Docking Station/Port Replicators

What is your experience with compatible, cradle-style docking stations and port replicators for a Latitude E series computer?

Pro's? Cons? I don't have a lot to go on having searched for things online. There's isn't a straightforward, "these units work with this computer" type of chart or document, so if you sent me to the correct resource that would work as well, but I'd like to know if anyone has any personal experience.

The use would be in an office setting. Peripherals amount to mouse, keyboard, monitor, printer and possibly a usb hub. and the docking station should work with an E series Latitude.

Thank you in advance.

 

Well, these laptops (the E-series) are set up to work with the proprietary Dell units.

Any E-series dock works with any E-series laptop that comes with the port on the bottom of the laptop.

Pros: connecting back to all your 'stuff' is pretty much instantaneous, or disconnecting. No messing around for 10 minutes every morning, if you take the laptop home overnight. Or if you take the laptop to a conference room or something.

Also, this is the only way you can hook up a DVI LCD to your system, is through the docking port.

Cons: Not many. Cost, perhaps. You pay a premium to buy the Latitude compared to, say, a Vostro, part of the premium includes the docking connector. Plus you need to buy the docking station.

Only disadvantage I can think of is that you may need 2 AC adaptors -- one to run the docking station and the laptop, and one that's rated at a lower current, to use on aircraft that have the 110VAC "Empower" plugs (ie: Delta, Air Canada, etc.) onboard, that are limited in how much power they can put out. This can be a problem if you fly a lot. But a second power adapter is what, $50 at the most?

 

Great, thanks for the info.

One of my main reasons to choose a Latitude E is for the docking station. I am aware of the usb port replicators for much cheaper, however I'd rather try to have something that isn't going to end up being sluggish, as I've read can happen with those.

 

Sometimes. Depends if you buy new, or used. The ones I've bought over the years almost never came with power adapters.

The modern systems that they're installing these days on 'airplanes' do not require a special adapter. Just a standard 110 VAC plug.

 

With my previous computer I had two chargers... One on my desktop and one which travelled in my backpack in case my battery died on the road.

With my E6410 the charger which came with computer travels in my backpack and the docking station charges the machine on my desktop. It also gives me connections to my USB devices, speakers, monitor, etc.... for only a few bucks more that the cost of a second charger.

 

I bought a $200 E-Port Plus dock used on eBay for $40. I hook it up to an LCD monitor, wireless keyboard/mouse and IR receiver for a remote control (its kind of a media center). I already had a 2nd power adapter, but really a D-series power adapter (my dad has a D820) works with these new laptops, and you can get them pretty cheap used too. I would recommend getting a nicer dock used than paying full price for the regular E dock. I know for a fact that a D-series dock will NOT work with an Exxx laptop. The connector on the bottom is completely different.

 

Wow, thats a pretty cool deal you got. I thought, with the E-series being so new, that the docks would be expensive. Not like the D-series docks that were $10 a piece as the curtains were starting to close on the D-series lineup.

 

One thing I didn't realize about the E-series docking stations until I got mine was that the docking station doesn't get recognized by Windows as a dock. So while it works, it's a bit annoying not being able to undock in Windows if you have removable storage attached to the dock and need them safely removed before physically undocking. Windows also doesn't remember separate docked and undocked profiles since the dock isn't being recognized, so Windows only remembers a single set of desktop icon placement/gadget placement/window size/window location. Thus it's also annoying if you use a monitor with your dock that has a resolution different from your laptop's LCD, because when you switch between the monitor and the LCD those aforementioned settings become messed up.

The other issue I had with the dock is that placing the laptop onto the dock is a bit tricky since there's no corner to guide exact alignment with the dock connector, but that's a minor inconvenience compared to the above annoyance.

 

I have actually been pretty pleased with the E6400s ability to hot swap between 3 different hardware configurations. Undocked, Docked at office with dual VGA/DVI monitors and docked at home with a high res displayport montor. Each dock also has different printers and other hardware attached.

Yes the icons get moved around a bit but I just keep them in the upper left corner and they mostly stay put.