'Netbook' with dock?

[wryun]

Wondering about a sub-1.5kg notebook with a dock which include a DVD drive and a DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort out. At the moment the only ones I can find are in the 'damn, that's expensive' price range (e.g. Thinkpad x200).

[Spiderman]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netbook

The term netbook was introduced by Intel in February 2008 to describe a category of small-sized, low-cost, light weight, lean function subnotebooks optimized for Internet access and core computing functions (e.g., word processing) — either directly from applications installed on the netbook itself or indirectly, via cloud computing.

By its own definition, we're extremely unlikely to ever see a netbook that has what you're after. You're looking more into the realm of small notebooks, or possibly even UMPC (sub-notebooks that are still fully-fledged, and hence expensive).

Do have have a price-range and feature list in mind?

[McbLt]

I think most companies only offer proper docks on their higher end stuff. I doubt you'll find a proper dock on a netbook anytime soon. They serve a different market.

You could find a USB port replicator like this one from Belkin (but it needs an expresscard slot so you might have to wait for the Lenovo S10) and then buy an external optical drive... but by thetime you spend the extra money, it might not be worth it.

Targus has a few port replicators too, but might not have the features you're after.

[SLATYE]

It'd probably be better to look for a second-hand high-end laptop (like an old IBM/Lenovo X series ultra-portable). Even one of the old Pentium-M ones should compete nicely with the Atom-based Netbooks in terms of performance.

[holdennutta]

Originally Posted by McbLt

I think most companies only offer proper docks on their higher end stuff. I doubt you'll find a proper dock on a netbook anytime soon. They serve a different market.

You could find a USB port replicator like this one from Belkin (but it needs an expresscard slot so you might have to wait for the Lenovo S10) and then buy an external optical drive... but by thetime you spend the extra money, it might not be worth it.

Targus has a few port replicators too, but might not have the features you're after.

I very nearly decided to grab one of them, until I noticed it was Windows only

[wryun]

Originally Posted by SLATYE

It'd probably be better to look for a second-hand high-end laptop (like an old IBM/Lenovo X series ultra-portable). Even one of the old Pentium-M ones should compete nicely with the Atom-based Netbooks in terms of performance.

I'd admit to being very tempted when they had a recent special on an x61 with dock included for $1600, but the dock only has VGA-out (which I suspect won't be that good at 1920x1200).

---

The Belkin's an interesting option, but I'm suspicious about the quality of the drivers - the reviews on Amazon are particularly disturbing - and I'd like to be able to play old games on the external monitor (which is likely impossible with that, since they studiously avoid mentioning the graphics chipset it's using).

---

And yeah, I know I'm going a bit outside the bounds of what a netbook is defined as (hence the quotes), but it's not like it should be that hard to have a docking station with those features designed for one. After all, the first-gen Cloudbook had a DVI out - I could get what I want with two cables, one for a powered USB hub with DVD drive plugged into it and one for the monitor. So, I guess I'm dreaming of having something that at the moment would cost >$3000 for <$1000, though I'd be interested in anything <$2000 (to answer Spiderman's question about price range; as for the feature list, it's in the first post, but I guess I want basic 3D on the main monitor on top of the DVI capable dock)

Thanks for the ideas, all.

[McbLt]

Originally Posted by holdennutta

I very nearly decided to grab one of them, until I noticed it was Windows only

Actually a bit OT, but I'm suprised Apple don't have a decent dock for their Macbook Pros. IMO they'd get a lot of use and be pretty popular if done right.

[one4spl]

Originally Posted by McbLt

Actually a bit OT, but I'm suprised Apple don't have a decent dock for their Macbook Pros. IMO they'd get a lot of use and be pretty popular if done right.

Yep, I'd probably buy an Apple notebook if they had a dock. New Dell E Series Latitudes look great though.

Docking is somewhat of a religious choice, but I like having one machine and I like using a real keyboard and mouse when I'm at my desk. People who type on laptops all day are asking for all sorts of RSI issues when they get older.

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by wryun

I'd admit to being very tempted when they had a recent special on an x61 with dock included for $1600, but the dock only has VGA-out (which I suspect won't be that good at 1920x1200).

Some of the docking stations have PCI or PCIe slots, which would be ideal - you could just use a dedicated video card.

Originally Posted by wryun

And yeah, I know I'm going a bit outside the bounds of what a netbook is defined as (hence the quotes), but it's not like it should be that hard to have a docking station with those features designed for one.

Most of the netbooks only have USB2.0 ports for I/O, and that essentially eliminates any possibility of using a dedicated GPU (USB2.0 GPUs are slow even for things like watching movies, where the CPU is doing all the work).

A couple of netbooks have ExpressCard (Gigabyte M912, for example) which is equivalent to PCIe 1x. That's better than nothing, but still not exactly great.

Any docking station for this sort of purpose would probably cost a few hundred dollars. When the netbooks themselves cost only a little bit more than that, it's unlikely that many netbook buyers would also buy a docking station.

[wryun]

Originally Posted by SLATYE

Most of the netbooks only have USB2.0 ports for I/O, and that essentially eliminates any possibility of using a dedicated GPU (USB2.0 GPUs are slow even for things like watching movies, where the CPU is doing all the work).

A couple of netbooks have ExpressCard (Gigabyte M912, for example) which is equivalent to PCIe 1x. That's better than nothing, but still not exactly great.

A few years ago, though, half the laptops on the market seemed to have some kind of 'port' which exposed their internals to the world so you could buy a docking station... if only there was a 'standard' way to do it for a chipset, you could probably share docking stations across models.

Any docking station for this sort of purpose would probably cost a few hundred dollars. When the netbooks themselves cost only a little bit more than that, it's unlikely that many netbook buyers would also buy a docking station.

Yeah, indeed a good reason why they don't exist. I'm surprised, though, that more consumer level portables (I realise netbooks are somewhat farfetched) don't support docks nowadays, given how many people are using laptops as their primary systems.

[wryun]

Just a note in case this comes up in searches: I've been reasonably happy with my Compaq 2510p. Fairly cheap second hand (seem to be a few on the market at the moment), and the docking stations are inexpensive (particularly in the US).

Shame it doesn't have DVI out... but now I have a desktop for games

[firepower]

Gigabyte Booktop M1022 has docking station like device, make netbook into nettop

http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3629