Dell E/Port Plus - Port replicator Docking Station For Dell Latitude E-series / Precision

My main concern with getting a docking-station/port-replicator was that some people had mentioned problems with un-docking & re-docking on the "regular" E-Port Replicator; that was enough to make me go for the "Plus" version. I am happy to report that I am having no such problems.This E-Port Plus replicator works perfectly with my Dell Latitude E5520. Without shutting the lid or otherwise putting the machine into standby, or hibernating, or rebooting, I can dock and un-dock repeatedly---the laptop switches gracefully between the 2 states just fine.FYI, the laptop is running Windows 7 Pro (x64). The docking station has connected to it: power, Ethernet, a USB mouse, and an external monitor over an old VGA cable.It's so much nicer to work with this docking station. I now disconnect/reconnect a single thing (the laptop itself) when moving to or from my desk. It is amazingly convenient; I wish I hadn't put off this purchase for so long. (Dell's price was a significant deterrent for me.)Also, I'm finding that I like the way the laptop tilts forward slightly while docked. It sits on the shelf where the connector is, and since it's significantly smaller than the footprint of the laptop, it naturally tilts to this, more stable, position. A (nice) side-effect of this is an increase in air-flow under the laptop which helps keep it cooler, I think.UPDATE (2011-Jun-30): Things are still working as initially: very well. And I'd like to add that the docking/un-docking has proved to be as robust as expected. I can put the laptop to sleep, un-dock (and turn off/on the wi-fi switch), and wake it up somewhere else with no problems---or do that sort of thing in reverse. In short, there are no special situations I have to worry about that can screw things up; it "just works".

It is okay to use, but it has two problems buyers should be aware of. First, the DVI-D ports do not support 2560x1440 2560x1600 montors. You need to an active Displayport to DVI-D converter to the DVI-D ports. Passive converters would not work. My laptop is Dell Latitude E7450 with Intel HD Graphics 5500. The raplicator's DVI ports may support high resolution monitors if the laptop is equipped with a more powerful graphic card. That is what a Dell technician told me. Second, the replicator does not have any HDMI port. If you want to connect your monitor by HDMI. you need to buy a Displayport to HDMI converter.

Have one of these for work and home and they work great for my Latitude.One comment is that the video output is a single vga/hd15 and dual DVI-D. If you're using dual monitors connected directly to the docking station, this is fantastic (as long as at least one of them has a digital signal input option, that is). If you're hooking this up to an analog KVM (such as the iogear dual view) it is problematic because this docking station basically has one analog and 2 digital video options and leaves you hooking up one of the monitors directly. Too bad they didn't go with DVI-I that would have given the option of an analog or digital stream via the DVI connection.UPDATE:Just realized that this has 2 DisplayPort connections and google'd around to discover that you can buy relatively cheap ($30) displayport-to-vga (yes, digital-to-analog) active converters. I purchased on of these and it works great with my dualview analog kvm. This gives you a total of 5 video outputs on this docking station and a bunch of digital and analog options.

I got one of these thru Shimmerman (via Amazon) no instructions, no information. I can't figure out how to hook it up. So far, Dell, Amazon, and Shimmerman aren't helping. I have a Dell Inspiron 1764 laptop. If I can't hook into a docking station -- its going back too.

I have used docking stations from IBM and currently have one from Lenovo with other laptops. I use several monitors with my Dell laptop and also have started needing to take it with me to clients. So when I found a Dell docking station with dual monitor support I thought I had found a great solution. My first impression was that it was packaged well but there was nothing in the box that explained anything about its use or features. I was used to a docking station that has a low profile with a small addition to the footprint on the desktop. This one is designed for a variety of applications and for my Latitude E6510 a plastic shield slides to a position to align the laptop for mounting. This means that the docking station extends behind the laptop for approximately 4-5 inches. A plastic extrusion on the shield marks its center left to right to help with aligning the laptop for mounting but lines up with nothing on the laptop. I found that the mounting devices difficult to use. The real issue for me came when I tried to hook up the monitors that I currently use with my laptop. The circuitry in the docking station limits the connection to 2 monitors. When both monitor ports are used on the back of the docking station either you have displays on 2 external monitors and nothing on the laptop or a duplicate image on the laptop with 1 of the external monitors. Using a display adapter as I currently do, to a USB port on the docking station either didn't work or took away one of the monitors that was connected to one of the dual monitor ports on the docking station. I have returned the docking station since it was not going to benefit my needs.

I have two of these docking stations. They do everything they said it would do. I like being able to keep the lap top closed and out of the way while at the office and easily pop it up and off when its time to head home. I have also been able to hook up and use an old parallel printer that has been unused for years. Worth the money providing it holds up.

I had the Dell D-view stand and it was sturdy and always connected well. This one feels cheap and often does not connect everything. I have to un-dock and re-dock to get all the functionality. But it's the same one we have a work directly from Dell.