Latitude XT2 compatibility with XT media base

This is a repost of a thread I posted on tabletpcreview's forums. It seems like nobody there knows or the forum is on its way out- almost 100 views with no replies.

So the story is that I'm getting tired of plugging in 4-5 wires every time I go to class or want to study away from home, and a docking station would solve this problem. Unfortunately, the official XT2 mediabase that Dell support wants me to buy is $270. That's almost 25% the cost of this machine! (Part number H266H) There's also another part on Dell.com that might be $199. Either way, that's a lot of money for a pretty basic port replicator.

The other thing is that when I google "XT2 mediabase", the first hit is a Dell PDF of a manual for the XT2 mediabase. The part number indicated there is PR12S. However, PR12S is the part number for the XT mediabase as well! The PR12S can be ordered online for anywhere between $20-80, so I'd much rather buy it, if it works.

Can someone confirm (ie you own an XT2 and the PR12S or have access to these two parts) whether the XT2 can work mostly flawlessly with the PR12S? I can deal with bypassing an error message, but I need the ports to work. Mainly, the DVI, VGA, ethernet, USB, and audio.

 

I would say the answer is no, When I attach my XT media slice to my XT2 I get a BIOS that it will not work and I must remove the slice in order to boot.

 

100% will not work with the XT base.

 

Damn! I was hoping they'd be somewhat compatible. The PR12S media slices being sold on eBay are going for as low as $36 shipped with DVDRW.

Do either of you have the XT2 media base? I'm looking at two items on dell.com- which is correct?

$200, Part# 14H8H, found by me browsing dell.com for XT2 accessories
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/pro...tail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=biz&cs=555&sku=317-0186

$270, Part# H266H, found by Dell CSR who wouldn't give me a price without a giving me a "click to order" quote
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/pro...productdetail.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=corp&sku=H266H

I realize the H266H is coming up under Dell Canada, and without a price, but that's the best I've got short of sending you my quote directly.

 

it works. not 100% and several things do not work right. there is a media base for the XT2 call Dell they will give you the part number

 

Should be 14H8H : http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...oductdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=317-0186

The price difference is probably in Canadian dollars for H266H.

Williard - it doesn't work because they are different architectures. The XT base is PATA, and the XT2 is SATA.

 

willard: Can you clarify which things do and do not work right? Do you have an XT2 / PR12S to play around with?

jason1214: I'm aware of the PATA/SATA difference. That was why I purchased an XT2 to begin with (I didn't expect many 1.8" PATA SSDs to be released). However, that should only affect the DVDRW. The audio, USB, and video should be independent of PATA. And those are the functions that I care about.

 

It has to do with the connection from the slice to the system, much like a normal docking station. It simply isn't compatible. From what I remember, it won't even boot with it. That was probably an early BIOS revision though.

 

It boots, i did return mine and get the right slice, but it worked. The External Video sucked and did not work correctly (Bad refresh) it did not recognize that is was a dock and ejecting would result in a reboot. and if i remember the network adapter on the slice did not work.