[milhous]

just curious to see if any portable users would like to see real docking station support in future MacBook/MacBook Pros.

personally, I think it'd be great to have, especially those who have a desktop setups and would like to quickly connect to desktop peripherals and undock when people are on the go.

the docking mechanism can be universal. all apple portables could have a universal dock connector on the base of the portable that connects with one apple universal dock.

[slugslugslug]

I would love it. Especially if they then made a no-optical-drive subnotebook and a dock with a built-in SuperDrive. Perhaps they could allow 3rd parties to come up with additional docks, but that's far less likely than the already-implausible above scenario.

When I only had a laptop, it was essentially a desktop substitute since I always had so much plugged into it. So I wound up replacing it with an iMac G5. Having a dockable laptop with the performance of the new Intel chips would probably get me to switch back to a MacBook as main machine.

[Simon]

Yes, I have been asking for this ever since the first Al PB came out. Since the ports are on both sides port replicators are difficult to implement and the existing solution I know of is clumsy. I'd like Apple to just offer a port on the bottom of the case, hidden behind a nice latch that only opens when the MBP is slid onto the DS.

AFAIC Apple doesn't even have to make a DS themselves. 3rd party manufacturers will offer it. But Apple has to put the port there. Professional notebooks in the PC world have had this for how long now?

[bloodline]

Personally, I would find it totally pointless. I have my Desktop and I have my Laptop. Since I use logic Pro, I can take advantage of distributed processing... The more Macs I have the larger the projects I can run.

I would prefer a good laptop solution and a good dektop solution rather than a "poor-laptop-with-none-of-the-advantages-of-a-dektop-all-in-one" machine.

[milhous]

wow. considering that we've received less than 20 votes in the polls in about 2 days, i guess there really isn't that much demand for one.

[iREZ]

i could careless and thats how i voted. and i use my mbp as a desktop 50% of the time. i realized that almost all my peripherals are usb so im in the process of buying a 7port hub and that should help considerably in both functionality and cleanliness of my desktop.

[SDDave]

Not exactly a hot topic, is it?
Anyway, I couldn't care less about whether the docking station plugs into a special MBP port, or if the DS could connect via a USB connection, but for me, it would be nice to have a single connection point:
At work, every morning I must connect (1) DVI connector to monitor, (2) ethernet cable (no wireless LAN), (3) USB for keyboard/mouse, (4) power adaptor, (5) speaker line. A single connection would be convenient.

SDD

[milhous]

well the poll proves that there's insufficient demand for such a thing. most business-class laptops have docking connectors built-in, and apple used to have a powerbook called the duodock.

apple-history.com

it would just be great to go from the field and back to the desk and have everything up and running in a few seconds and with just one single connection point.

[slugslugslug]

The PowerBook was called the PowerBook Duo, and the dock itself was called the DuoDock. I think the latter included a NuBus slot or 2, but I could be wrong. Suppose I should just read the linked page, eh?

[Cadaver]

I wouldn't mind a dedicated docking station. Perhaps one with two DVI connectors (for two external displays). It would be nicer to slip the MacBook Pro into the docking station, rather than doing each cable separately. Simple convenience. A full-sized ExpressCard/54 slot would be a nice touch, too.

The nice thing about my previous laptops, all the connectors were on one side, so they were more tidy on my desk. The TiBook G4 had ports on the back, so I could slide it under my monitor - no cables showing and easy access to the disc slot. Same with the 12" PowerBook G4 - ports on the left size, disc slot on the right. I would stand it on it's front edge like a book; cables out back, disc in front. Very slick.

With ports on each side of the MBP, my laptop looks like an octopus when "docked" at my desk. Ethernet, video, USB, Firewire on the right. Audio and power on the left.... very un-Apple like in terms of cable clutter.

[Macola]

I'd buy a dock in an instant if it was implemented like in the PC world with a specialized dock connector. The BookEndz type "docks" are not worth it (I owned one once).