V1S and power station ??

Do you think the power station is worth the $150 extra for the V1S...
does it add that much "expandability"
thanks in advance

 

It doesn't add too much expandability, there are a few things like DVI. It does add a lot of convenience, if you're going be using an external monitor, keyboard, USB devices, etc. and frequently be disconnecting them then it is absolutely worth it.

 

I like the flexibility that the power station gives me, but I am having a problem with my V1S on it. If I "Undock" either by selecting "Undock" within Vista or by pressing the electronic "Undock" button on the power station, Vista locks up completely. I get the balloon popup that says it has successfully undocked, but at that point, everything freezes.

Fortunately (unfortunately?) the Undock features works fine within XP (32 bit SP2).

Anyone else have an issue with the power station and the V1 or V2 series laptops?

 

To be honest, I see the docking station to be more of a personal need, the V1S is pretty much equipped with every port you can need.

But depending on your home setup and need for ease of changing situation and such you may need or want one.

For example, if you have a big screen TV and home theatre system, you may want a docking station which already has the Video, Audio, keyboard and mouse plugged connected. Then you just place your laptop into it and watch movies.

Same goes for home use, connected to a large LCD and with keyboard and mouse, so no need for spending time plugging and unplugging several cables.

Instead just simply dock or undock.

 

"Fortunately (unfortunately?) the Undock features works fine within XP (32 bit SP2)."
I have a LAN problem when I docking station with my V1S/XP, would you please tell me the exact reference of your Ethernet controler Driver?
Thanks in advance

 

I can say it's worth it for the V1J. I've had this thing for almost a year now and I haven't had many problems with it. I have the Vista upgrade disk but I have not used it. It seems to be a lot of hassle.

Basically, you get something equivalent to a Dell D-Dock. You get VGA, DVI, PS/2, USB, audio, parallel and serial ports on this thing and it also acts as a charging dock.

In any case, 99% of the time, it's sitting in the dock and I use my nice 20" external LCD, desktop keyboard, mouse and headsets plugged to the dock.

When I need to go anywhere, I can just undock it, lift it off the dock and take it with me.

When I get back home, I just drop it back onto the dock and it works fine.

I'm not sure what driver the V1S uses for the LAN, but my V1Jp shows up as a Realtek RTL8168/8111 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet adapter. When docked, I get two of them that show up, but I can't use them both because the dock connector blocks one of the ports.