To dock or not to dock

FockMasterDan · 06-03-2008, 04:16 AM

Well I decided to look at what was out there since several products require (or it's at least easier) a serial port. Dell's docking station seems to kick *** from what they say.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...530&lid=627063

The quick and dirty is that it gives me a Serial, Parallel, Video, two PS/2, four USB, VGA, DVI, S-Video and Audio ports

My DC-DC power supply is up to 90W, the required amount for this so I'm good to go there. The question is just about if it's a good idea. Having a DVI output is a very nice bonus.

Price is essentially a non issue since I can get one dirt cheap because the product lines are discontinued.

My concerns are mounting the docking station and the laptop in a way that will be secure and then of course functionality. It does look like it will physically block off the existing ports in the back, but that shouldn't be an issue.

Overall I'm thinking this is a go. I will probable rip open the unit and drill it into some MDF to secure it, and then have some kind of bracket that I can use to bolt down the laptop to the same MDF board. I could also use some sort of brackets that can be tightened. That isn't my concern as much as functionality.

FockMasterDan · 06-03-2008, 11:32 PM

Well I went ahead and ordered one, it was 2.99 plus 10 bucks shipping so I figured I couldn't go wrong with trying it. I'll post how it goes.

billmee · 06-04-2008, 10:56 AM

Is it a rear dock port or bottom?
I don't trust the bottom port style in the car, but I'm sure it's been done.

FockMasterDan · 06-04-2008, 12:05 PM

It's a bottom port, but like I said I'm not going to rely on the port to hold the dock and the laptop together. I'll fasten them somehow.

pancit175 · 06-04-2008, 07:26 PM

It looks like it has a power button on the top, so that will make an easier integration for startup/shutdown

RyanB95 · 06-04-2008, 08:27 PM

I'm using a D/Dock with my Dell laptop right now. What you bought is a similar docking station, except without the space to install a PCI card or CD/DVD Drive. I'm almost positive that all Dell Docking Stations have a lock on the side of them which locks the computer to the docking station (I believe). That should help keep the laptop secure to the Docking Station.

The Docking Station itself is as you described it - kick ***. Works great, fast and easy docking/undocking. It's a great buy, especially at the price. Mine was like $35 or something like that.

Good Luck!

Bugbyte · 06-04-2008, 08:40 PM

Docking station makes it easier to hack the power button.

FockMasterDan · 06-05-2008, 12:26 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

Docking station makes it easier to hack the power button.

I hadn't thought of that, but yeah I won't have to open up the laptop and screw with the power button on there. Very nice.

I would love to have another PCMCIA slot, but that's alright. When I was reading about the docking station, I do recall reading that it has a lock on it. I'll probably still add some type of fastening on my own just to be extra secure.

I almost ordered more than one at that price so I could hack it up, but this one will do just fine.

pancit175 · 06-07-2008, 06:43 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

Docking station makes it easier to hack the power button.

I already said that

FockMasterDan · 06-08-2008, 10:58 AM

So docking station showed up yesterday. Plugged it in and it works for everything I've done so far, but I've got a lot of setup to still go through.

I want to get a 90 degree USB plug and hook it up to one of the regular USBs on the computer, there is just enough space in there to do that. I'm hoping that since the docking station uses it's own port on the bottom that it's USBs will be a separate input onto the mobo, but theres not really a way for me to tell.

I also picked up my USB and firewire Hub, very nice. It has 4 USB outs and 3 firewire outs. I'll run at least my HDD firewire to hopefully avoid hibernation issues with USB.