6 ms·

Hopefully they will have some Thinkpads with regular docking station not this ridiculous cable based solution everyone is trying to push now.

by 6d6b73 7y ago

shmerl 7y ago
They should just have more than one USB-C / USB4 port. Having just one is ridiculous.
- eropple 7y ago
  USB-C is USB3, not USB4. And every X-series Thinkpad has at least two, as far as I know.
  - shmerl 7y ago
    In the future USB4 will replace USB-C, so I wrote about both current and future cases. My E495 has only one and it's rather annoying (since it's also used for charging).
    - eropple 7y ago
      That’s kind of what you get with E and L models though. They’re bargain models. T and X models provide more ports as part of the value prop. I’ve seen a few power pass-through docks, though. Might be worth looking into if you haven’t already.
      - shmerl 7y ago
        Yes, I'm using such hub, since it's the only way to connect external monitors through DisplayPort when you only have one USB-C available. https://www.cablematters.com/pc-899-126-usb-c-multiport-adapter-with-8k-displayport-2x-usb-20-fast-ethernet-and-power-delivery.aspx https://www.cablematters.com/pc-899-126-usb-c-multiport-adap...
    - numpad0 7y ago
      To this and one above comment, just to clarify to other readers -- USB-C is a connector, can be 2.0 or 3.0 or 4.0, visually identical. There are USB-C cables with only 2.0 support and so on, in fact popular for people who just want to charge their devices.
eropple 7y ago
Why is it "ridiculous" to use a 10Gbps (or 40Gbps if you're spendy) bus to carry data? 'Cause I just sit down, plug any of my laptops (all of which have USB-C in, and everything just works. Windows, Linux, Macs (n.b.: this required a bit of a hack because they don't support MST, but it's not a huge deal)--sit down, go. Vendor-locked lower-bandwidth docking ports are an antipattern.
- 6d6b73 7y ago
  Because I can lock my laptop to the docking station, because it can also transfer power, and gives me access to many more ports than regular usb based docking station has.. and back in the good ol' days you could have a docking station with such ancient devices like cdrom and floppy - something that I don't need to carry around, but would be nice if I could access while sitting at my desk.
  - eropple 7y ago
    Lock your laptop to your desk, if you're so inclined. My Lenovo TB3 dock has two DisplayPort outputs, two HDMI outputs, Gigabit, a 3.5mm jack, 5 USB3 ports, and a USB-C port. It can also daisy-chain Thunderbolt 3 to another high-bandwidth device; I haven't tried it with a PCIe dock or anything, but in that kind of extremity my X1 Extreme has a second TB3 port onboard anyway. And USB-C PD can charge my X1 Extreme--not as fast as the dedicated 135W charger, but a less hungry laptop charges rapidly. What more do you want? What are you missing?
  - izacus 7y ago
    Thunderbolt port on ThinkPads supports charging and any device - it's a PCIe bus after all.
  - brtkdotse 7y ago
    USB-C transfers power as well. Are you really using cds and floppies in the year of our lord 2020, or are you just strawmanning?
    - 6d6b73 7y ago
stronglikedan 7y ago
It's better than when everyone was trying to sell port extenders as "docking stations", even though they don't support power to the laptop.
randomcomments 7y ago
Like this one ? https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/accessories-and-monitors/top-tech/Ultra-Dock-135-W-US/p/40AJ0135US https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/accessories-and-monitors/top-te...
- 6d6b73 7y ago
  That one is actually something similar to what I'm using, except mine is just $24 on amazon and doesn't need any drivers. https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-USA-ThinkPad-40A20090US-Thinkpads/dp/B00E0E2DIE https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-USA-ThinkPad-40A20090US-Thinkp...
  - randomcomments 7y ago
    New thinkpads dont have dock connector on bottom. they use usb-c + thunderbolt + dock connector on left side. works without installation of any drivers.
  - pathartl 7y ago
    You're linking to a device that has been deprecated, of course it's going to be cheap. Look at that MSRP.

Hopefully they will have some Thinkpads with regular docking station not this ridiculous cable based solution everyone is trying to push now.

by 6d6b73 7y ago

Hopefully they will have some Thinkpads with regular docking station not this ridiculous cable based solution everyone is trying to push now.

shmerl 7y ago

They should just have more than one USB-C / USB4 port. Having just one is ridiculous.

eropple 7y ago
USB-C is USB3, not USB4. And every X-series Thinkpad has at least two, as far as I know.
- shmerl 7y ago
  In the future USB4 will replace USB-C, so I wrote about both current and future cases. My E495 has only one and it's rather annoying (since it's also used for charging).
  - eropple 7y ago
    That’s kind of what you get with E and L models though. They’re bargain models. T and X models provide more ports as part of the value prop. I’ve seen a few power pass-through docks, though. Might be worth looking into if you haven’t already.
    - shmerl 7y ago
      Yes, I'm using such hub, since it's the only way to connect external monitors through DisplayPort when you only have one USB-C available. https://www.cablematters.com/pc-899-126-usb-c-multiport-adapter-with-8k-displayport-2x-usb-20-fast-ethernet-and-power-delivery.aspx https://www.cablematters.com/pc-899-126-usb-c-multiport-adap...
  - numpad0 7y ago
    To this and one above comment, just to clarify to other readers -- USB-C is a connector, can be 2.0 or 3.0 or 4.0, visually identical. There are USB-C cables with only 2.0 support and so on, in fact popular for people who just want to charge their devices.

eropple 7y ago

Why is it "ridiculous" to use a 10Gbps (or 40Gbps if you're spendy) bus to carry data? 'Cause I just sit down, plug any of my laptops (all of which have USB-C in, and everything just works. Windows, Linux, Macs (n.b.: this required a bit of a hack because they don't support MST, but it's not a huge deal)--sit down, go. Vendor-locked lower-bandwidth docking ports are an antipattern.

6d6b73 7y ago
Because I can lock my laptop to the docking station, because it can also transfer power, and gives me access to many more ports than regular usb based docking station has.. and back in the good ol' days you could have a docking station with such ancient devices like cdrom and floppy - something that I don't need to carry around, but would be nice if I could access while sitting at my desk.
- eropple 7y ago
  Lock your laptop to your desk, if you're so inclined. My Lenovo TB3 dock has two DisplayPort outputs, two HDMI outputs, Gigabit, a 3.5mm jack, 5 USB3 ports, and a USB-C port. It can also daisy-chain Thunderbolt 3 to another high-bandwidth device; I haven't tried it with a PCIe dock or anything, but in that kind of extremity my X1 Extreme has a second TB3 port onboard anyway. And USB-C PD can charge my X1 Extreme--not as fast as the dedicated 135W charger, but a less hungry laptop charges rapidly. What more do you want? What are you missing?
- izacus 7y ago
  Thunderbolt port on ThinkPads supports charging and any device - it's a PCIe bus after all.
- brtkdotse 7y ago
  USB-C transfers power as well. Are you really using cds and floppies in the year of our lord 2020, or are you just strawmanning?
  - 6d6b73 7y ago

stronglikedan 7y ago

It's better than when everyone was trying to sell port extenders as "docking stations", even though they don't support power to the laptop.

randomcomments 7y ago

Like this one ? https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/accessories-and-monitors/top-tech/Ultra-Dock-135-W-US/p/40AJ0135US https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/accessories-and-monitors/top-te...

6d6b73 7y ago
That one is actually something similar to what I'm using, except mine is just $24 on amazon and doesn't need any drivers. https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-USA-ThinkPad-40A20090US-Thinkpads/dp/B00E0E2DIE https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-USA-ThinkPad-40A20090US-Thinkp...
- randomcomments 7y ago
  New thinkpads dont have dock connector on bottom. they use usb-c + thunderbolt + dock connector on left side. works without installation of any drivers.
- pathartl 7y ago
  You're linking to a device that has been deprecated, of course it's going to be cheap. Look at that MSRP.