Lenovo ThinkPad USB Port Replicator with Digital Video - USB docking station Review

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(More customer reviews)I made the mistake of buying this product thinking it had displaylink hardware inside, like some other lenovo usb to video adapter. With this product, you do not have the option to rotate the monitor, which was a dealbreaker for me since I wanted to use two portrait oriented monitors with my laptop. I returned this product and got a kensington product with exactly the same features but this time, displaylink certified.
Other problems with the lenovo:
- Doesn't go into screen saver or power save mode when the other monitors do.
- Red colored text shows discoloration
- Images show compression artifacts
Didn't have the same problems with the replacement displaylink product.

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Kensington sd100 Notebook Docking Station K33419US Review

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(More customer reviews)The Kensington sd100 Notebook Docking Station should probably be called the "Notebook usb Port Replicator" because it is not a true docking station. That being said, this is a fine product what will fulfill the needs of most laptop users.
The device plugs into your laptop with one usb cable and offers sound, network, and five usb ports. It does not power your laptop (because it is a port replicator, not a docking station). It also does not offer ps/2 keyboard/mouse ports, so you will need to use a usb mouse and keyboard. It does prop your laptop up to a very nice angle to type on, so an external keyboard is less of a concern.
Overall, this is a very nice product for most people. (Just read the instructions.)

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Thinkpad Mini Dock Series 3 (433710U) Review

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(More customer reviews)BRIEFLY
If you already have the older ThinkPad Advanced dock, the Series 3 adds 2 more USBs and loses most legacy ports. However, the older 'Advanced Mini-Dock' will support both the T60's and the T400 and, in my view, the Series 3 is not worth an upgrade unless you MUST have those 2 extra USBs or are totally annoyed by the presence on the back of a large parallel port for printers that no one is using any more.
If you are shopping for your first dock, by all means, get the Series 3.EXPANDED DISCUSSION AND RATING
I am still using the Lenovo ThinkPad Advanced Mini-Dock - port replicator ( 250410U ) at home with my T400 after it served me well for some 3 years with a T60 but my employer decided that the new T400 deserved a new docking station and, here it is, the Series 3 dock on my desk.
The Series 3, finally, breaks with the past to some extent and no longer provides the old school serial, parallel, round keyboard and round mouse ports that are taking up space on the old 'Advanced' and almost no one is using these days. Instead, the add a couple extra USB ports - and you just can't have too many USBs these days - and more video support.
To those unfamiliar with the ThinkPad style mini docks, this is as a minimalistic design as possible while adding to the 'port replicator' expectations by even adding a few extra ports - see below for features.
- Verified to be compatible with the T60/61 and T400.
- Small form factor.
- Easy docking with the left corner alignment design.
- Button for turning the laptop on/off or awaken it if it's plugged in while sleeping.
- Laptop eject button.
- Physical lock with physical keys (2 keys) to provide some security.
- Will dock the laptop even when it's using the larger 9-cell battery (standard on the T400).
- Built in opening allowing for the hot air to exit via laptop's lwft side back vent.
- 3 (THREE) video ports: VGA, SingleLink DVI-D and DisplayPort
- Microphone in and headphone out analog audio ports
- RJ-45 Ethernet port
- 6 (SIX) USB ports that should give you a total of 9 USBs if you count the ones on the laptop.
- 90W, 100-240V to 20V, 4.5A AC adapter
- 1 yr. limited warranty (be prepared to pay for shipping if it breaks)
I found this dock very easy to use and I found that it greatly simplifies my professional life. With 2 docks, one in my office and one in my home office I can take advantage of normal size keyboards and big screen monitors whenever I want them and it only takes 2 seconds to pop my laptop in an out of the dock. The dock will allow for any 2 of the 3 monitor ports to be used at any given time.
For a product that brings so much convenience I can only grant 5 stars.

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Lenovo ThinkPad Advanced Mini-Dock Port Replicator (250410U) Review

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(More customer reviews)This Thinkpad Dock, built for the IBM Thinkpad T60, works very well - it is an excellent port replicator, short of the full-sized advanced dock by only 1 USB port and the expansion bays. The design is also a lot more attractive than that of the T-43 Port Replicator. There is an "undocking" system, but I usually, just eject the Thinkpad, without any ill effects to either the dock or my laptop. (The ejection process is annoying because my external hard drive sometimes does not stop immediately). My own wishes for this product are: 1) It included FireWire ports, and 2) It was cheaper. Just like all proprietary products, it sells for a lot more than it's worth.
Last note: The dock has these ports and features
4 USB 2.0
DVI
VGA
Ethernet
Phone jack
PS2
Serial
Microphone (Audio In)
Headphone (Audio Out)
S/PDIF
Power adapter
Lock
and couple more that I have no use for and will not even bother to look at. Full specs are at the company website.

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Targus USB 2.0 Docking Station with Video ACP51USZ Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm an I.T. Professional and will try to review this item from the perspective of an average computer user. I bought a new Dell Inspiron Laptop running Windows 7, Dell 21.5 inch monitor, Logitech wireless mouse & keyboard, and this Targus USB docking station.
My very first attempt to set up the device went like this: I followed the instructions by installing the software that was included with the device first, then rebooted, then attached my laptop to the Targus USB docking station. The result: Audio, network, and wireless devices worked. The display on my monitor worked except when I launched a video game called "World of Warcraft." Once I launched the video game, the display became blurry and the text illegible.
I spent about two hours troubleshooting this issue. I finally found out that the Targus website has, what it considers, the very latest software that controls the audio, networking, and USB components of the Targus docking station. However, the displaylink.com website has, what it considers, the very latest graphics software for the Targus device. So in short, I had to go to two different places to find the correct software for my Windows 7 computer.
Now here's where things started to really frustrate me about this device. Once I installed the latest graphics software for the Targus docking station and relaunched the game "World of Warcraft," the display worked perfectly but I lost my networking. So, I spent another hour trying to figure out what happened to the networking component of the docking station. Finally, I gave up and decided to start all over again by completely removing all the displaylink software and reinstalling it. This took me another 30 minutes or so. Once I reinstalled all the software (which included both pieces from the two different locations I mentioned earlier), the networking component of the docking station still did not work.
So I went back to the Targus website and found something called the "Corporate Only Windows 7 Ethernet Driver." Now, I'm not 100% sure what "Corporate Only" means but if I had to guess, usually a corporate listed software install has some additional corporate related security additions to the software but it should function normally otherwise. So I downloaded this driver and installed it. Rebooted. Now all the components of the Targus USB docking station work.
Summary: My job is to repair computer problems for a corporation I work for 5 days a week. The process I had to go through to get this Targus USB docking station to work was tedious, frustrating, and time consuming. I can't imagine how much time and effort it would take the average computer user to get this device to work properly (and as promised by the advertising for this device). After my experience with trying to get this device to function properly, I'm not surprised to see other reviewers here have varying problems with one or more of the components in this docking station. My suggestion is to look for another device and skip this one all together. In retrospect, I should have looked at the Kensington USB docking station with video.
I hope that this review helps others.

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