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ezDock port replicator for ACER TM 8100s (8103\81-4) Review

post #1 of 42
4/10/05 at 1:52pm
Thread Starter 
I received my ezDock port replicator for the Acer 8100.

It came in a box!


The contents. That "dongle" protruding is the port connector. It swivels in and out (90 degrees) of the ezDock so it will ALWAYS be about 4 inches from the back of the laptop:


The ezDock AC Adapter (L) is about 3 times as large and heavy as the laptop adapter. It has no fan and has rubber feet to elevate it slightly. The PCMCIA and SmartCard slot is pictured also.


Slot and port info from the PDF manual. My USB port pic was out of focus and I was too far along to take another.
EDIT: manual snapshots came out barely legible. I'll redo them in my proverbial spare time.


The rear ports (Acer call it the front), bare and occupied:


Rear port info. Yes there are 2 power supply connections. This one came with #9, the 135W "pin" connector. Looks like the one on the laptop but I haven't tested to see if it fits.


Port usage info. Note you can use the 6 ezDock USB and the 4 laptop USB at the same time, for a total of TEN. Heaven help me if I ever need them all! Also pictured is the ezDock attached to the 8104. The distance and offset from the laptop is dictated by the ezDock construction and cannot be changed.


"Desktop mode" before ezDock and after:


The ezDock was purchased from NeutronExpress, as was my recent purchase of a 2nd primary battery for the 8104. The availability of both "fluctuated" but as I was unable to get them elsewhere I didn't mind waiting. The battery was backordered 2 weeks, the ezDock was going to be but actually arrived pretty much on time. Other than that their online ordering and shipment tracking was flawless. Email queries were promptly answered and I was continually updated with order changes without asking. I personally would buy from them again.

The driver CD only has modem drivers on it, so there was nothing to install prior to connecting the ezDock. I transferred all my cables, connected to the dongle (it has good "pinch\squeeze" buttons to undock), and started up the laptop. OMIGOSH, the wireless mouse and keyboard didn't work!! So I had to signon using the laptop. Well, I found it has to go through the XP "discovery" process to find the ezDock and all the connected items. Takes 3-4 minutes, but it did it. It found the wireless (USB) keyboard and mouse and the Nostromo Speedpad. It did NOT find the PCI modem, in the ezDock I presume, as my modem works on the laptop. I tried installing the drivers from the CD, and installing via XP online search, but couldn't get the yellow question mark to disappear in Device Manager. I haven't tested the modem to see if it works anyways, and I'm not going to worry about it as if I ever use a modem from home again I'll quit computing. I do use it on the road sometimes.
EDIT: I got the drivers to install by choosing "let me select location", selecting Agere Modem, and browsing to the CD to the .inf file, even though previously I had let it browse CD for drivers. Haven't tested it but Device Manager is now showing 2 modems installed.

If you are transporting the dock, it is super-light while the adapter is somewhat heavy. Shipping weight of the entire purchase was about 3.5 lbs.

I had my external HDD connected via the 4-pin port when I booted up. It did not "see" it so I powered off the HDD, powered on again, and it was fine.

I haven't tested all the ports and have no intention of doing so. It works for me. It is hugely convenient now to dock and undock the laptop from home desktop mode so I can go wireless upstairs. The wire cleanup is "nice", they didn't go away they're just all in back now. It IS a somewhat pricey solution, at $260-270ish. It seems to be a fairly complete replicator. 2 days in I'm very satisfied with it.
LL
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post #2 of 42
4/10/05 at 4:54pm
thanks for this review MrMsyvc,

also i never gonna buy that one (€299 + shipping in Germany) and i don't have a external LCD.

HypheN
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post #3 of 42
4/10/05 at 6:38pm
Thanks, MrMsyvc.

It's most likely possible to use the regular power adapter with the dock unless you are going to connect many bus-powered devices to it.

The one and only docking station that I liked and had in my posession was for the Sony laptop. The station latched onto laptop's back (it was as thick as laptop itself) and the whole construction looked as though laptop got extra depth. Extremely practical an beautiful design that was. Of course, laptop itself was not as thin as TM8104.

Anyway, the only immediately useful ports on ezDock I see are PS/2 ports to connect Logitech MediaPlay mouse since it has issues when connected through USB. Other than that, I don't see any value in it for myself.

With stationary use in mind though, I can see having large external monitor connected to it, audio/TV center, PDA stand....
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post #4 of 42
4/10/05 at 9:45pm
I'll definately get this. The port placement for the Acer 8100 is horrible. The Ez Dock solves al of these problems.
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post #5 of 42
4/10/05 at 10:04pm
its also useful for express cards when they come out. I might hold off for express cards and/or wait for it to be a little cheaper.
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post #6 of 42
4/10/05 at 10:47pm
so when ur using the port replicator u gotta have that plugged in, and also have the laptop plugged in as well?
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post #7 of 42
4/10/05 at 11:04pm
MrMysyvc, Thanks for the great information and pictures. As the 8104 is my primary vehicle for video work this will be perfect. The clutter of cables around the laptop leaves little room for note taking etc. Even though the notebook has never left home yet it will be perfect when needed. It certainly is a bit pricey but if I get any good at my new hobby it will be worth it. Anyway I love the new Acer 8104 and except for a few mysterious BSOD it is a near perfect laptop. The EZ dock just makes it that much better.
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post #8 of 42
4/10/05 at 11:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lastdon
so when ur using the port replicator u gotta have that plugged in, and also have the laptop plugged in as well?
No, just the port replicator is plugged in. The laptop gets power from the port replicator and your laptop AC adapter becomes a 'spare' for traveling around the house or around the world.
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post #9 of 42
4/11/05 at 1:07am
nice as well for users that have setups like the z680;s speakers etc that can run the optical out from the back i am liking this
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post #10 of 42
4/11/05 at 7:44am
u guys can consider urself lucky... ezdock is 300 -400 € here in austria! rediculous! still will try to get it cheaper form somewhere.. for the native port placement on this laptop just really is a weakness and i guess a good motivation form acer to buy their overpriced dockingstation... well done acer - we love u

thanx for this and all ur other reviews MrMsyvc!
greetings from austria
gernot - a semicontent 8104 user that knows that it still is one of the better notebooks out there and that he is simply beeing too nitpicking...
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post #11 of 42
4/11/05 at 10:14am
Quote:
its also useful for express cards when they come out. I might hold off for express cards and/or wait for it to be a little cheaper.
Why would this be usefull when express cards come out? Does the Ezdock support express cards...?
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post #12 of 42
4/11/05 at 10:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JFvergara
Why would this be usefull when express cards come out? Does the Ezdock support express cards...?
It does. PCI-E slot is under the PCCard slot on the ezDock. See MrMsyvc's photos above.
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post #13 of 42
4/13/05 at 10:43am
Heya!

Noticed that you're also using a Nostromo Speedpad (the n52?).

Have you ever had an issue where Windows XP SP2 bluescreens everytime you disconnect/stop the Speedpad?

This happens to me unless I disable the scroll wheel on it in Device Manager.

Just wondering if it's just me, due to some bizarre software/hardware conflict.

Thanks,
Cory
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post #14 of 42
4/13/05 at 11:03am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by corycoop
Heya!

Noticed that you're also using a Nostromo Speedpad (the n52?).

Have you ever had an issue where Windows XP SP2 bluescreens everytime you disconnect/stop the Speedpad?

This happens to me unless I disable the scroll wheel on it in Device Manager.

Just wondering if it's just me, due to some bizarre software/hardware conflict.

Thanks,
Cory
I never disconnect or stop it and I've never had Blue Screens because of it. (I've never had a blue screen on my Acer and can hardly recall one on my previous Sager, I'm fortunate to say.) XP auto-discovery has always recognized the Speedpad and it stays connected all the time. When I game I launch Nostromo to get the game profile set, then launch the game. I use it for WoW (all I play right now) and BF1942 DCFinal primarily, also HL2 which I don't play much anymore.
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post #15 of 42
4/20/05 at 12:44pm
.. i just ordered the ezdock from triocomputers, new york. that's strange considering i live in austria and that acer is one of the biggest notebook producers over here - but no shop in germany or austria has the dockingstation in stock..
anyway - although i pay more than 100 $ shipping fee it is still about 40 $ cheaper than the cheapest here in austria/germany.
since they are sending via ups i expect no problems - well.. i touch wood and wait.
just wanted to tell someone
cheers
gernot
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post #16 of 42
4/20/05 at 12:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by gernot
.. i just ordered the ezdock from triocomputers, new york. that's strange considering i live in austria and that acer is one of the biggest notebook producers over here - but no shop in germany or austria has the dockingstation in stock..
anyway - although i pay more than 100 $ shipping fee it is still about 40 $ cheaper than the cheapest here in austria/germany.
since they are sending via ups i expect no problems - well.. i touch wood and wait.
just wanted to tell someone
cheers
gernot
Congrats! Share your impressions when you get it.
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post #17 of 42
5/12/05 at 5:18am
Hello,
When you use your laptop travelmate and your ez-dock with seperate screen, mouse, keyboard, do you need to open the laptop to work with it ?
I've seen the situation (Dell) where there is a power-switch on the dock itself to turn on the laptop without having to open the laptop. You can put the laptop unopened under a console with a seperate fixed screen on top op it.
For the high price for the ez-dock, that utility should be incorporated,don't you think so ?
Thanks for your anwser.
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post #18 of 42
5/12/05 at 10:32am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by wulmol
Hello,
When you use your laptop travelmate and your ez-dock with seperate screen, mouse, keyboard, do you need to open the laptop to work with it ?
I've seen the situation (Dell) where there is a power-switch on the dock itself to turn on the laptop without having to open the laptop. You can put the laptop unopened under a console with a seperate fixed screen on top op it.
For the high price for the ez-dock, that utility should be incorporated,don't you think so ?
Thanks for your anwser.
For the high price it "should be" but unless I missed a switch somewhere it's not. You have to open the laptop to power on. With the heat the 8100s produce through the touchpad, I would leave the laptop top open a bit anyway for cooling.
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post #19 of 42
5/12/05 at 4:55pm
Is there no way of assigning a keyboard hotkey to turn the machine on?
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post #20 of 42
5/12/05 at 5:53pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dash
Is there no way of assigning a keyboard hotkey to turn the machine on?
Would be nice, but your keyboard is dead without power and partial boot in the first place.
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