But since the docking station was quite cheap I might open it to check if I can do anything about it.
![undock dell laptop undock dell laptop](https://www.sysnapse.com/image/sysnapse/image/cache/data/all_product_images/product-49171/J858C-700x700.jpg)
The other problem is the noise of the docking station fan: while it is not really disturbing and far away from the fan of my former laptop it is at least noisier than the laptop’s fan. Mouse, keyboard, external hard disk, webcam, USB stick and a MP3 player are not uncommon devices these days.
UNDOCK DELL LAPTOP PLUS
There are just 3 USB slots at the back plus one at the side (which is a bit extended to work with Dell stuff, but still works as a normal USB slot), but I would have preferred to have at least 6. The only real disadvantages of the docking station itself I was so far able to recognize are that it has too few USB ports and that it is a bit noisier than I would have expected. Of course, mounted USB devices connected to the docking stations should be unmounted before plugging off! But besides that there are no real problems. Hotplugging is also not an issue: the laptop can be plugged on or off the docking station while it is running.
![undock dell laptop undock dell laptop](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sean-code/seanryan.co/master/images/posts/2018-07-23-lenovo-thinkpad-p52-review/side-small-768x340.jpg)
However, since there were no other problems I would at least be confident in trying these. I didn’t test the media bay, the DVI connector or the additional PCI slot, so I’m not sure if they would work. External devices connected via USB or the external monitor also work as they would be plugged directly to the laptop. It worked out of the box: the laptop, plugged to the docking station, just works. My new laptop has docking station support, and since these docking stations can be bought second hand at very reasonable prices I got myself a D/Dock.
![undock dell laptop undock dell laptop](http://www.solano.edu/technology100218/data/D610/bay5.jpg)
The only real problems have their roots in Linux’ shortcomings. I’ve tested a D/Dock and it does work with Linux. Dell is shipping docking stations for it’s Latitude Laptops.