Docking stations

[Coral]

I should say up front that I am not fond of docking stations. My new boss wants to make all the account executive and account managers have laptops with docking stations, so "they can work from wherever they are". I have no problem with the laptops/ I just don't think they are practical to work from on a day to day basis. Or work from home with them.

Am I looking at this wrong?

[Ric]

I think in the right environment and configuration, having a portable computer would be ideal.

My preference these days is the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 or 4

Your mileage may vary

Ric

[DebAmstutz]

As long as security is in place, I suppose they can work wherever they want to.  What happens if one is lost or stolen?  Will the WIFI connection always be secure?  Sometimes I think it would be better if work didn't follow everyone around (in the form or computers and phones 24/7, though.  Some people need to be accessible 24/7, but not as many as one would think. 

[Jeff Zylstra]

From what I've seen, laptops are not as reliable or easy to fix as desktops.  I've been working on one off and on for about 2 weeks now.  I've come to the conclusion that it's not Windows 10, but rather the machine that is causing issues with Windows 10 updates.  Trying to flash the UEFI firmware, but I need to know what I'm doing first.  It will not go into safe mode without losing boot information, which greatly reduces options in repair situations.  Personally, I would be somewhat hesitant to the "production" people likes CSRs over to laptops.

[Mark]

We've done this a few times.  I was happy to get rid of one a few years ago and now I have one again.  For the most part it's "ok" but I dislike them.  It does have it's quirks and is much more expensive.  And in past experiences with laptops as a whole, they don't get used that much as a laptop.  They just sit in the docking station 90% of the time.

Laptops aren't used the same way they used to be used either.  There may be some ultralights that have docking stations, but usually you're looking at something comparable to a Dell Latitude.  People just don't want to carry those things around anymore.

If you want your investment to be used as intended, I'd suggest keeping desktops and going with Ric's suggestion of a Surface Pro for those who will actually use it.  The cost has to be comparable to a laptop + docking station and it will actually get used.

[Coral]

Thanks everyone. I like the surface pros. We have a couple of them and we like them.

Now I just have to use my best persuasive skills tomorrow to shut this docking station idea down. I think he actually want to dock the Surface rather than a regular laptop.

[Mark]

Now I just have to use my best persuasive skills tomorrow to shut this docking station idea down. I think he actually want to dock the Surface rather than a regular laptop.

Get some kind of fancy stand for the Surface and hide the PC.  Tell him it's "docked"   

[Jeff Golas]

We are 99% laptop here. Just do research on the docks and see what the potential issues are. *knocking on wood* fairly good results here with Lenovo.