Who here owns a docking station?

[Orsorum]

Or a port replicator, for those of you with IBM laptops. I am thinking of purchasing one for my IBM laptop and using it in my apartment. I have a desktop at home, but moving once every six to nine months is starting to stress out the case, my monitor, etc. So I think it may just be best if I leave the desktop at home for good, and use my laptop as my main rig. The main problem with this is the lack of portability with a desktop that gets used as a desktop - the time involved in untangling/unplugging cables and components gets prohibitive after a time. So I am pondering ponying up the $140 and buying a docking station from IBM.

Thoughts?

 

[JW310]

Originally posted by: Orsorum
Or a port replicator, for those of you with IBM laptops. I am thinking of purchasing one for my IBM laptop and using it in my apartment. I have a desktop at home, but moving once every six to nine months is starting to stress out the case, my monitor, etc. So I think it may just be best if I leave the desktop at home for good, and use my laptop as my main rig. The main problem with this is the lack of portability with a desktop that gets used as a desktop - the time involved in untangling/unplugging cables and components gets prohibitive after a time. So I am pondering ponying up the $140 and buying a docking station from IBM.

Thoughts?

Which model Thinkpad? I haven't had direct experience with port replicators for Thinkpads, but one of my coworkers at my workstudy (in the campus computer store) had one for his laptop (Thinkpad T30) that he used at work. It seemed to work pretty well... the laptop connects to it via the docking connector on the bottom, and provides all the same ports that are on the back of the laptop. He had a keyboard, mouse, monitor, and network connection going to the port replicator, and just had to connect the laptop to the port replicator to put it to full use. Unless you have the need for the extra stuff a full docking station provides, I would say that just a port replicator would work well for your situation.


JW

 

[enis083]

I have one for work. I believe its a T23. Its very convenient to have the port replicator. Just connect your laptop to it and boot up. No need to mess around with mouse, keyboard, and network cables. One thing I would recommend is getting a second power cable (if it don't come with the port replicator). I have brought my laptop home before to do work and couldn't finish because I ran out of juice...