New Docking Station for Precision

Glad I could help. I agree with the advice about eSATA, that's what I use too, and I couldn't care less about USB 3.0 because of it (I have a combo eSATA/power cable and use it with 2.5" HDDs as an external HDD).

 

Is there a slim 1tb external drive using esata that you would recommend?

 

As others have said, not any time soon. When the Dell quality engineer was at my place investigating my screen issue (see my thread about the IPS corner tinting), I asked him this very same question about a new dock. He said they wouldn't release one mid-cycle and gave me a rough time frame. I don't remember exactly what he said (and he was giving an estimate anyway), but it was more than a year. I definitely wouldn't wait around for the new version if you need the dock!

 

It depends on what you want. Does the external drive have to be mobile (as in frequently carried around)? I would get a 2.5" drive (750MB or 1 TB) that you feel comfortable with (for me that is WD, but everybody has different experiences) and buy an eSATA enclosure that fits your style.

For backups and generally stationary? Get a toaster-style eSATA dock and use "naked" internal 3.5" drives in it. You cannot beat the bang for the buck there.

 

After thinking about it I think I am going to buy a multidisk raid enclosure using esata for home (via the docking station) and a simple usb3 drive for the road.