Product Description

Targus ACP50US Universal Notebook Docking Station - with Video

Product Details

• Brand: Targus
• Model: ACP50US
• Platform: Windows
• Format: CD
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 3.50" h x 8.25" w x 13.00" l, 1.65 pounds
• CPU: AMD Athlon 1 GHz
• Memory: 128000MB DRAM
• Hard Disk: 1GB
• Processors: 1
• Native resolution: 640x480
• Display size: 669.2913385827

Features

• Universal USB Docking Station with One Touch connection to PCs - Simply plug in a USB cable and have your keyboard, monitor/LCD, Internet Connection
• True Video Support - Connect your monitor or LCD directly to the docking station
• Plug and Play Connectivity - Automatically recognize new USB devices when plugged in without rebooting
• Video Modes Supports - The Primary Video Mode uses an external monitor or LCD as the primary display. The Extended Video Mode.
• Enhanced USB Ports - Two out of the four USB ports provide twice as much power (1,000 mA) as standard USB ports.

Customer Reviews

Pretty cool device, but not for laptop gamers
I have a TC1100 tablet PC which has a fairly small screen. The docking station that came with my tablet wasn't the right one, but I didn't give it a second thought because I never used the computer in a docking station environment. However, I have decided that I would like to set up my tablet with an extra LCD monitor that I have lying around. The docking station from HP is quite pricy, so I started searching and found the Targus universal docking station.

I read the other reviews about this product and went straight to the website to download the newest drivers instead of the using the drivers on the packaged CD. I installed the drivers BEFORE plugging in the docking station (this is required). Once the drivers were installed and the computer rebooted, I tried it out and . . .

was pleasently suprised. I am actually typing this review using the external monitor hooked up to the docking station. When starting programs and other things on the external monitor, there is a framerate drop, but once things get started and settled, the lag goes away.

I started up several different programs and was happy with the results until I opened a game that requires DirectX. It wouldn't start, giving me an error that said my video card did not support this.

I suspect the problem that other people were having with this docking station stems from the bit rate associated with USB 1.0 vs. 2.0. A video setup on an older computer probably had a 33MHz bus speed running 16 bits or about 528 Mbps. USB 1.0 is a mere 10 Mbps and USB 2.0 is roughly 400 Mbps. I don't know what the Targus docking station uses as far as bus speeds and bus width, but I would suspect the people that were having terrible lag were using USB 1.0.

Overall: This is a pretty cool and inovative device in that it can add a monitor and multiple ports to ANY laptop. There are some stipulations though. One is that you won't be using the emulated monitor to play DirectX games (I suspect movies might have problems also). Office applications, web browsing, and any other non-graphics intensive applications will work just fine. Two is that you will definately want to have USB 2.0. Three is to download the drivers off the Targus website and skip the packaged CD.

In the end I will probably return this product and just get a port replicator without video. I will just plug in the the port replicator and the monitor, instead of just a port replicator. That way I can take advantage of my video card built into my laptop instead of emulating a lesser video card it.

Does anybody really like this Targus product?!?
I'm a long-time Amazon and computer user...

I have spent months off-and-on trying to configure this Targus product with a new Dell laptop and LG monitor. It simply does not work as advertised as the video display and mouse tracking is just too slow to use. And Targus has not answered any of my many Web inquiries, emails or phone calls. They appear to have no tech support.

If others are as frustrated with Targus as me (and by reading the other reviews, it appears you are) then I recommend you voice your problems and don't buy Targus products. Then maybe Targus will reconsider how they advertise to and support their customers.

Don't buy this product!

Don't buy for video
If you are purchasing this unit to furnish a stable port for your notebook to connect to your LCD monitor - DON'T. Video and mouse very unstable. Make sure your video setting is mirrored so you can reset the video or turn off when it freezes up. Don't pay the extra bucks for this port replicator because it does not work as advertised. You can save yourself some money and a lot of frustration by buying a dock for all your non-video connections and avoiding this unit.