Possible to link my X60 w/out docking station???

Scenario:
Toshiba Satellite A35
Levonova Thinkpad X60 without docking station

I am purchasing the X60 and debating whether to get the docking station or not. Any advice? In my opinion it only gives my the optical drive as a feature and a bunch of extra ports. I hardly ever use a CD unless installing something. Here is the question:

Can I link my two laptops via USB to install programs on the X60 using the Satellite's CD-drive?

I know the other option is to purchase an external CD drive for the X60, however I am trying to keep the price down at the moment. Otherwise, I will just have to give in and buy the docking station.

Thanks

 

I don't think it would be all that easy (might even be impossible) to connect to laptops via USB and expect one to use the CD drive off the other. Your options are:
1. You could put them on the same network (or link them up via a cross-over cable) and install Windows from a shared folder (you'll need a network boot this for this).
2. Similarly, you can create images of your CDs on your Toshiba, transfer them over the network, and use deamon tools to mount the cd image and install your programs.
3. The least troublesome would be to get an external CD drive.
4. The most expensive would be to get the docking station.

cheers!

 

Thanks for the info.

So, does anyone have any comments on using a docking station versus an external drive? I have never owned a notebook with external components. I don't see the need to have a docking station since it would just be additional clutter at home. I can get it for about $60 more than an external drive, so the price is not a big factor in my decision.

 

An external drive has a lot of other uses, I think, and is handy if its a DVDRW to bring over to a friend's house/dormroom who doesn't have a burner, or something like that. I find I have plenty of uses for my external, and I'm getting an X-series myself on Monday, and that'll be my primary means of optical drive transfer I imagine, even though it comes with an Ultrabase.

 

You might be interested in this, I saw over at Engadget that Plextor is getting set to release a tiny DVDRW in October. It's footprint isn't much bigger than the disc itself, and it's very thin as well. It's top loading, and overall is reminiscent of the Panasonic top loading drives on the Y and R series. It's also USB powered. If you're worried about portability of the drive it might be a good option, but it's probably going to be pretty expensive.

 

The X60 with a docking station has a smaller footprint than with an external drive because you don't have an extra piece of hardware lying on the desk next to the notebook. The docking station also has power and USB connectors in the back, which means the cables are out of the way. Without the docking station, the AC adapter and any USB devices have to be plugged in on the right or left side.

 

There are 2 types of docks... advanced and regular... check out the differences.

Regardless, the docking station plus the proprietary optical you must buy for it is MUCH more expensive than an external burner.

I have the dock and it reduces clutter and adds some convenience (especially if you use an external monitor). Besides all the extra ports, the dock also offers built-in speakers and added security... if someone tries to remove your unit while docked an alarm goes off.

But you wont wanna pack the dock with you because it's almost the size of the laptop. A tiny external drive would be much preferable to pack along, although i find i almost never have used an optical while out...

Depends on your needs and finances.

Oh, dont forget to get an extra AC adapter... i find that to be the most convenient thing of all, so i have a dedicated home adapter and a travel adapter.

 

Thanks for all the great input. So, are there any recommendations for external drives? I have been doing some research, but I like to read some user reviews. Minimum would be a CDRW/DVD although a DVDRW would be welcome, but I have seen some fairly expensive ones so far.

 

I'd stick with Lacie and Plextor myself.

 

For those that are interested, I discovered through additional research that mapping a network drive from a laptop to another laptop/desktop is "relatively" simple to do. This would allow you, for example, to run the CD drive from one laptop to the other. Of course, "simple" is a relative term and I do not know if I could figure it out; but possible it is.

 

what's a levonova? a rock group?

just kidding..

 

I have a desktop computer running XP home and a Laptop, Lenovo X40 running XP Pro. The X40 like the X60 doesn't have an internal optical drive. I found setting up my home network to share my desktop's CD,DVDRW drive with my laptop very difficult. Microsoft has intructions on how to share folders and drives on a home network, but it is not what I would call easy. Since I'm not a networking expert I found there were many unintuitive details that must be correctly set up. For instance both computers must be setup in the same Workgroup in windows, and in windows user accounts the guest account must be activated. From reading on the net and posting in forums eventually I was able to get my home network to share the CD,DVD drives but only if I dissabled my firewall program on both computers. I was using Trendmicro Firewall which I found very difficult to configure, but eventually I did get it to work. I'm now using ZoneAlarm, the free version, and have found it much easier to configure to share the CD,DVD drives .

If you have the time and the inclination you can probably figure out how to share your CD Drive on the one laptop with your X60, but if your want to save time and have a CD drive that doesn't depend on a home network then you might just want to buy an external drive.

Also when buying an external drive you might want to look for one that doesn't require an AC plugin for power, but can use the USB power supply on your X60. This helps reduce the amount of wires you have to carry and means you don't need an AC wall outlet to power your external CD Drive.