Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

I'm considering buying a mini dock for my X230 laptop on the second hand market but some points are still unclear to me.

1. Are the laptop usb ports still available when it is plugged to the dock ?
2. Is the power unit mandatory or can it run solely on the laptop battery ?
3. Will the dock charge the laptop battery too ?

Thanks

If you're referring to the Mini Dock Series 3

1. yes the USB ports on the laptop will work even when docked.

2. You need a 90w AC adapter plugged into the dock. If you want a dock that can run on batteries, the Ultrabase Series 3 fits the bill.

3. Yes, the dock will charge the laptop.

I suggest getting the Mini-Dock variant with one USB 3.0 port.

Great, thanks very much for your enlightenment.

I guess my 90W X230 charger should fit the mini dock too.

Now I'm not sure if I won't go for an Ultrabase for the optical drive though it's lacking the usb 3.0 port.
Acually I'd like to recycle optical drives from other laptops I have but that Serial Ultrabay seems to be specific.
Well that's another question.

Yes, that's slightly disappointing that the Ultrabay is only available on the Ultrabase, but you cannot use the Ultrabase to get USB 3.0 (or eSATA if you go for the old revision Mini-Dock Plus), or dual digital displays.

Consider carrying a USB optical drive or USB to Serial Optical adapter that de facto turns any laptop Sata Optical into a USB optical.

The throughput, power, and modularity of a 2.5” SATA connector is wasted on a puny optical drive.

With USB, you could have as many as 10+ optical drives plugged into an X230.

Signed,

An optical disk user.

TPFanatic wrote: ↑

Sat Oct 26, 2024 12:36 pm

Consider carrying a USB optical drive or USB to Serial Optical adapter that de facto turns any laptop Sata Optical into a USB optical.

Yes I'll certainly do something like that. Plus I don't want my laptop sitting higher on a base.