In my opinion, a docking station is a must if you own a laptop that resides on your desk for a big proportion of its working life. Hence my title, the umbilical of life.
With both my current and old HP laptop, i have owned a matching docking station and the only critisism would be the fact that the older docking station is not compatible with the newer laptop even though there is only a matter of a year or so between. After all they are the same manufacturer!
With that aside, the rest of this review is nothing but praise for my docking station!
Looks. Matches the laptop superbly in colour as both are finished in the graphite black /grey plastic. More block like that the previous Docking Station (DS) the shape and style of it lends itself to supporting a monitor. The old DS simply had the laptop covering the entire item. The new DS sit behind the laptop when in position. OK it takes up more desk space but I think gives you somewhere safe to place your optional screen.
Buttons. Much improved. On the old DS, you had to push 2 buttons on either side to release the laptop from the locks that hold it in place. These seemed a bit of a weakness and needed a bit of brute force some times to release. This DS has one illuminated push button on the right hand side to release the lock mechanism. Much easier to operate. The lock mechanism is also improved and retains its strength while being much easier to use. One feature that has appeared that did not exist before was an On/Off button. Illuminated and residing on the left hand side of the DS, this allows you to power down the laptop or turn it on without opening the lid. Great if you do not use the actual laptop at your desk and use a keyboard and mouse instead. You can simply leave it closed!
Rigidity/positioning. Fantastic. The laptop is rock solid when on the mounts and never loses any of its connection. The physical connection between the laptop and DS is on the bottom so movement at the joint is minimal. The slight angular lift that the DS gives to the rear of the laptop means the laptop keyboard is at a perfect tilt for typing. It replicates the angle that most keyboards sit at with their "feet" down. One handy feature on the DS is a Central marker. Perfect for lining the laptop up with the DS as the laptop lid has the same marking! Simply line the 2 up and push down. You should then be all connected!
Connectivity. Brilliant. Not only does the DS give you all of the connections that the laptop offers, but also gives you a few more! The DS has more USB ports (a total of 6) , a faster Network connection (1 Gigabit port) and also has lots of additional ports such as a Parallel port for a printer, Line out for sound, HDMI for HD visuals that the laptop does not have. It also comes with the standard mouse and keyboard connections, S Video, headphone socket, VGA and modem sockets.
There is also an expansion drawer should you need to add an extra DVD/CD drive to the docking station.
Improvements. Luckily, I can tell you about manufacturer improvments they have made as I have just bought a 2nd DS for home! This means i dont need to rely on the portable charger and can leave it charging at home in my study. 1 Big improvement they have made is the sturdiness of the power socket on the DS. Before it has a small single 2.5mm pin that the charger plugged into. Now it comes with a HUGE plug that obviously gives it strength. While i have not suffered a problem with the DS, the power pin has snapped off on the laptop. Obviously a weakness they have addressed!
Software/Manual. The docking station does come with a comprehensive manual on CD, quick setup guide (for the impatient ones!) and warranty booklet which covers the device for a year. Set up is pretty straightforward so the manual is a little overkill.
Pricing. These retail at £156.84 and are freely available from most PC retailers. I bought mine from http://uk.insight.com. Part number if you need to order is
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