It is not every day that I am out on something as boring as potentially a docking station, but then, given the DynaDock is the author of the highly Regza 40ZF355D style, it is hardly surprising . Not only Toshiba gave it seems surprising, but it also has some unique tricks in his bag which should allow enough.

Docks are usually an interesting dilemma. They tend to be fairly large and quite heavy, and more Annoyingly, owner of a manufacturing or even model laptop. Now there are two good reasons for this: connectivity and bandwidth. The cynic in me thinks a third reason may be the industry can pay more for our own products you buy, but to be honest, do good and versatile universal dock can be a challenge.

In terms of connectivity, reproduce all open ports on your laptop (and, ideally, add a little), a Universal Dock would normally ask you to connect the cables in at least some of these ports, Somewhat failure to use a wharf in the first place.

There are two versions of Toshiba’s slim and stylish unit: VGA and much more expensive version DVI (which comes with a VGA adapter). Of course, we consider the best model DVI, which not only provides a digital connection, but one that is compatible HDCP to start. With its support to 7.1 virtual through audio channels S / PDIF, this version of DynaDock should be quite accomplished as an extension of home entertainment, in theory, have all the elements in place to deal with the Blu-ray. In this regard, it is certainly well beyond the most part, but do bear in mind that you want to run films 720p to 1080p rather than, as the dock Major maximum supported resolution 24-bit east of 1680 x 1050 (1600 x 1200 in 4: 3).

Despite all these features entertainment oriented, it’s nice to see that Toshiba has not left the business customers in the cold, with the addition of a legacy RS232 serial port for older devices some offices are still using. Having spent so far, it can be argued the benefits of a printer port, but just be greedy. Instead, the DynaDock offers six USB 2 ports (two of which are supplied), microphone and headphone connections, and an Ethernet port 10/100M. Frankly, we can not think of something more we want.

That makes this wharf is so special that it achieves all this, including video on a single USB connection 2. The DynaDock manages is to take some extraordinary technology - who attend TR visitors can already be read in our Samsung SyncMaster 940UX monitor or large screen LG Flatron L206WU comments - called DisplayLink.

Instead of DisplayLink chip tranferring digital data are transmitted via the USB port to a monitor, in this case, he did send the DVI port, ready to connect to any display you want. That is why the call DynaDock a DVI port replicator is actually sell a little short, not least because it gives any notebook with only analogue to digital capacity to connect to a DVI (or HDMI)-enabled monitor. Just keep in mind that DisplayLink does not yet support Linux, and for use with a Asus EeePC you will need the XP version.

In terms of looks, Toshiba certainly has another winner on its hands. The DynaDock is designed to stand on its own, rather than forming a support for your laptop like many other platforms. And this is a good thing, because it would be a shame to hide her svelte curves. The DynaDock is available in black, silver and white, but as we prefer the dark side, black is the model that we are a consideration.

The unit actually arrived in three parts. Firstly, there is the solid and heavy base, made of plastic mat and supported by four rubber feet. In this location, the station’s port, which consists of two gunmetal-gray curve parties around a central black mirror containing all ports and indicators, which are appropriately distributed. Up front, you will find a blue LED power indicator USB and green status light and easy access to two USB ports, headphone and microphone inputs. The remaining connections are hidden out of sight on the back of the unit, with an option to prepare for metal cable management. Build quality is good, as is the spacing around ports.

The installation is fairly complex, requiring the installation of several drivers, but the manual on the CD provided is clear and wide. Our sample with a view that the best feature in Vista requires a (181MB) driver download, rather than the version on the CD included, but you will probably want to check for new drivers anyway, since Toshiba has promised quarterly updates. The easiest way to get their www.dynadock.com east.

In use, DynaDock DVI was originally quite strange, often requiring a little restart before working properly (or all), suffering and, often, little delays. In one case, the sound should stop working at random. Also, the option for switching between the “mirror” and “lying” modes are not explained in the manual - a check for major new users. However, once work properly, DynaDock worked mainly as indicated.

Its standout feature is that Toshiba’s Dock lets you connect to a digital monitor additional using almost any computer USB port, so if your computer has only D-SUB output, essentially, you can get a digital display on your monitor. You can also have up to three screens on your desk, (your laptop’s built-in screen, through its video output and one on the DynaDock DVI) and the list of different applications on each monitor or a stretched in all three.

The only major disappointment was his performance entertainment. Despite Toshiba asserting its dock supports’ high-resolution video output on HDCP and DVI-enabled 5.1 (7.1 virtual) digital sound, handling as well 720p video is choppy and quite ill suffered judder , Especially during pans. Thus, high definition entertainment is watchable, but it is far from the pleasant experience I was - perhaps naively - hope.