Laptop docking stations help to overcome the limitation of limited ports in a laptop by providing a number of serial and usb ports. With the help of these devices the laptop can be made an easy substitute for desktops.
The latest laptop docking stations can have multiple ports to connect to the internet, to the printer or scanner, to external disks, or even to a bigger screen if you like. You can stay connected to the internet without any hassles by just connecting to the station and it would take care of the rest. Additional audio jacks helps you to connect stereo speakers and headsets without the need to change the connections. The basic idea behind these docking stations is to provide the needed connectivity with all the peripheral devices and working on the go. You don’t need to change the wires from ports rather just connect the laptop to the cable of the docking station. The docking station may or may not use an adapter to derive power from a wall socket. The device can be extended to seamlessly work at home as well as office.
Depending on the type of docking system, the laptop can be in running, standby mode or shutdown status while docking/undocking. When the laptop keeps running while docking/undocking, the dock station is called a hot dock/undock. Some dock stations require that the laptop be shut down before docking/undocking and such dock stations are called cold docks/undocks. The third category referred to as Standby docks/undocks require that the laptop be in sleep mode during docking/undocking.
Port Replicator
Another term that is used interchangeably with docking stations are Port Replicators. A Port Replicator is also a device that allows for connecting various peripherals to your laptop. Although the terms are used quite interchangeably one can still make a fine distinction. Docking Stations are meant for a particular type and brand of laptop and uses proprietary system connectors and bus to extend the laptop functionality e.g. A CD/DVD read-write device connectivity. While docking stations are essentially meant to transform the laptop into a desktop computer, Port replicators provide you with the convenience of connecting multiple peripherals to your laptop.
Powered USB Hub
A Powered USB Hub is a device with a collection of usb ports that allow to connect multiple usb devices to a single usb port on a laptop
simultaneously. Although the latest generation of laptops have a lot of usb ports, plugging and de-plugging the devices from the laptop is a pain and also leads to wear and tear of the laptop ports. A usb powered hub can help to avoid all this and also get rid of a lot of wires by providing a single point of connection to the laptop. All other connections are handled by hub. A usb power hub can either take the power from an external adapter or use the power of the laptop to which it connects to. The former types are called self-powered USB hubs and the latter ones are called bus powered USB hubs. 7 port and 4 port powered usb hubs are the common configurations available in the market.
Some of the most successful docking stations available in the market are from Toshiba and Kensington. The device from Kensington is available at around $120 and has a lot of functionality. It boasts of a plug and play experience and seems to be suitable for sharing equipments. The usb ports are self powered and therefore would charge the connected devices even when the laptop is switched off.
Another docking station provided by Toshiba is known as Dynadock. In addition to the USB hub it also has built in HD Video and audio cards. Since it is designed in a tower format it does not take much space on the desk.
Thus docking stations( or port replicators) can be a great way to save time and minimize wear and tear of the laptop’s ports. Instead it provides one with additional flexibility to use the same laptop for home as well as office avoiding the need to synchronize between multiple systems.
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