how secure is the key lock on the dock?

i am going to college and will be getting the t400 and a dock. i am thinking about just using a kensington lock on the dock and using the key lock on the dock to secure my laptop. how hard is it to take the laptop off the dock when it is in the locked position? and would you recommend me getting a second kensington lock to secure both my lock and my notebook?

 

The key looks pretty simple but i think a thief would need some sort of tool. I'd get a second lock if you want to be safe. But it really just come down to how secure you feel your college dorm environment is. I never locked mine up in college and half the time my door was just unlocked.

Edit: Either that or they would break the lever you pull to undock

 

how hard is it to break the lever?

 

I know this isn't the answer you're looking for, but anything can be broken, and you don't want to look at this like theft insurance, because it's not. These things are meant to make the opportunist thief go elsewhere instead of swiping yours within a second.
You will be better off scoring an old locker and put a padlock on it, if it's for storage in your room. I'm almost willing to bet one can ram one of those with a big screwdriver and that's the end of it.

 

As said, it's a deterrent. Even the Kensington locks are deterrents. I've had to use a dremel on more than a few Kensington locks, and cutting the cords with the wire cutters in your average multi-tool takes under a minute.

I've seen the aftermath of a T22 being pulled off the dock, 2 plastic pieces broken on the bottom but the unit worked fine. I'm not sure what a newer T series will do, but if someone's determined that yours is the one, it's as good as gone, no matter what you do. You're better off preventing access to it altogether than preventing removal with a simple cord.

Lock your doors, use the Kensington lock on the dock, and cross your fingers.

(for the record, did this at my old job, FOR my old job)

 

I cant answer about the lever because I don't want to break mine trying, haha. But if someone gets into my apartment I am pretty much screwed anyways.

 

You can actually use two Kensington locks - one ont he dock and the other one on the ThinkPad while it is docked. I would be annoyed if I wanted to steal yours.

Who steals ThinkPads anyway. An average person usually mistakes it for computer from 2002 or earlier.

 

Very true...theft deterrent in being ugly! People never ask me about my laptop unless they use the trackpoint, but my roommate's HP 2510p is considered "cute" by girls.

 

i think what im going to do is when i have my laptop docked, im going to lock it to the dock using the key lock and then have the kensington locked onto my laptop. then when i take my laptop out ill just switch the kensington lock from my laptop to the dock

 

First, I wouldn't leave it out in the open..but with a docking station, why would you?

If you leave the cabling in tact, you are going to end up with one really bad looking Thinkpad. Ripping the laptop out will break something. A thief will have a tough time selling something with it's guts torn out...

If it's in like a dorm room, you should be ok. A docking station combo is also more securely that locking up just the laptop, IMO..