Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

A Dock Would be Nice

B

Ba5tardo

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 12, 2007
5
0
I'm in the market for a new notebook right now and I would really love to get a MacBook Pro. The hurdle for me right now is the lack of a dock and the ability to use two external displays.

Most of the top "pro" oriented notebooks from Dell, Lenovo and HP offer docking stations. Lenovo even has a way to put a PCI Express card in the dock.

I would love to see a real docking station for the MBP.
 
Considering that all of its ports are on the sides, it's very unlikely that you will see a solution from Apple. So, you might as well look elsewhere. The last time Apple sold a dock-able notebook was in the 90's.
 
There is a dock, from a company called BookEndz. It attached to either side of computer and allow you to quick connect. As for the mutiple monitors, I would suggest looking into the single connector, multi-screen setups. There are many out there or just get a 30" Apple Display. This is actually why I want the next major revision of the MacBook to either use DMS-59 (A connector designed to connect two monitors to one connector) or Display Port.

TEG
 
You don't need a dock to a MBP to use an external display -- although it does keep the cables nice and neat.
 
I read you.

As for the external display, I'm looking for a solution that would let me use TWO external displays at the same time as opposed to a single external display and the MBP screen. I do this currently with my Dell D620 using a docking station. I have looked at the devices that were mentioned but they seem kind of like hacks. I admit that I haven't looked at them in a while so I will take another look.

The dock would be cool though. Most companies put a dock port on the underside of the machine. It's actually a separate port than the standard ports.

Lenovo has a way to run four (yes 4) external displays froma T61 using the dock combined with a PCI Express card. In my opinion, thats a really "PRO" set up.
 
Ba5tardo said:
I read you.

As for the external display, I'm looking for a solution that would let me use TWO external displays at the same time as opposed to a single external display and the MBP screen. I do this currently with my Dell D620 using a docking station. I have looked at the devices that were mentioned but they seem kind of like hacks. I admit that I haven't looked at them in a while so I will take another look.

The dock would be cool though. Most companies put a dock port on the underside of the machine. It's actually a separate port than the standard ports.

Lenovo has a way to run four (yes 4) external displays froma T61 using the dock combined with a PCI Express card. In my opinion, thats a really "PRO" set up.
Click to expand...

There are several Express Card Display systems for Mac. And, I know what a dock is, my company uses a lot a ThinkPads and everyone has a dock, but I find them useless. Apple's reason for not have a dock port is that they are not standardized and can cause a single point of failure for the entire system.

TEG
 
You are correct. They are not standardized across manufacturers. For example a Dell dock wouldn't work with a Lenovo dock. It would be nice if the industry could work this out but it's pretty doubtful that this will happen.

Additionally, I'm not familiar with the single point of failure issue. My assumption is that a docking port is simply another port that would exist. Certainly this adds complexity to the design but the overall utility is pretty clear; a high-bandwidth port to allow for external expansion of the system. For example, my dell dock drives 2 external displays and it was on the order of $150. Not a bad deal.

I think my solution is probobly going to involve two machines; a Lenovo with two displays for my "work" (.Net development etc, windows etc.) and maybe a MacBook (non-pro) for Logic and music related stuff.
 
Ba5tardo said:
I read you.

As for the external display, I'm looking for a solution that would let me use TWO external displays at the same time as opposed to a single external display and the MBP screen. I do this currently with my Dell D620 using a docking station. I have looked at the devices that were mentioned but they seem kind of like hacks. I admit that I haven't looked at them in a while so I will take another look.

The dock would be cool though. Most companies put a dock port on the underside of the machine. It's actually a separate port than the standard ports.

Lenovo has a way to run four (yes 4) external displays froma T61 using the dock combined with a PCI Express card. In my opinion, thats a really "PRO" set up.
Click to expand...

hhmm, there was a post on engadget about a month ago about a display splitter mac mac laptops but youd have to hunt through there searches for that the other thing is something like http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/13/tritton-usb-2-0-video-card-for-mac-mini/
 
You could also use a dual head to go. It basically uses the display port on the MBP to make (as the computer sees it) one VERY wide display, then you just connect two monitors to the device. They have options for 2 or 3 on digital or analog interfaces.
 
Lack of docking feature is unfortunate, I agree. But you can minimize the pain.

Use a wireless network and have a networked printer. Plug mouse, keyboard, and other devices into a USB hub.

Now your connector count is down to three:
* Power
* Monitor
* USB Hub

Not as simple as a dock, but not terribly painful.
 
DaveF said:
Lack of docking feature is unfortunate, I agree. But you can minimize the pain.

Use a wireless network and have a networked printer. Plug mouse, keyboard, and other devices into a USB hub.

Now your connector count is down to three:
* Power
* Monitor
* USB Hub

Not as simple as a dock, but not terribly painful.
Click to expand...


Don't forget to buy a extra power adapter... unless you have a good setup you will find yourself going under the desk to unplug your adapter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back