Advice needed for buying a Mini-Dock or Dock II

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ulrich.von.lich · #1 Post by **ulrich.von.lich** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 3:39 pm

I have a T43 and a Port Replicator II. The only reason I'm looking for a Mini-Dock or Dock II is because the quality of the sound coming out from the audio port of the PortRepII is far worse than the one coming out directly from the audio port of the ThinkPad.

I did a research in the forum and it seems that most of people were complaining the sound was still coming out from the internal speakers of the docked TP when plugging an earphone or external speakers to the PortRep II/Mini-Dock, which doesn't really bother me. However, due to the poor sound quality via PortRep, I have to plug/unplug the audio cable of my external speakers directly to the T43 every time I dock it.

Could someone please tell me if it'd be the same for the Mini-Dock or Dock II?

If the problem also occurs on both of them, I would suspect the audio signal was broken when passing through the dock connector. What do you think?

Any idea would be much appreciated!

awolfe63 · #2 Post by **awolfe63** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 4:19 pm

I think they are the same. Yours could just be broken. Mine seems OK.

JHaislet · #3 Post by **JHaislet** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:12 pm

Try hooking your speakers up to the line-out on your laptop itself (to rule out any additional noise that might be introduced by the dock).
While I have both the Dock II and Mini Dock, I've never had any audio problems out of either, thus I suspect you might have some other issues (either with your speakers or something else).

For other reasons, I would suggest staying away from the Dock II unless you need to be able to use a PCI card (like what you'd find inside a full size computer). My Dock II has a 40mm fan in the back and it has gotten very loud lately, thus my Dock II is mainly collecting dust now. Last year, I picked up a Mini Dock (which does NOT make any noise) and I've been very happy with it. 4 USB, DVI, 2xPS2, LPT, Serial, LAN, Modem covers all of my basis and then some! My Mini Dock has worked flawless and looking back, I should have saved my money and purchased the Mini Dock from day one. Also, the Mini Dock is at least 5 or 6 inches shorter (front to back) than the Dock II. I found the Dock II took up way too much room on my desk.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834995006

Back of Mini Dock

Back of Dock II

ulrich.von.lich · #4 Post by **ulrich.von.lich** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 4:55 am

The speakers work fine when being hooked up directly to the ThinkPad without passing through the Port Replicator II. I guess there's something wrong (or design flaw) with the Port Replicator.

I think I'll give the Mini Dock a try and see if the problem persists.

Thanks for the feedbacks!

davidspalding · #5 Post by **davidspalding** » Wed Dec 12, 2007 6:39 pm

I acquired a coupla Port Rep's which were being thrown out here (no kidding), along with a MiniDock (which was missing the key, so I left it). I tried them out with an Saitek egg-shaped speaker and the sound was loud, but fine. I think I've found with my Dock II the internal speakers still work (dunno why), so I simply turned them down and turned up the Bose Multimates hooked into the the dock's output.

I agree, the Dock II is a lot of docking station when a MiniDock provides 4 USB ports (powered, I believe,but I could be wrong), and key-locking. But the Dock II also has an UltraBay 2000 slot, for which I got an UltraBay Slim adapter to put my DVD writer into. This way, I can work with both a second HD in the UltraBay Slim bay, MultiWriter in the Dock, and ... a video camera hooked into a Firewire 800 adapter card in the PCI slot. For digital video editing, the Dock II does nicely. I might sell it when I get a new camera though.

sktn77a · #6 Post by **sktn77a** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 10:27 am

As the audio on all of these is straight pass through, there must be some EM interference coming from the other circuitry in the Dock II. Unless you need the 4 USB ports and the key lock (a bit of a pain for me), I'd just get a port replicator II from e-bay. They sell for next to nothing!

awolfe63 · #7 Post by **awolfe63** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 12:08 pm

The outputs must have separate output amplifiers. The volume is separately controlled.

sktn77a · #8 Post by **sktn77a** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 7:52 pm

awolfe63 wrote:The outputs must have separate output amplifiers. The volume is separately controlled.

Not on mine (?????????)

awolfe63 · #9 Post by **awolfe63** » Thu Dec 13, 2007 9:33 pm

Really? I'll check again - but I'm pretty sure I turn the volume on my in-T42 speakers all the way down with the volume down button (not mute) and I still get line level out to my powered speakers through the dock. If I use headphones on the green headphone port on the T42 - the volume goes down when I push the volume down button.

ulrich.von.lich · #10 Post by **ulrich.von.lich** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 3:16 am

sktn77a wrote:
awolfe63 wrote:The outputs must have separate output amplifiers. The volume is separately controlled.
Not on mine (?????????)

Have you tried to dock/undock your ThinkPad while it's on?

Actually I think it's a pretty cool feature, not a flaw, because you can choose to use internal or external speakers. And if you press the mute button on your TP, BOTH internal and external speakers will be mute.

What I'm frustrated about is the low audio quality of the Port Replicator II. But it seems not everyone is experiencing it so I guess mine could be defective.

sktn77a · #11 Post by **sktn77a** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 2:47 pm

awolfe63 wrote:Really? I'll check again - but I'm pretty sure I turn the volume on my in-T42 speakers all the way down with the volume down button (not mute) and I still get line level out to my powered speakers through the dock. If I use headphones on the green headphone port on the T42 - the volume goes down when I push the volume down button.

Nope. When the stereo is connected to the audio out jack on the back of the Mini Dock II (and the Port Replicator II) the volume control in the system tray controls the volume to the stereo. I'm assuming the same is true of the full sized Dock II.

sktn77a · #12 Post by **sktn77a** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 3:47 pm

I think I know what's confusing here - the volume out of the Dock/Replicator is controlled by the software (volume control in the system tray) but not by the hardware (volume control on the keyboard).

JHaislet · #13 Post by **JHaislet** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 4:43 pm

Correct, the volume buttons only control the speakers inside the T43.
However, the MUTE button mutes the entire audio output (both the internal speakers & the line out on either the T43 or dock/replicator.
I always use the physical volume buttons to turn the internal speakers all the way down when my T43 is docket so I don't have to hear output from two different sources when I use my external powered speakers plugged into the dock.

gunston · #14 Post by **gunston** » Fri Dec 14, 2007 7:04 pm

using mini dock now.

awolfe63 · #15 Post by **awolfe63** » Sat Dec 15, 2007 1:42 pm

awolfe63 wrote:Really? I'll check again - but I'm pretty sure I turn the volume on my in-T42 speakers all the way down with the volume down button (not mute) and I still get line level out to my powered speakers through the dock. If I use headphones on the green headphone port on the T42 - the volume goes down when I push the volume down button.

I checked again. The volume up-down buttons on my machine change the volume on the headphone jack - but not on the mini-dock. They must have separate amplifiers. I have one at full volume and one off right now. (Alicia Keys)

Advice needed for buying a Mini-Dock or Dock II

Advice needed for buying a Mini-Dock or Dock II

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