Expansion Dock for Inspiron

Hi all!

First of all I want to thank all the members of this site as well as reviewers for helping me make an intelligent decision buying my new laptop.
I have ordered stuffed up 9300 today from Dell for ~$1250. This also includes their Expansion Dock as I got used to having one with all my previous Laptops.
I wonder if any of you have one and can answer couple of questions:
1. The description as well as picture do not mention a Power Adapter included (or necessary) for the Dock. Would the standard adapter shipped with laptop work or would I need to purchase an extra adapter with more power?
2. Dell mentions that dock includes 5.1 audio outputs to connect to the surround speakers. Would it work with the stock Audio chipset out of the box?

Cheers,

Netscorer.

 

hey, I believe what Dell sells there is a rebranded version of the Kensington notebook docking station, here's a link to a review we did of that: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=17210&highlight=docking I hope it helps.

 

Thanks Abaxter for your quick reply!

Well, I am dissapointed. I thought I would get a full-blown docking station, not some USB2 universal imitator.
One thing I do not understand - how are they able to squeeze in external monitor connection and full-bandwith 100Mbps Ethernet via USB2?

The review states that USB2 is the only connection keeping Docking Station and laptop together. But then Dell Description states that this 'universal' docking station was developed specifically for Inspiron laptops. I don't think they can have it both ways
Cheers,

netscorer.

 

I think part of it is that the Inspiron series don't have the standard docking stations like the latitudes. The latitudes are built with a standard docking connector so you just have to snap it into the docking station.

Inspirons don't have that, so a USB dock station will be the only option. It might have been specifically designed for Insprions, or Dell took Kensington's model, and just change the same so it would be unique.