Docking Station With HDMI?

After a bit of searching I've come to the conclusion that no company makes a docking station that supports HDMI output. I have a 19LG30 which I've been using as an external monitor (via VGA) and now that I'm getting a SXPS 1340 I was wanting to switch to HDMI. Docking stations seem like a great investment as I have 5 cables plugged into my HP right now (speakers constantly being plugged in the headphone jack at the front gets annoying). So getting back to question, is there any docking stations with HDMI support out there?

Also if there is not, what are your suggestions for a good docking station (around $100 CAD, $125 USD)?

 

Many docking stations offer DVI and/or DisplayPort, which have as good quality as HDMI. I know that DP can be converted to HDMI through a dongle, not sure about DVI.

 

dvi can be converted to hdmi too ($4 cable/adapter available on monoprice.com)

 

Yes, DVI can be converted to HDMI, but you need an extracable (thus docking connection) for the sound.

I am in same situation as you, Bluecore. This is due to elaborate built in new flat Samsung TV set which I want to connect to an Acer Extensa 5630G laptop with HDMI. With all cables hanging around going from the laptop to TV and elsewhere it lookes a nonsence and my wife threatens to throw all out. So the "single cable from laptop to the docking station would be super - it would be no problem to hide the dock station itself and all cables going out from it.

My question to you - how did you solve your issue, and what did you find to be the "best" docking station?

Thanks for any advice.

 

I'd also love to hear a solution. It seems that the whole docking situation has seriously lagged the other tech. Are people NOT wanting to use their LT's with all their home peripherals when they're home? I've got like seven USB connections, as well as power, monitor, etc. Crazy.

 

Hate to say this, but unless you have a proprietary docking station specifically built for that notebook (Dell Latitude, HP Elitebook, Sony Vaio Z, etc) video performance on an external monitor attached to a docking station is NOT going to be good for videos and gaming.

If a company were to put an HDMI port (1.275GB/s link) on a USB dock (60MB/s) or Express Card dock (250MB/s), consumers would expect good performance with 1080p LCD TVs and HD movies. That would not happen.

If you want a docking station with high def video output capability, you do not want to look at the SXPS. You need a business machine with a dedicated docking station, and probably a DVI->HDMI converter.

 

Don't hate yourself. All info is good info.

What it really comes down to for me is this: I'll have to plug in a powered USB hub (which will have all my peripherals plugged into it) I'll plug in my HDMI cable, and I'll plug in my power cable. As I don't have a dedicated dock port (like my last HP... I was spoiled) I think this is the best I can do, and it should give me 100% of the performance I'm expecting. Oddly, the biggest problem I can see having is that I need to physically open the LT just to access the dang power button! I never thought of that since again, my last LT with included dock had the power button on the dock.

Thanks for the input.

 

Does the notebook have an IR port? You might be able to use that to wake up the computer. Wake on LAN and Wake on USB are also options, but they may (or may not) require the computer to be on standby and not off to function.

 

Sorry to resurrect a semi old thread, but I too am trying to find a docking station with an HDMI output that will solve some of my home entertainment setup issues.

What I would like is a dock that I can connect via HDMI to my AV receiver. This would allow me to play music through my HiFi system with a high quality HDMI link, and also get visuals on my TV screen as my AV receiver has a HDMI cable from itself to the TV.

I then want to plug in a wireless KB/Mouse solution to to the dock so I can control everything from my couch!

I know you can get DVI -> HDMI converter dongles, but I assume that would then you would require an extra cable for sound - and Im looking for something with higher quality than for example, 3.5mm headphone jack -> 2xRCA.

Has anyone made this work with a simple high quality cabling setup? Or found an appropriate dock to help support it?