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Docks / port replicators and performance

A

AndyJeigh

Weaksauce
Joined
Dec 4, 2005
Messages
123
For quite awhile I've been considering getting a desktop replacement, and may be about to take the plunge. There's one concern though that I just recently thought of and I'm hoping someone here can weigh in with their experience.

I'm considering a Clevo M570RU (I think they are pretty new, they have 8800M GTX video), so first off, are there docking stations made for them? I use a Dell laptop for work with a docking station that snaps in on the bottom of the laptop, so I mean something like that. I haven't been able to find anything about one for the Clevo so far.

Second, do the universal port replicators hurt performance? I'm wondering if sending all of that data over USB or ExpressCard eats up CPU or some other resource. I want to use the laptop with the 1920x1200 24" LCD I have now, and all the port replicators I've seen say they only support 1600x1200 so I guess I can't use the replicator for video, but I would use it for everything else (audio, keyboard, mouse, etc).

Thanks!
 
most port replicators of the type that you are talking about simply use a USB connection from the laptop to the replicator, and then you install the drivers. This would apply for any port replicator that doesn't snap into an expansion port on the bottom of the laptop itself. Most Clevo designs that I have seen are generally full featured, but if you need serial, parallel, etc...then this is going to be your best bet. If the video port on the replicator only does 1600x1200, then just don't use the display passthrough, as you mentioned.

Does it decrease performance? either Express port or USB, the CPU will be negotiating the links between the expansion ports and the devices attached to it. However, this performance decrease is likely to be felt in real world applications with any Merom or Conroe based system at all. If I had to choose, I'd likely just go with an ExpressCard for whatever expansion ports that I needed to add. It will ride the PCI-E bus, and be less of a hit, but that is to say that it would be negligible anyways.
 
Thanks for the info. I'm not really looking to add any new connections with a port replicator/dock, I just don't want to have to connect/disconnect 5 different things every time I move the laptop. Who knows, maybe I will just end up doing that.
 
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