My collection of hardware was coming together:
-- keyboard, check.
-- keyboard drawer, check.
-- 19" LCD monitor, check.
-- 1TB Firewire 800 external hard drive, nope.
FutureShop was advertising the LeCie drive, but did not have them in stock anywhere. "Our shipments arrive Mondays and Thursdays," the salesperson told me.
But I was running into another problem: cables.
Or, more accurately, lots of cables to unplug each time I wanted to make my notebook computer with me. Then I recalled seeing an port replicator for my TX1000-series notebook computer laying abandoned on a shelf at Staples in Coquitlam. It had a "Reduced" sticker on it. "Oh, that's because it was opened," explained the manager. "You get an extra 5% off."
The expansion module (HP calls it a "Quick Dock") uses a single proprietary cable to feed nearly all data and power between the computer and QuickDock. It replicates nearly all ports, and it adds extras that were missing from the computer, such as 6 more USB ports, and extra video connectors.
However, it fails to replicated the Express slot, and there is no FireWire. That means I'll have an extra wire to disconnect, the one between the external hard drive and the Express/34 Firewire 800 port.
Another drawback is that the QuickPort connector is located on the rightside of the computer, so it interferes with the mousing area. The connector has a huge plug and fat cable, so it does not tuck out of sight very well. It would have been nice if the connector was right-angled.
Still, it does the work of reducing the number of items to unplug down to one, for even the power goes into the QuickDock.
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