port replicator/mini-dock

Hello notebook forum folks,
At the risk of sounding like a dumb-dumb, what exactly is the difference between a port replicator and a mini-dock that are offered by Lenovo? I read both of the descriptions but they both sound alot alike (to me at least) i.e., offering more ports, connections.

And which one do you think would be more useful? Or to put it another way, which one would allow me to just stick the notebook in while at home atop the desk and quickly pop it back out without unplugging cables, & so forth?

 

I don't think the differnces are all that great. The mini dock has a couple extra usb ports and comes with its own power supply whereas the port replicator uses your notebooks AC adapter.

 

and since the dock does have it's own power supply it really is the simplest solution for just tossing your notebook into and being all hooked up and ready to go. No need to plug anything in, not even the power adapter, as the dock will already be plugged in. I use the Ultra Base X4, it has a built-in optical drive and it's the only way I can use an optical drive in conjunction with my ThinkPad X41, a port replicator wouldn't be enough for my needs.

 

Thank you both for the replies & clarification.

For what I want, it sounds like the dock is the way to go.

On a side note, on the Canadian Lenovo site lists practically all the T43s with "call" for information on availability. That certainly wasn't the case a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if they're running out or something... and just in time as i was about to pull the trigger on ordering one. I guess I will call and find out what's going on.