Thanks David for mentioning these. I believe these however are more precisely called "port replicators", as they can't do some of the things (especially charging the laptop, and some of the high-speed transfer ports) that a docking station can do. Still, as you say if a docking station isn't available, then a port replicator is a lot better than nothing. Chip From: David [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 2:55 PM To: Chip Orange; 'RickUSA'; [email protected] Subject: Re: New Dell Going Back Just a friendly reminder to all of you. There is available on the market, low-cost docking stations, that does not need any specially designed port on the computer. The most known manufacturer is Targus, and searching places like EBay for "Targus docking", will reveal to you a pretty good selection. Many of them, can be had for less than a hundred dollars. They simply plug into your USB port, and you get several ports available - like serial, paralel, microphone, headphone/speakers and monitor. Read the ads thoroughly, specially if you are running 64-bit OS, since only some models support that platform. The benefit of these units are, they are quite small, plug into any computer with a USB, and are low-cost. They actually are that tiny, you will have little trouble in bringing them along, even on your next trip. And, as I stated, you are not bound to buying a specially designed unit for your actual model of laptop. Several low-end laptops, does not even come with a connector for a docking. Yet, with the Targus docking, even those computers can be docked.
Regards, On 5/18/2014 12:43 AM, Chip Orange wrote: Hi Rick, I have been very happy with my Dell business class laptop E6530 running 32-bit Windows 7. I have seen a lot of complaints re consumer grade Windows 8.1 laptops (which are always 64 bit Windows), but I don't know which component is the big hassle; I suspect Windows 8. However, to get Windows 7 you usually have to go through the business class division of the computer company. This has another benefit as well: they don't throw on all the shovelware onto a business class system. Pretty much you get straight Windows plus some Dell utilities. Dell also makes a nice, not expensive, docking station for this line of laptops, which I also have been very happy with. It includes a nice USB port replicator to plug in all those accessories (not all laptop lines have this, and it's something worth considering when you make your decision). It turns out, independently, this is exactly the same laptop pc our hardware purchasing group has selected for all of our business purchases where I work. We've been using these at work for several years as well, and they've been very happy they said. Hth, Chip From: RickUSA [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, May 16, 2014 2:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: New Dell Going Back Hi WEErs: New xps 8700ac kept locking up. After 14 hours on phone with support? I decided on last day of return policy to send this puppy back. We never nailed down what caused the lockups. Could have been audio drivers not playing well with Screen Readers, tried jaws, windoweyes and even narrator so not a WE problem as far as I could tell. Dell removed some junkware, replaced the video driver they said was causing the problem, removed some of dells software for digital downloads and eventthe backup and recovery software, nothing helpped. They ran many tests saying the hardware was all good. There were many errors in the event loggs and the final nail was that internet explorer 11 had to restart and then a lockup and in the event log there was a problem with a dll related to internet explorer. The Reps also said they were getting intermittant breaks in the connection when trying to remote so who knows? Could be anything but I cant pay a grand for a new boat anchor so back it went. Now I have to start the new computer search all over again. This time I am going with a business system, better components and hopefully more stable software. Perhaps I will go w7 Pro instead of 8.1 Consumer version. I just dont know anymore what will work with a screen reader without worrying about potential conflicts or even if that had anything at all to do with all the errors and lockups - neither did the dell techs and there were many, many of them over the 14 hours plus of phone calls. If you run a recent machine, desktop with WE, and it has worked well for you what are you running? Are there errors in the event loggs? HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus or others? And which OS do you find most stable with WE - that is W7 Pro or even W 8.1 (Pro?) Rick USA -- David If you reply to this message it will be delivered to the original sender only. If your reply would benefit others on the list and your message is related to GW Micro, then please consider sending your message to [email protected] so the entire list will receive it. GW-Info messages are archived at http://www.gwmicro.com/gwinfo. You can manage your list subscription at http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv.
