Difference btwn Port Replicator, Dock II, Mini Dock, etc...

[kuma]

I'm eyeing a dock, to increase the amount of USB ports I have from 2 to 4 at least.
And I'd be interested in being about to hook my TP up to a big LCD screen in the future say 50 inches. I now have a 22" screen I use and it works fine with video. But I've read around here that one of these I think the Dock II can accept a video card, and I was wondering if I would need that if I were to use a larger screen.
Any suggestions on which to get would be great. At least just to cut down on all the clutter I have on my desk from USB cables and such.
Thanks,

I've got a T42, with SVXA screen. The nice one.

[basketb]

The size of the LCD TV you want to connect to does not matter. What matters is its resolution and what input ports it has?
Today's HDTVs come basically in two different resolutions 720p (i.e., 1280x720 or similar) and 1080p (1920x1080) and they might have a VGA input (but only few do) but most definitively they will have an HDMI input (or DVI - but these are getting rare). Either resolution can be handled by your Thinkpad without additional video card (you may need to install the latest or modded video drivers, though). If the TV comes with a VGA input you can connect your Thinkpad directly to the TV with a VGA cable (though it is an analog connection and quality is potentially not as good as with a digital connection). To connect your Thinkpad to a TV with HDMI, you'll need a dock that features a DVI out port and an HDMI/DVI cable. That's all.

[kuma]

which docs have DVI outs then?
What are differences say btwn
Do any of these let me use a video card?

IBM ThinkPad 2878 Docking Station Dockhttp://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-2878-D ... 1|294%3A50

Port Replicator II & AC Adapter
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Port-Replicator ... 1|294%3A50

T42 Mini-Dock 62P4551 W/ Adapter
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-T30-T4 ... 1|294%3A50

[kuma]

LENOVO DOCK II A R X 2877 T40 T41 T42 is what I want I believe.
Looks cool, I'll do some more reading on if I need a video card in the future for some reason.
But this dock looks like you can add cards, so that should be great.

[sktn77a]

The port replicator II has one USB port and no P/S (it uses the thinkpad P/S). The mini-dock II has 4 USB ports, a dedicated, bigger P/S and a key lock, but otherwise looks the same. The dock II is much bigger, and can take Ultrabay 200 drives, PCMCIA cards and, I guess, a video card. The first and 3rd ictures in your post look like the same thing.

[basketb]

LENOVO DOCK II A R X 2877 T40 T41 T42 is what I want I believe.
Looks cool, I'll do some more reading on if I need a video card in the future for some reason.
But this dock looks like you can add cards, so that should be great.

A few thoughts:

If you need any of the following, then the Dock II is what you want (because the mini dock/port replicator don't provide these):
- one additional Ultrabay 2000 slot (however, this one is not hot or warm swappable, you can only remove it if the Thinkpad is powered down or not docked)
- one or two more PCMCIA slots (in addition to the two in your Thinkpad)
- a half length PCI card slot (graphic card or another card)

There are two major drawbacks of the Dock II compared to the mini dock/port replicator:
- footprint is much bigger
- fan noise. The Dock II comes with its own fan that is always on (and it is not used to cool the Thinkpad). People have reported here that they just disabled the fan (by cutting the wires) to get rid of the noise. However, doing so will eventually lead to the dock failing. But given that prices for the dock are dirt cheap, people seem to be willing to take this risk.

[Tim M]

^ I have the Dock II and am pleased with it, though I haven't yet experimented with adding any Ultrabay 2000 or low profile PCI devices (though I'd like to add a video card). My one issue is that the four-port USB hub doesn't seem to work. I can get it to work with an esoteric sequence of reboots of the machine, but the computer behaves as if those ports aren't there. Is this likely to be a hardware issue or a driver issue?

Thanks!

[sktn77a]

Most likely hardware. Sometimes the multipin connector between the laptop and the dock gets dirty/misaligned, although I've not experienced that with the recent docks/computers. Does jiggling the computer around on the dock do anything?

[Tim M]

I haven't tried that, but do notice that the connection can be a bit dodgy given that the desk is slightly warped. I might have to do a jiggle-a-thon. Thanks!

Should I be concerned about something being fried inside the dock? I did buy it used, but $35 isn't much of a loss either way.

[Nolwendil]

I have ThinkPad Mini Dock. The four USB port hub works like a charm. But the sound comming from the jack at the back of the dock is terrible compared to the one on my T42. When I connected my headphones (Sennheiser HD 485) and played some music, I couldn't belive my ears. Does everybody have the same problem?

[awolfe63]

I have ThinkPad Mini Dock. The four USB port hub works like a charm. But the sound comming from the jack at the back of the dock is terrible compared to the one on my T42. When I connected my headphones (Sennheiser HD 485) and played some music, I couldn't belive my ears. Does everybody have the same problem?

Nope - mine was fine.

[Nolwendil]

I read other topics, and it seems like the output from the dock is line-out only, so it's ment only for connecting active speakers. Seems like the impedance of my headphones (32ohm) didn't suit it very well. Anyway, now I connect the headphones to the thinkpad laptop output, and when I want to listen music from my speakers I just turn the ThinkPad volume all the way down and turn on my speakers. The ThinkPad volume doesn't affect the speakers so I use the speaker's volume knob.