Dell D-Dock Advanced Port Replicator Review

Bottom-Line: Slide it in, hook it up to monitor, network, keyboard, mouse, and so much more.

My Dell Latitude D-820 serves double duty: it's my second desktop and it my portable computers I lug home every night.  While the 15 inch TFT Active matrix screen on the D-820 is fine to view for a couple of hours, eye strain might set in if I had to view the screen for eight.  Add to that the need to connect daily to the LAN, and external monitor, and wireless keyboard and you have a situation tailor made for the Dell D-Dock Advanced Port Replicator.

The Dell D-Dock Advanced Port Replicator is designed to allow convenient connection of several peripherals at once to your D-series Dell notebook computer.  With one simple connection the D-Dock provides access to (15) expansion ports (see bottom).  In addition the D-Dock can be matted with the D-Family Monitor Stand into which the D-Dock can be housed; the open design still allows complete access to all ports.   

My Viewpoint

Once I snapped the laptop in place it can be powered on via the power switch on the far right hand side of the Dell D-Dock Advanced Port Replicator.  The only other button belongs to the laptop eject button to be used after the laptop is turned off.  If you eject the laptop from the Dell D-Dock before you power it off, the computer will go into standby.    

The Dell D-Dock really becomes useful with paired with the D-Family Monitor Stand, which duplicates the buttons found on the Port Replicator, and adds a couple of LED's for power and standby for good measure.  As I stated earlier the Dell D-Dock slides cleanly into the monitor stand via a series of latches.  Once latched, the unit can then be slid into the back of the monitor stand and made ready for the laptop.  It's a pretty sweet relationship and it work rather well.  Once the two are paired, a monitor can be place on top for easy viewing.

The inclusion of (4) USB Version 2.0 ports and PS/2 ports makes the Dell D-Dock a very versatile and flexible Port Replicator, far more agile than units I have used in the past.  Because of the various ports I am free to use USB or PS/2 keyboards and mice.   USB ports mean that can also take advantage of a large variety of USB connected devices including hard drives, CD/DVD drives, scanners, memory sticks, and printers.  Such versatility can turn any D-series notebook into a true desktop replacement.

Compatibility (The Dell D/Dock Port Replicator): Dell Latitude D-Series Notebooks (D400, 410, 600, 610, 800, 810)

Standard I/O ports:

• Serial Port(s): (1) 9-pin serial;
• Parallel: (1) 25-pin parallel;
• PS/2 (2) 6-pin PS/2;
• Universal Serial Port: (4) USB;
• Analog Audio: Audio line-out connector for headphones/speakers;
• Digital Audio: S/PDIF;
• VGA Video: (1) 15-pin connector;
• S-Video TV-Out: (1) 7-pin mini-DIN connector;
• Digital Video Interface (DVI): (1) 24-pin connector;
• Network Interface Card: (1) RJ-45; 10/100/1000 Ethernet;
• Modem: (1) RJ-1;
• D/Bay Connector for utilizing external D-Family media modules