Port Replicator vs. Port Replicator II for T42

[Paul Pennington]

I'm in the process of upgrading from an A31 to a T42. I have a Port Replicator, FRU 02K8669 I'm using with my A31. Will that work with my T42?

The only difference I find in the specs is that the II supports 1 Gb Ethernet, which I'm not using. It's odd because the II supports both the A31 and the T42. Logically, things equal to the same thing should be equal to each other.

Has anyone tried plugging a T42 into a Port Replicator FRU 02K8667? Did it blow up? Did it work?

--Paul

[rkawakami]

Logic is not always logical .

The 02K8669 port replicator will not work with a T42, the reason being that the docking port connector on the bottom of the laptop is located further towards the middle (i.e., away from the back edge). The Port Replicator II is designed to accept the T4x systems since the connector is located far enough away from the main part of the replicator base. Thus, it can also accept the earlier A,T,R,X systems which have the connector a shorter distance from the rear of the laptop. There's a spring-loaded panel in the port replicator which moves to fill in the "gap".

[Paul Pennington]

Thanks, Ray -- that makes sense. How about a T42 with the 9-cell battery installed -- will that fit into the Port Replicator II?

[rkawakami]

Yes. Besides the entire length of the panel that slides forward to bridge the gap for the earlier ARTX systems, there's a hinged section which folds down when the 9-cell battery is installed. It's a pretty neat design which encompasses the "old" and the "new". I've got a couple of these port replicators and they work quite well.

edit: The model that I'm talking about has an FRU of 92P3046 but there's several others which cover the II model. This one takes a G-type power supply; the one which has 4 pins and is rated for 7.5A. They are quite plentiful on eBay. I paid $11 for one (including the power supply) a couple of years ago (story here). There's also another version of the dock which uses the "standard" 4.5A power supply.

[Paul Pennington]

Cowabunga! 16 Volts X 7.5 Amps = 120 Watts. That ought to be enough for anything!

Thanks for the info, Ray.

--Paul

[Maccess]

Strictly speaking the small dock with the "G" series power adapter is a "Mini Dock II," the one that uses the regular power adaptor is the "Port Replicator II." The extra power pins in the "G" adapter are there to provide power to the built-in USB hub of the Mini-Dock. The port replicator only has a single USB socket, but it's a full fledged unhubbed port.

Some months ago I had to choose between getting a port replicator or a Mini Dock, I decided to go with the Port Replicator and an external USB hub with an APC universal laptop power supply. This has some advantages:

First, it uses a power adapter that I can use directly with a Thinkpad if I needed a spare one. It also spares me from having yet another different kind of Power adapter.

Second, I can place the USB hub anywhere I want, or I can use the USB hub that's built-into some LCD Monitors (I use a pair of Dell 1905FPs with built in USB hub at one location).

Third, if I need a direct USB unhubbed USB port, I have three available (two on the thinkpad, one on the dock). Some devices won't work through a hub.

Fourth, the APC Universal has a 1.0 Amp +5V USB power port that can power a hub or a laptop drive via a Y-USB cable.

Fifth, what I like best of all about the APC Universal is that it accepts Three different supply voltages: line current, anywhere from 90V to 250V AC, 50-60hz, aircraft power (irrelevant to me), or 12V battery voltage (a lifesaver, beter than a UPS...just hook it up to a car battery during a power outage).

If I had chosen the Mini-dock I wouldn't have been able to use an external USB hub or have access to a third direct USB port, or use the versatile APC 12V-250V power adapter.