Apple Mac Mini MC438LL/A Server

BRIEFLY

If you already have the older ThinkPad Advanced dock, the Series 3 adds 2 more USBs and loses most legacy ports. However, the older 'Advanced Mini-Dock' will support both the T60's and the T400 and, in my view, the Series 3 is not worth an upgrade unless you MUST have those 2 extra USBs or are totally annoyed by the presence on the back of a large parallel port for printers that no one is using any more.

If you are shopping for your first dock, by all means, get the Series 3.

EXPANDED DISCUSSION AND RATING

I am still using the Lenovo ThinkPad Advanced Mini-Dock - port replicator ( 250410U ) at home with my T400 after it served me well for some 3 years with a T60 but my employer decided that the new T400 deserved a new docking station and, here it is, the Series 3 dock on my desk... Read more

I won't go over what others have already said regarding the port options for the Series 3 Mini Dock except to say that it has all the connectivity I generally need and still allows use of the ports that are native to the laptop. One area that I would caution on is the DisplayPort interface. I have a Lenovo T410S and a Dell 3007 WFP (30" display - 2560x1600 native resolution). While the graphics chipset in my laptop is fully capable of driving this resolution, it can only do so through the DisplayPort connector on the laptop. Connecting through the DisplayPort adapter on the Series 3 Mini Dock results in graphics driver crashes, black screens and a maximum display resolution of 12800x800 in Windows 7 Enterprise. The 1280x800 resolution limit is likely due to the lack of a hardware graphics scaler in the monitor, other monitors may achieve higher resolutions but will not reach 2560x1600. I am still using the Mini Dock but have to manually connect the DisplayPort cable directly to... Read more

Works perfectly with my ThinkPad T410. Highly recommended if you frequently take your notebook from home to office to home to school...