So, with the new laptop I bought (DELL XPS Studio 13) I have no further need of my other PCs so I'm selling the ol' desktops and my previous laptop. The thing is I'd like to use my 22" LCD monitor, and several USB devices (like 5~6, and the laptop has 2 usb slots), as well as audio, with the laptop without the need of plugging in everything each time, so that's why I thought of a dock. I've never used one nor know much about them, so any recommendations? I'm wondering if the video goes out through USB to the dock as well, which could limit a lot the resolution I guess... maybe I wouldn't be able to use the full resolution of my monitor if used in that way. Any suggestions are welcome, thanks in advance. Tchoin.-
Best bet is to always get the dock that matches the laptop from the manufacturer. That will let let you use the VGA/DVI/HDMI, sound and other outputs directly (though 5-6 USB devices may still need a secondary hub).
Are you that lazy that to plug in 4 cables (USB Hub, Audio, VGA/DVI and Power?) is too much of an effort? I don't believe there is a dock for this model, the one they do list is the all in one singing and dancing generic dock, which has a vga display chip inside it and replicates the audio and ethernet. It's nice but there are issues with it, have fun reading the release notes for the chip used in the dock, my aren't they long... I personally would buy a powered usb hub to plug your devices in and then plug the VGA, Sound and power in. I do this all the time and it's not that much of a hassle...
Yeah, docks aren't what the used to be. I ordered a Lenovo for the advertising guy at my old job and shortly after he asked for a dock... the only one available was for the next model up. Cheated!
