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    USB vs proprietary docks

    Discussion in 'Accessories' started by Samuel Curtis, May 2, 2010.

  1. Samuel Curtis

    Samuel Curtis Notebook Enthusiast

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    When I first knew about laptops in early 1990s, I always took the proprietary dock as an essential notebook accessory, but now they're all but gone except in the "old school" business lines (Thinkpads, Elitebooks, Inspiron)-- and even Toshiba decided Tecras will use their USB dock.

    Although the demise of docks is understandable-- the miniature USB replaced many ports of the old, I still found it somehow not so feasible: does USB 2.0 really have that much bandwidth to carry the signals for all the stuff on the USB dock, including a DVI and a VGA port?

    (Of course ExpressCard should have enough bandwidth to carry most dock signals.)
     
    Samuel Curtis, May 2, 2010
    #1