[ale] [OT?]Latitude E-series docking station?

[Dustin Strickland]

On Thu, 24 Apr 2014 07:24:12 -0400
"Jeremy T. Bouse" <Jeremy.Bouse at undergrid.net> wrote:

> On 04/23/2014 10:04 PM, Dustin Strickland wrote:
> > Hi Jeremy,
> > 
> > I think it might work. According to the link below, the PW380
> > docking station works with both the E5410 and the E6510. I'm
> > willing to bet that even if this is a slightly different model, it
> > will work. You should be able to tell from the pictures, though.
> > Thanks for the offer -- I wasn't really expecting anyone to reply.
> > It's not often that you see someone with a docking station; much
> > less one that happens to be compatible with one of your computers.
> > 
> > 
> > https://confluence.bethel.edu/display/ITSKB/How+to+use+my+Dell+E-Series+docking+station
> > 
> 
> Yeah, mine should be compatible. While it fits my E6510 perfectly it
> works with my E7240 and just has a wider gap open due to placement
> difference in the port on the bottom of the laptop. My docking station
> is also the model with dual DVI & DisplayPort which makes it nice with
> my dual 24" monitors.
> 

Sounds great. I've been wanting a setup like that for a while, just
can't find it in the budget. I was thinking about getting a Lenovo
W510 or W520 and a docking station to replace my main desktop
machine and this laptop, but I'm a little iffy about using laptops
for a main machine. Can't stick expansion cards in them and the
storage can be less than reliable. Maybe if I got a second HDD bay to
go in the optical drive space that I wouldn't use I could deal with it.

On Thu, 24 Apr 2014 07:44:24 -0400
Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:

> If you feel brave, pop out the mobo and try to reflow the solder at
> the power connector with a hair dryer on high. Or pop it in the oven
> at 180F for 10 minutes and let it col down slowly.
> 
> The patent for the mag-safe power connector that Apple has should be
> expiring in the next year or so. I expect to see a flood of adapters
> pop up.
>
>

If only I were that brave. There's too many small caps around the
connector; I've already looked(that's how I found out it was soldered
to the mobo instead of done properly).

I actually hadn't even heard of mag-safe connectors, but after looking
at them it seems like a pretty good solution. I hope they catch on in
other products; the barrel plugs they use for most laptops now weren't
designed with use in mind, it seems.