1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:07,120 So today I'm going to be doing a quick unboxing of a Kensington notebook 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,840 docking station. I actually have no idea what a notebook docking station is 3 00:00:09,519 --> 00:00:16,000 exactly uh in this context, but NCIX has 4 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:22,480 a bunch of these. And so I thought, what the hey, let's do an unboxing and see 5 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:24,640 what's going on inside the box. So the 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:28,400 first thing we find inside is an installation guide. And that could be 7 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:32,559 useful for someone like me who does Oh my goodness, look at this thing. For 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:37,200 someone like me who doesn't know exactly what a notebook docking station is good 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:42,800 for. Okay, it's about the size of a typical wall poster. So, uh that's in a 10 00:00:40,879 --> 00:00:51,239 variety of different languages including English, Fron, Deutsch, uh Italian, 11 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:54,640 Spanish, as well as Dutch of all things. 12 00:00:51,239 --> 00:00:57,039 Okay. And uh here we go. So, you install 13 00:00:54,640 --> 00:01:00,559 software. Oh, it has drivers. Your life just got easier. No need to plug 14 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:04,479 multiple peripherals into your notebook every time you return to the desk. 15 00:01:02,399 --> 00:01:07,840 Through one USB connection, the docking station connects you instantly to your 16 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:11,280 USB mouse, keyboard, printer, and other peripherals. As an added benefit, 17 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:16,000 placing your notebook on top of the docking station allows for better 18 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:19,280 cooling of your machine. So, it has uh some drivers. It has a little 19 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:24,799 instruction on how to use it with the USB 2.0 ports. So, let's have a look at 20 00:01:21,759 --> 00:01:27,840 the docking station itself and see what 21 00:01:24,799 --> 00:01:29,840 all of the fuss is about. So, first we 22 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:33,600 have drivers, uh, including drivers for Windows Vista. Remember, Windows Vista 23 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:37,119 drivers will work on Windows 7. And then we also have Windows XP drivers. So, 24 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:42,040 those are the supporting operating systems. Here we have what appears to be 25 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:46,320 a power adapter. I'm fairly certain I'm going to 26 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:52,240 find a power adapter inside. Yep. So, your typical uh wall wart style power 27 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:57,640 adapter. Nothing really to see here. And here is the docking station. So, we have 28 00:01:55,119 --> 00:02:02,159 a USB A tob cable. So, this is going to plug into 29 00:01:59,759 --> 00:02:06,159 your notebook. And this one is going to plug into the docking station. And then 30 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:11,520 we have the docking station. So, here I'm just going to 31 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:16,319 um find out how this baggie opens. Ah, 32 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:16,319 on this side. So, it's just tape closed 33 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:25,160 here. Okay. Okay, I'll be needing my knife for this cuz apparently that's um 34 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:29,920 very strong tape. So, here we go. So, what all is 35 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:35,360 going on with this guy? So, hold on. There's a warning on the front of it. Let's have a look at that first. If 36 00:02:32,959 --> 00:02:38,480 Windows disables your notebook speakers upon installation of the docking 37 00:02:36,959 --> 00:02:42,239 station, refer to the troubleshooting section of the user manual. Okay, so you 38 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:46,879 can see here on the back we've got a variety of different connections. So, it 39 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:53,760 looks like we have a LAN port. We have 1 2 3 4 five USB 2.0 ports. We have a 40 00:02:50,959 --> 00:03:00,239 microphone port as well as a headphone jack. We also have a USB input as well 41 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:06,319 as our power input. Now, the bottom of the docking station uh has what appears 42 00:03:02,959 --> 00:03:08,480 to be uh rubberized four rubberized 43 00:03:06,319 --> 00:03:12,480 mounting feet. So, those are going to make it very difficult for it to slip 44 00:03:10,319 --> 00:03:16,080 around if you have it positioned on the desk. And then it's got a couple of what 45 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:20,000 look like sort of clippy things here. So, if you have any insight into what 46 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:23,640 these guys are for, please do let me know. Uh, leave a comment under the 47 00:03:21,760 --> 00:03:28,879 video and I'll definitely take a look at that. Cameraman is having a look at the 48 00:03:26,879 --> 00:03:32,480 part number for whatever reason. So, this is the SD100. Maybe he's doing that 49 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:35,680 because I haven't actually mentioned it yet. On the top, you can see uh 50 00:03:34,799 --> 00:03:40,879 actually, you know what? Here, cameraman, stare at this for a second. I'm going to go get a laptop. Don't 51 00:03:39,599 --> 00:03:47,120 worry, it won't take as long as it sounds like it'll take. 52 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:49,519 Got it. Got a laptop. So here the way 53 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:54,440 this is positioned is so that you can put your laptop on it like this. So 54 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:59,760 here, cameraman, come have a look at the back. So basically all you do is you 55 00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:04,159 take this USB cable and you plug it into one of the ports on your notebook. You 56 00:04:01,599 --> 00:04:08,239 plug this in over here and then you get all of these interfaces as well as as 57 00:04:06,799 --> 00:04:11,519 Kensington mentions, there's like the rubberized thing on the top here. So, 58 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:15,519 your laptop's not going to slip if you put it on here. So, that means that you 59 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:19,919 get a little bit of extra space under the notebook itself for more cooling. 60 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:24,240 Now, I've actually found in my own personal testing with notebook coolers 61 00:04:21,919 --> 00:04:29,040 that it is just as effective to place the notebook on a hard surface versus 62 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:32,639 the carpet as it is to put a fan under it. So, uh, something like this will 63 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:36,479 probably be quite effective, and this was even on a gaming model at, uh, 64 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:41,040 keeping your notebook adequately cool when you are using it. So, thank you for 65 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:48,320 checking out my unboxing and first look at the Kensington, I think it was SD100, 66 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:50,160 was it SD100 notebook docking station. 67 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,880 Don't forget to subscribe to Linus Tech Tips.