Sharing your experience and any issues with ThinkPad docking stations

I thought it may be a good idea to have a thread to share users' experience and any issues with the ThinkPad various docking stations and I would like to start by an issue that I am experiencing with the newest "ThinkPad Series 3 Docking Stations with USB 3.0". The dock is perfect and it is an upgrade from my older version that did not have the USB 3.0 port and that was the only difference between the two and the main reason why I upgraded to the newer one. However, I have tried several times to connect my external backup hard drive (latest version of Western Digital My Passport 1 TB) that has USB 3.0 to the dock and the cable is too loose in the port that probably causes the issue I am experiencing that it keeps disconnecting and reconnecting though I do not move it and also the backup gets interrupted all the time. Initially, I thought it is the drive but when I connected it directly to the USB 3.0 port on my T530, it was perfectly fine. Anyone having this experience with the USB 3.0 port on that dock?

The dock is a great one otherwise though I heard some people talking about cracking sound when using the audio part which I have not tried yet.

 

The analogue audio port of the docking station has mediocre signal quality. With reasonable good speakers, and particularly with headphones, you can hear a lot of white noise. A remedy is to use a simple USB soundcard. In my office I use the Soundblaster Play! which I got for around $10 from eBay and that sounds really good. At home I use a USB soundcard with digital output, that sounds even better.

 

Which docking station model do you have? It will be great for the posts to state the model you have so others would be aware of what model has the issue?

 

Yes, you are right. I have one Mini Dock Plus Series 3 (45N6693) and two Mini Dock Series (45N6678). Those are the previous generation Mini Docks with USB2.

Appart from Audio I can't see anything that is wrong with the docks, but obviously I cannot comment on any USB3 issues (the eSATA port of the Plus Dock works great).

 

I do agree with you that the eSATA port of the older dock was working great. However, this new USB 3.0 port is really missing my external hard drive. If the drive cable is snugly fitted to the USB 3.0 ports on the laptop itself, do you think I can claim that the docking station is at fault and contact Lenovo regarding this issue?

 

It does sound like a fault. To be sure:

- is it a 2.5" or an 3.5" HDD? If 2.5", the drive could be a bit dodgy and does not get enough juice?

- you mention that the cable does not fit properly. Now that is strange. Is the slot sort of "too wide"? Have you tried another cable?

- can you try another drive or a USB flash drive with USB3?

If none of that works then it does sound like a fault.

 

The USB tip is what matters here, I guess. What is happening is that as you mentioned the port is too wide making the cable not snugly attached. I have tried it on the machine USB 3.0 ports and it is perfectly fit and also tried it on my wife's computer and it is free of problems. The issues only happen with the USB 3.0 port on the dock when the drive keeps disconnecting and reconnection as if the cable keeps moving when the drive is backing up. I will see if they can exchange it for me and if it is a problem with the model anyway, I may ask them to provide me with the old version instead or just give up as usual with some stuff like that in the PC market.

 

Well, if the actual port is somewhat dodgy than you should really exchange the unit.

 

I did exchange the unit today and there is no difference at all and the problem still exists.