I've heard it can be a problem on T61s. However, what I was experiencing with a T60, before I disabled the legacy ports on the mini-dock, is complete freeze if there's a power loss when the system is docked. Since I used to live in a place where power losses where quite frequent, it became a serious hindrance, so that setting came to the rescue.

My use for the docking station is for safe placement of the laptop on the navigation table in a sailboat. Prevents it from sliding around in a seaway and keeps the wiring tidy

Thanks guys for your input, very usefull. I got myself the "useless one" . I guess for my needs that is the one for me, plus the price was right ! Thanks guys. Next on my list is to get a cd-rw dvd-rw.

The one I got is :
Type 2505 pn 42w4600 fru pn 42w4601
4 x 4-pin Type A USB 2.0 USB
1 x 6-pin mini-DIN (PS/2) Mouse
1 x 15-pin D-Sub (HD-15) VGA
1 x RJ-45 Network
1 x RJ-11 Modem

BUT NO parallel port and NO speaker jack, hmmmmmmm. Would have been niice to have a speaker jack !

IMHO : I have had this (Type 2505) "useless one" for about one week and I can tell everyone that I should have listened to the member who called this model useless. I regret buying this model. Save your money and wait to get the better one.