Customer Reviews

Kensington 33244 Notebook Docking Station with USB, Ethernet, and Parallel Ports (PC)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Docking stations are sweet! With this and my Sony VAIO VGN-N220E/B 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Pentium D T2060 1.6 GHz Processor, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD RW Drive, Vista Premium) Black I can have a fair compromise of performance, mobility and convenience.

When I say "worth every penny", I mean that literally. You get what you pay for. You may notice that the price of this unit falls between that of a USB hub and other docking stations that are twice the price. You get what you pay for, and I don't say that to be snide or sarcastic.

So what do you get with the Kensington 33244? You get reliability (always a plus!) and ease of installation (it would be difficult to mess this up). A USB hub won't give you the Ethernet port (to connect to your DSL or cable modem), nor will it give you a parallel port to allow you still use that beloved older printer that's given you consistent service for years.

What doesn't it give? Basically, what separates this from pricier docking stations is the absence of video and sound support. If you want to use an external monitor and speakers, you still have to plug them directly into the notebook ports. That detracts a little from the mobility of things, but then again you're only giving up a little convenience (experienced only when you want to snatch the notebook off your desk and run down to Starbucks where you can appear to be writing the Great American Novel while really chatting with friends via IM). But I CAN still keep my ergonomic Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite keyboard, and I CAN enjoy the VAIO's superior screen resolution in tandem with an external monitor (which extends the desktop!).

Worth every penny? Absolutely! Disappointed? Not in the least!

I couldn't use the device as it DOES NOT operate under VISTA, and Kensington does not have a driver available for download. DO NOT ORDER THIS ITEM UNLESS YOU HAVE XP OR LESS.

This docking station is simple to install and makes it very easy to remove a Laptop by just disconnecting two cords, one being the power cord, the other being the USB connection to the docking station. I have two Dell Laptops and like to interchange them occasionally so that I can keep the older one up-to-date in case it is ever needed. The docking station simplifies this procedure enormously. One slight disappointment was that I use a 14 year old DOS financial program that I wrote myself, it has been instrumental in allowing me to be a very successful mutual fund investor and is a program I cannot do without. It can only print through a parallel port since DOS does not recognize USB ports. I thought that the parallel port on the docking station would work but it doesn't. Although the parallel port looks and connects just like a true parallel port, internally it is in fact a Virtual USB port and is not recognized by DOS. Fortunately my DOS program can print to a file and I can then use Notepad or Wordpad to print the file so it turned out not to be a show stopper. Parallel ports are now obsolete it seems and are missing from new Laptops.

Using device to connect two external HD's and a Brother HL-1240 laser printer (parallel only) to my Dell XPS M1210 notebook (no parallel). Works perfectly. No issues.

This docking station does just what it's supposed to--I have my printer, keyboard, mouse and PDA cradle plugged into it, and I can hook up my notebook to them with one USB plug. Installation was a breeze, and it worked perfectly from the start. I wish it could handle speakers as well, but for a no-frills, reasonably inexpensive docking station, I'm not complaining.

This docking station is small, light, and terrific...has many ports and sits behind the notebook, not under it...Was able to plug in my old HP 5M laser printer!

I plugged it into my new Dell Vista computer, it installed, and it works.
The parallel port works to connect to my older HP Laserjet 6L printer (whereas a USB to parallel adaptor didn't). USB ports also work, haven't tried the Ethernet port.

I wanted to be able to use my HP printer with my new laptop and the docking station was the answer, it works great.

The Kensington 33244 provides a nice little station with ample ports. I have my monitor, ethernet, printer and mouse plugged into it and I've never had any problems. Install was a snap. And for the price, you can't beat it.

I was looking for a dock/port replicator for my laptop so I could easily move it from my desk/workspace to other mobile areas (such as connecting to my new 42" LCD HDTV, etc.) One USB cable into your laptop and you can connect your peripheral devices into this product and easily remove a single connection and your laptop can go with you wherever, while your connections stay in perfect order until you reattach the SINGLE USB cable back in place to your laptop. The selling point for me was the parallel port that is on this port replicator-most laptops don't have a parallel port and this allowed me to connect my older IBM Network 12 laser printer-beautiful! I had this printer in cold storage, and this ability alone makes this thing worth the price. (it's using a virtual USB port to essentially mimmick the parallel connection, but it works with some minor driver/printer port configuration). I bought this unit from Amazon from one of the secondary sellers at a very low price.....if you can get this at a good (low) price go for it, it works.