Docking Station for SZ series - my comments

Notes on Sony docking station for SZ series:

I thought that I would share my notes for those interested in a docking station for the SZ series notebooks. The docking station can be picky about the procedure you dock/undock and sleep/wakeup. I don’t use the laptop lcd and use a 22” lcd via DVI.

First, I’ve noticed that the external LCD only activates when the laptop is on prior to being placed in the docking station. If you dock then turn on the laptop, you must press FN F7 to activate the ext. lcd. I guess this really isn’t a big deal since you have to open the laptop anyways to turn on the power since the docking station doesn’t have a power switch. (big mistake sony) I would like to be able to walk in and dock my laptop, press the power buton on the docking station and that’s it. But instead I have to open the laptop, turn in on, wait a few secs, then finally dock it. I’m lazy.

If you dock while the laptop is on, then the external LCD activates and the internal lcd turns off. This can be changed based on the settings that sony allows you to tweak. This works well as I often carry the laptop around work and when I return to my desk, I just plug it in and I don’t have to press anything.

As for undocking, there is an undock button on the dock or you can select undock from the windows start menu. When you press undock, a light turns off and you can remove the laptop. It’s pretty quick, only 1-3 sec for the light to turn off. You can still work on the laptop after the light turns off. One interesting note, if you press the sleep or hibernate button after the light turns off, the laptop will sleep after you physically remove it from the dock. At the end of the day when I want to bring my laptop home, I usually press undock followed by sleep and when I remove the laptop, it falls asleep.

One more interesting side note, if the laptop is docked and is asleep, when you press the undock button, it will wake up the computer and sleep, but the internal lcd will not turn on until you press FN F7.

Finally, the one thing you should not do is let the computer sleep or hibernate while docked then physically undock without pressing the undock button. When you try to turn on the computer again after doing this, it will crash/lockup.

Overall, I think it’s an okay dock. It does the job. Please feel free to comment or ask questions. I probably wont have this for much longer as I'm returning the Sony soon.

PROS:

hot docks well
solid build
has DVI
has undock button
small size

CONS:
No power button (biggest complaint)
Not the easiest to line up when docking
Expensive
Doesn’t include AC adapter
Cant do 2 ext. lcds like the HP can
No sound output

-end-

 

just ordered one here. sounds pretty good. i'll really only use it for an external monitor anyway so i dont have to plug and unplug it from the laptop each time i leave the room

 

Very useful post ahkim. Thanks. You are right on about the need for an external On switch. It is worth emphasizing that a big selling point for the SZ is that the docking station provides a way to get DVI output. DVI is important for a high quality display with a large (> 20") external LCD. Almost all small notebooks do not provide a way to output DVI.

 

You state no sound output as a con. I am thinking about purchasing this docking station... does your comment mean that it is not possible to get audio output from the notebook while docked? Or, does it mean that the docking station itself does not have an audio out port? That is... can I just use the headphone out port built into the notebook while it is docked?

If there is no audio period then this docking station may be a no go!! If it just sucks that it doesn't have audio out built into the dock but I can use the headphone out port then I can live with that.

Thanks!

 

The headphone jack works fine with the docking station as well as the built in speakers. I was just pointing out that you cant use speakers plugged into the docking station.

One thing I would to point out is that I bought a USB Kensington docking station so that I could have dual external monitors and it has a sound output. The USB from the Kensington goes into the USB on the sony dock.
I believe it creates a USB sound device, so if you really need to hook up speakers without using the headphone port, that one way.

Would you please post when you get the docking station? I had a question and I dont have mine anymore.

Thanks

-Andy

 

Which Kensington docking station did you opt for? I'd definitely like to check out any alternatives before making a final decision. Thanks!

 

I had the Kensington with video dock. I'd recommend the sony one over it becuase the sony is designed for it, and has DVI and power. I had the Kens. for the sole purpose of adding a 2nd lcd in addtion to the sony dvi out.

 

I currently have an VGN SZ360P/C. When it is turned on while off of the docking station, then docked, it will not recognize the external LCD monitor. I have to manually change the nVidia display settings to get it to recognize it. Has anyone else seen this issue? Basically the laptop software reverts back to 'laptop display only"every time it is booted outside of the docking station. You have to manually change it back to external display everytime it is docked. What should the settings be to ensure it is hot dockable?

 

I just bought a SZ680 and wanted to get a docking station.... but WOW the Sony dock seems absolutely useless. All the kwirky sequences and limitations make it hardly more appealing than plugging/unplugging; the AC, VGA, and all your peripherals on a cheap USB hub; from your main unit. It seems the only REAL reason to fork out 200 for this dock is if you MUST have DVI. Sigh, very disappointing, I hope they come out with a new dock pronto!

 

this post is making it harder for me to push the button and geta sz680 -- the m1330 keeps on creeping back into my mind as a more viable option

 

I think the sz680 does have a lot of value besides the dock. Besides, AFAIK the M1330 doesn't have a dock and there aren't any plans to release one. So worst case you could think of the comparison as 2 dockless systems.

 

Does make the choice tougher though. Honestly, I probably woulda pulled the trigger on the M1330 if they didn't have a 5 week backlog.

 

Does anyone know if my old S-series docking station will work with the SZ? (I also posted that question in another thread before I found this.)

The SZ dock sounds very similar to my old S-series dock. You're right, it has a lot of issues and bad design choices. Unfortunately for people like us who use an external monitor and are lazy, a docking station is a must.

Anyone tried this?

http://www.dynadock.com

On a side note, my company-provided crappy Dell notebook from 5 years ago had a much better docking station. It has a big power button (lit) and audio input/output (to plug in desktop speakers).

 

I already posted in another thread. Sony support told me that the PRS2 Docking for S series is compatible with SZ 450N/C. However, the seller on ebay told me it's not. Still confusing. Maybe you can tried by putting the SZ on the S docking and see how it goes.