Laptops have evolved into very powerful and high performance tools for use both at home and in the office. Laptops are preferred over desktop computers due to their portability. In order to cater for the user’s current needs, laptops have had to improve certain features like their memory and processor speeds. Today, there are laptops that have hard drives with up to 800 gigabytes of memory, RAM of over one gigabyte and processor speeds that were not thought to be possible a few years ago.
In order to save space, increase functionality and reduce weight, manufacturers have had to get rid of some components in laptops. Some components that have been removed include most of the ports that are commonly found on desktop computers. These ports are used to connect the computer to additional hardware devices and marginal devices. This is where a docking station comes in. It provides a simpler
way to easily plug in one’s laptop into most common computer peripheral devices. It therefore allows the laptop to act as a desktop computer without compromising on its portability. The user can use the laptop anywhere; whether in the office, on the road or at home. The docking station adds some needed ports such as printer ports, additional USB ports or even monitor, keyboard and mouse ports. It also allows the laptop to have additional hardware options that include hard ware drives, PC cards, expansion cards and CD/DVD-ROMs.
Connecting a docking station to a laptop is very simple. The docking station can be connected to a separate A/C power supply which is more efficient or it can use the laptop’s power supply. There are several instances when docking stations become invaluable. For example, if one needs to connect an old printer to a new laptop, in which case the ports may not be compatible. The docking station can be used since it contains serial port connectors. One can also use it to add an additional monitor to the laptop. This monitor can be of a higher resolution than that of the laptop thus improving the user’s laptop experience.
A docking station therefore converts a laptop into a desktop computer when it is plugged into the laptop. When the docking station is unplugged the lap top becomes a portable computer again. One’s information can be accessed in either mode because it is stored on the laptop’s drives. A docking station should therefore be compatible with one’s laptop and have a good performance.