Port Replicator/Docking Station for R60

I am trying to decide on a port replicator or docking station for ThinkPad R60. Does ThinkPad Port Replicator II work with R60? Lenovo's website doesn't say yea or nay. My current guess is that I only have two choices: ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock or ThinkPad Essential Port Replicator. Am I right, or are there other choices that I have? Of course, I am limiting the choices, for now, to the ones specifically manufactured for ThinkPads...

Thanks.

Ken.

 

I hope this is ok...

Adding on to ken.chang's question: can the dvi port on the dock be used by the R60?

 

I say get the Advanced Mini Dock. The Essential Port Replicator does not have a headphone jack or an AC adapter. You'll have to buy an AC adapter, unless you want to use your notebook's adapter, making it close in price to the Advanced Mini Dock. I have the Advanced Mini Dock hooked up to my Dell 2001FP using the VGA connector. I have the integrated Intel card. It looks fine to me running at 1600x1200 through the VGA connector, but I'm no DVI snob. I haven't tried the DVI yet, but I heard it only works if you have one of the dedicated cards, so you should be fine. I picked up a refurbed on eBay for $120 with a 30 day DOA warranty. It is a low tech part; I felt it was worth the risk.

 

I guess that means there are no other Lenovo replicators that will work with R60... One more question. I ordered a 9 cell battery, which sticks out at the end. Will the mini dock or the port replicator work with 9 cell batter attached to R60?

Thanks.

Ken.

 

Thanks ZaZ

 

I think they all work with the R60. There is no back on the them so you battery will just hang off the back.

 

Thank you, ZaZ!

 

I'm interesting in using the T60 with the Advanced Mini Dock, but it should be very similar for my question. Anyway, I'm researching the T60 with the dedicated ATI graphics and I wanted to be sure of two things before I make a purchase. First, can anyone confirm (maybe using the Lenovo site) whether the DVI port on the Advanced Mini Dock will work with this model? What ZaZ says makes sense, but I wish that Lenovo provided that information up front to the customer. If worst comes to worst, I'll just try to call them and ask myself.

Second, does anyone out there use the audio out port on the port replicator? I have seen on older IBM models (T4x) that even when there are speakers or headphones attached to the audio out on the dock/replicator, the sound still comes out of the speakers on the actual laptop. I was wondering if this was something that occurs with any of the current Lenovo models.

Obviously this topic is more about the R60, but I believe that any experiences with that model should carry over to my questions. Thanks in advance!

 

I called Lenovo about the DVI port in the advanced mini dock to see if it would work with my R60 with the ATI X1300. The representative put me on hold for a while and then came back and said that it wouldn't work. I have some reservations about this answer because the card can output a DVI signal. says the ATI website. Also, I have seen other setups that have the T60 and R60 output with DVI via advanced mini dock. As you can see I'm a little confused on this topic as well. I hope this helps.

 

I guess our only hope would be to find people with the Advanced Mini Dock and various laptop configurations to hopefully find a more concrete answer. Until then, I guess it's just YMMV.

 

I see no reason the R60 won't work the DVI and the x1300, but I have the integrated Intel card so I can't test it. It looks fine using the VGA to me anyway.

 

I now have the Advanced Mini Dock hooked up at my office (R60 is what I've got). Following ZaZ's advice, I got the Advanced Mini Dock, rather than Essential Port Replicator. I am very happy that I followed that advice. Thanks, ZaZ!

I works great with my VGA monitor. If you want to hook it up to both keyboard AND mouse, you would need to get PS/2 DUAL MOUSE/KEYBOARD Y SPLITTER CABLE, as it has only one PS/2 port for both mouse and keyboard. It was very cheap to pick up at the Ebay.

I did have a bad experience with an ebay transaction. This guy advertised a sale of the Advanced Mini Dock (specifically stating the manufacturer's product number for the mini-dock). I was able to win the bid for $100.00, and I thought I was very lucky indeed. Little did I know. The guy doesn't respond to my email, until I started a claim with Paypal. He then gives me series of excuses, the validity of which I have some good reason to doubt. He finally sends out the stuff. When I receive it, it clearly states on the box that it is Essential Port Replicator. When I send an email out to the guy, he says, ooops I put out a wrong advertisement. He does refund my money, but he insists that I pay the return shipping cost. At this point, I just wanted to end the transaction, so I shipped back to him at my own cost. This was my second time dealing with ebay transaction, and I guess I have to watch out better next time.

So I ordered it from a dealer, and it arrives in time, and now everything runs great. The mini dock is very easy to use, and I like the fact that it comes with its own power cord so that I won't have to remember to take it home with me at the end of the day (you know, so that I can work at home.... I guess I am not sure whether that is a good thing or a bad thing)

With one exception of a very minor glitch (which I was able to remedy with a very low tech solution), I am very happy with R60 + Advanced Mini Dock combo. The laptop doesn't get very warm, and it runs quietly and smoothly so far. This was the best present that I've ever got myself.

 

I am happy with it as well. It is so much nicer having one PC to maintain.

 

Thank you for your input ken.chang. I'm still trying to decide which one to get. the advanced mini dock or the advanced dock...

But, there is still no answer to whether or not the dvi port will work?

 

I would say if you have the dedicated card you're probably in good shape.

 

Bigtrip. Sorry I can't help you there, since I have no idea what a DVI is.... I did notice that there is another port on the dock which was a mystery to me. I am not completely computer-illiterate, but I suspect 99% of the forum members here know much much more about computers than I.