Targus USB 2.0 Docking Station with Video ACP51USZ Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm an I.T. Professional and will try to review this item from the perspective of an average computer user. I bought a new Dell Inspiron Laptop running Windows 7, Dell 21.5 inch monitor, Logitech wireless mouse & keyboard, and this Targus USB docking station.
My very first attempt to set up the device went like this: I followed the instructions by installing the software that was included with the device first, then rebooted, then attached my laptop to the Targus USB docking station. The result: Audio, network, and wireless devices worked. The display on my monitor worked except when I launched a video game called "World of Warcraft." Once I launched the video game, the display became blurry and the text illegible.
I spent about two hours troubleshooting this issue. I finally found out that the Targus website has, what it considers, the very latest software that controls the audio, networking, and USB components of the Targus docking station. However, the displaylink.com website has, what it considers, the very latest graphics software for the Targus device. So in short, I had to go to two different places to find the correct software for my Windows 7 computer.
Now here's where things started to really frustrate me about this device. Once I installed the latest graphics software for the Targus docking station and relaunched the game "World of Warcraft," the display worked perfectly but I lost my networking. So, I spent another hour trying to figure out what happened to the networking component of the docking station. Finally, I gave up and decided to start all over again by completely removing all the displaylink software and reinstalling it. This took me another 30 minutes or so. Once I reinstalled all the software (which included both pieces from the two different locations I mentioned earlier), the networking component of the docking station still did not work.
So I went back to the Targus website and found something called the "Corporate Only Windows 7 Ethernet Driver." Now, I'm not 100% sure what "Corporate Only" means but if I had to guess, usually a corporate listed software install has some additional corporate related security additions to the software but it should function normally otherwise. So I downloaded this driver and installed it. Rebooted. Now all the components of the Targus USB docking station work.
Summary: My job is to repair computer problems for a corporation I work for 5 days a week. The process I had to go through to get this Targus USB docking station to work was tedious, frustrating, and time consuming. I can't imagine how much time and effort it would take the average computer user to get this device to work properly (and as promised by the advertising for this device). After my experience with trying to get this device to function properly, I'm not surprised to see other reviewers here have varying problems with one or more of the components in this docking station. My suggestion is to look for another device and skip this one all together. In retrospect, I should have looked at the Kensington USB docking station with video.
I hope that this review helps others.

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The Targus USB 2.0 Docking Station with Video is a USB based docking station with video output capability.The "One Touch" interface enables users to quickly connect to an external monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, speakers or other peripherals often used at home or in the office.The docking station provides an ergonomic tilt for a comfortable typing angle and also keeps the laptop elevated, providing ventilation while in use.The device features two "always on" USB ports which allow users to power or charge peripherals such as a Blackberry, iPhone/iPodor camera even if the laptop is powered down or in sleep mode.The Targus Docking Station with Video allows users to make the most of their workspace with an easy connection and seamless connectivity for all of your accessories.

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Toshiba Dynadock U Universal USB Connect Docking Station Review

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(More customer reviews)Overall, I'm very satisfied with this product. Instead of having 6-7 cords I plug and unplug into my laptop every single time I take it with me, there's just one. That's incredibly convenient. Also, my laptop has just 3 USB ports, and the dock has 6, so I can keep all my devices plugged in all the time. And when I want to eject the dock, I don't have to take care of them one by one... there's a special icon for "undocking" which allows you to eject the whole dock.
There is one compatibility issue however. So right now on my laptop, I'm dual booting Windows Vista and Windows 7 RC. I use 7 RC almost all the time, because it simply is much better than Vista. The one problem I've had with 7 RC though, is that I cannot install the video driver for this dock. (You see, to get the dock to work with your audio, video and network, you have to install a driver for each of them.) I've tried several times to install both the driver that came on the disc, and the latest one from the site. And every single time, my computer would crash, and I would not be able to restart 7 RC because some files were corrupt or something. I had to do a system restore every time. Eventually I gave up, and resorted to plugging my VGA cord in my laptop like I did before purchasing the dock. Not that big a deal though. I mean it's understandable... Windows 7 hasn't even been released yet, and nobody's really had a chance to create drivers for it.
So that's the one problem that I've had with this dock and Windows 7. Not sure if this is the case with Vista, because like I said, I don't really use it. Let me note, however, that at one point after I installed the driver, I did have a few minutes with the monitor displaying, and everything worked great. I had a monitor, speakers, a mouse, a keyboard, an external hard drive, a TV tuner, a printer, and a network cable all plugged in, and everything worked fine... no lag at all.
I'd say if you're looking for a dock, this is probably the best one out there. Has everything an average user could possibly need, and works fantastically. Well, almost...EDIT: I have to mention, my monitor's resolution is 1920x1200 and the dock had no problem displaying this the one time I got it to work. And like I said, even though I had like 7 different things going on over one USB cord, there was absolutely no lag. I feel like I have to mention this because I saw a few reviews which complained about it. So if it's slow, it's mostly likely your system, and not the dock.UPDATE 3/16/2010: I have now been using this product for almost a year, and I am very happy with it. As I mentioned before, it allows for incredible freedom for laptop users. You can have all the hard drives and TV tuners and peripherals as you would with a desktop, and then something as easy as a single click, you could pick up your laptop and go.
I would like to mention that since I wrote this review, I have moved on to the final release of Windows 7 (Pro), and a new set of drivers have been released, and everything works great (including the video)! There are two minor problems I still see with the dock. First, although the video now works, it can be a little laggy when running full screen videos. It works fine when running YouTube sized videos and doing most other things, so it's not so bad. The second problem I see is that when you're undocking it, it can be a bit tricky because you may still have some applications hanging on to some of your peripherals, and you'll get a message telling you so, but it's hard to tell which ones. For example even after I close Media Center, it still has some background process running, which prevents me from unplugging my TV tuner. Anyways, the workaround for that is to just turn off your computer and unplug the dock.

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Toshiba Dynadock USB Docking Station PA3575U-1PRP Port Replicators

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