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    About Advanced Mini Dock

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by lineS of flight, Sep 8, 2010.

  1. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    Hi...

    A friend of mine who also has the R400 wants to buy this dock for her machine.

    She, like me, is located in India. But on checking the Lenovo-India website, I can't find this listed in the Accessories section.

    Has this been discontinued? Any ideas? Ebay is not an option.

    Thanks
     
    lineS of flight, Sep 8, 2010
    #1
  2. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    It is discontinued as of July 2010, as listed in the page that you linked.

    ThinkPad Advanced Mini Dock (250410U):
    1 year Limited – customer carry-in exchange
    Announce date: 20 Sep 2005
    Availability date: 31 Oct 2005
    Effective withdrawal date: July 2010
     
    lead_org, Sep 8, 2010
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  3. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    So what happens if an existent R400 user needs a dock?
     
    lineS of flight, Sep 8, 2010
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  4. Ookamo

    Ookamo Notebook Guru

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    Ookamo, Sep 8, 2010
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  5. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    Quite difficult to do sitting in India...so yes, no PayPal either, I'm afraid.
     
    lineS of flight, Sep 8, 2010
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  6. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    But they should have some old stock...no?
     
    lineS of flight, Sep 8, 2010
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  7. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    you would have to speak to the Lenovo customer service about that.
     
    lead_org, Sep 8, 2010
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  8. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yeah...thanks. I'll do that.
     
    lineS of flight, Sep 8, 2010
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  9. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    One other question:

    Just in case Lenovo Customer Service says that they can't help, are there any other options? Are there generic docks to which any laptop can be mated? The overall objective is (1) to use an external monitor (2) to use a number of USB-centric devices (3) convenience

    Thanks
     
    lineS of flight, Sep 8, 2010
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  10. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    lead_org, Sep 8, 2010
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  11. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    lineS of flight, Sep 8, 2010
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  12. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    this is just a generic usb dock, it works with any recent thinkpads, it is not model specific.
     
    lead_org, Sep 9, 2010
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  13. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    My friend asked around and the following was recommended to her because apparently, the adv. mini dock is no longer available in India, which I find really strange - not even unsold stock?

    Anyways, here is what was recommended: Lenovo - Find accessories for your laptop and desktop -

    Note the price: INR 11340, which is about US$ 246. If I remember correctly, the dock that I got for my R400 was around INR 9000 (about US$ 195).

    Will what is suggested (on the link) work for my friend's R400? And, what accounts for this huge difference in prices? What is so good or whatever about this port replicator?
     
    lineS of flight, Sep 14, 2010
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  14. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    yes this is similar to the Toshiba U dock. The Lenovo usb dock has slightly less feature than the Toshiba one.

    The price difference is due to the fact that the Lenovo usb dock is made by a third party, all Lenovo did was just putting a badge on it. While the dock like the advanced dock is just a proprietary docking system, which is only used in Thinkpads of certain generation.
     
    lead_org, Sep 14, 2010
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  15. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    @lead_org...so, there is essentially no functional difference (except maybe for the number of ports etc) between the Toshiba dock, the Advanced Mini Dock, and the Lenovo USB dock?

    So, it does not matter if she uses the Toshiba dock and the Lenovo USB dock right - since she can't get the advanced mini dock?

    Thanks
     
    lineS of flight, Sep 15, 2010
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  16. lead_org

    lead_org Purveyor of Truth

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    no functional difference as far as i can tell.
     
    lead_org, Sep 15, 2010
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  17. lineS of flight

    lineS of flight Notebook Virtuoso

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    OK. Thanks. Then I'll suggest to her that she go for the cheapest option.
     
    lineS of flight, Sep 15, 2010
    #17