Dell with docking station

I'm looking for a laptop that has a port that allows it to connect to a docking station that will actually provide power to it. I see a lot of them have docking stations available that connect via USB, but you still need to connect a separate power supply to the laptop. Ideally, I'd love to have one that connects to the docking station by "sitting" in it... i.e., rather than plugging a cable into the "special" port on the laptop, the port is underneath or even just in the back of the laptop in such a way that it connects to the dock by simply resting the laptop up against it.

I'm trying to get the cheapest laptop I can, but I realize that perhaps only more expensive laptops have this feature.

Thanks for any recommendations.

 

The USB devices are port replicators, not true docks.

If you want a Dell with a true dock, you want a Latitude. All Latitudes should have a compatible dock (though E-Series docks are still somewhat expensive), all the way back to the C-Series. Some older Inspirons and XPS machines may also be compatible with the D-Dock, but I assume you're looking for something up to date.

Go for an E5400 or E5500 if you want something cheap and dockable?

 

Yup, typically only the business notebooks have these available nowadays, and they tend to be more expensive than their consumer equivalents.

I miss using a dock, but in reality the price of the consumer line products won me over. Besides, it's not that hard to put a power cable in, a usb cable (for the hub) a display adapter and an ethernet cable into the machine. It's just a pain having to bring the power supply with me all the time.

 

Latitude and precisions are the only ones. I would sign up for Dell Business Outlet coupons and jump on it when they email you the discount. Usually it is in the 15-20% range. I just got my wife a Latitude E6400 with 2.4Ghz cpu, 4GB mem and 320GB hard drive for about $500. It looks brand new and has a 3 year warranty and will work in any of the E series docks.

I know you can get a Dell laptop on the consumer side for less than $500 and even less when you go through the consumer outlet, but its going to be close when you add in the 3 year warranty upgrade for the consumer system. To me, when you do that, the business system becomes a heck of a lot more attaractive plus the fact that they are built with better materials.

 

Thanks for the info, all who replied. Just signed up for the Business Outlet coupon notifications. I'm in no rush to get a new laptop, so that sounds like it could work out nicely.

 

Question: Would this docking station come with its own power supply? If I add this to my laptop purchase will there be two power supplies in the box (one for the laptop and one for the dock)?



How long do you think it'll be before they start offering Windows 7 for the Latitudes?

 

The Latitude and Precision lines have exactly the dock slot you're looking for, complete with power. Unfortunately, I have no idea whether the dock comes with its own power supply; my mother did not get a dock with her E6400.

 

Yes it does come with it's own power supply.

 

How did you find an E6400 for $500? The cheapest I've found is $689, with a 2.26GHz cpu, 2GB mem, and 80GB hard drive. That's before the coupon discount, but even with 20% off (and I've only received a 15% off coupon), that's still about $550. Could they be lower in inventory and increased the prices?

 

I think the prices have just gone up. I was able to get the refurb in my sig for $540 in January... now the cheapest thing with a WXGA+ is like $700. I don't think they're much lower inventory either. Wait a little bit and they might go back down? Who knows...

 

The higher prices are a real bummer too. Dell got smart.

 

I was able to get a free Dell docking station at work, but I'm doubting its compatibility with any current Dell laptops. It's model number is pr01x. Nothing I've found online mentions it being compatible with either the Latitude e5400 or e6400, which are the two options I've been mainly considering. Can anyone confirm whether or not it's compatible with either of those?

 

Yep, PR01X is a D-Series dock. It'll only work with D-Series machines and a small number of Precisions, Inspirons and XPS machines.

 

just get a usb port replicator with dvi output... Lenovo, belkin, targus all make them now....

 

A monitor connection through USB is going to be very slow. Not good enough for movies, not good enough for gaming, nothing.

 

Just placed an order for an e6400 from the outlet with these specs:
- 2.66GHz, 6M L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB
- 4 GB memory
- 160 GB 7200rpm drive
- Windows XP Pro with Vista Business License
- 8X DVD +/- RW
- Back-lit Keyboard
- WXGA+
- fingerprint reader
- Intel 5300 WiFi
- 256MB NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M
- 6 cell battery

I sort of went all out and got a better system than I originally intended to, but I figured if I wasn't going to go for the cheapest option (a D630 which would work with the dock I got for free from work), I might as well spend a little more and get all the bells and whistles. I'm pretty excited about the fingerprint reader because I briefly had an HP laptop with one and loved using it to log in instead of typing a password. And a backlit keyboard is appealing for some reason, even though I'll probably never really be using it in the dark.

Used a 15% off coupon and the total cost was $820 ($90 tax was painful).

Huh... that's strange. Just looked at a confirmation email from Dell and it now lists the total as $780. Instead of tax, which is in the first "acknowledgment" email as $90, it has a line that says "IVA" for $42. Anyone know why the two emails have different info? Hopefully the second one's accurate, and I'm saving some cash.

Still have to get a dock and windows 7. I'm guessing it's not eligible for the free Win7 upgrade from Dell, since it's XP (although the "Vista Business License", whatever that is, gives me a little hope).