Review Lenovo OneLink Dock

[Redaktion]

One plug to rule them all. While traditional ThinkPad laptops have always been afforded the luxury of a built-in docking port, ThinkPad Edge owners have had to survive with less-than-ideal USB-based solutions. The ThinkPad OneLink Dock looks to change all of that by way of a proprietary combination charging and data port. Is it worth your time?

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-OneLink-Dock.97800.0.html

[HS Jun]

I'd like to ask for sound quality, too.
It doesn't seem to have an external DAC or soundcard though,
since it's separated from laptop's motherboard,
I wonder if stereo output have lower noise level than original laptop or not.
Rightmark Audio Analysis could work on it.
0.41kg for just 2xUSB 3.0port and HDMI port, and Ethernet port with poor stereo output might be slightly overweight,
especially since Onelink dock is a device for lightweight laptops.

[ReverendQ]

The claims of a low CPU demand are difficult to understand.  Indeed, those users who have snap-in proprietary docks don't take a him on CPU, but any USB device, including a USB docks, will have applications and drivers running.  It looks great if a user has only the need for one external video and is using a Lenovo with the proprietary implementation.  For my money, a Universal Dock like the Targus ACP71 is more flexible.

[JSCH73]

Did you use TCP or UDP for the ethernet tests?

Are the results you got the best upstream or best downstream results?

[JamesSCH]

Are you using UDP or TCP to get these figures?

Is the 300 Mbps the highest upstream or downstream value?

[Kuba]

Hi, great review. As there is no maximum resolution stated, I wonder if you could check if the dock works with 2540x1444 monitor, if not than that means that I need to get USB dock which unfortunately does not power the laptop.

[Matteo]

anyone knows if the new onelink docks still use the latest generation DisplayLink chip? that is the one not supported by linux? I'm evaluating some of these new thinkpads with the onelink dock as replacement for my current laptop but I'm not sure about OS support.

thank you,
M

[Jim May]

A problem I have encountered is that my ThinkPad Yoga S1 will only charge to 50% of battery life when connected through the OneLink Dock, whereas it will charge to 100% when connected directly to the power cable.  Before I determined this was the culprit, Lenovo replaced both my motherboard and battery.  The power icon shows "connected, not charging" under all circumstances.  Otherwise, this had been a great addition.

[Giovanni]

Hi, beautiful review. Just a question: when the docking station is connected to notebook through the OneLink cable, is the battery always charging? if yes, is it a problem for battery life to have it always charging? or is there an option that makes possible to use only battery power when the doking station is connected to notebook?
thanks, Gio

[Klaus D.]

Some anwsers to the question here:

#1 The dock has a built-in audio chip. The quality is good, I did not notice any difference to the S440's port. The chip has S/PDIF capability which can be activated under Linux, but I did not test it due to the lack of equipment, so it may not be connected. 

#5 I experienced slight problems on an Asus 2540x1444 connected via HDMI on both HDMI ports. Every few minutes the screen went black for 2-3s. I did not diagnose it. It could have been caused by the display or the cable.

#6 No, the HDMI is an extra port for the built-in graphic. It does not have an own graphic chip.

#8 Yes it is always charging, but is not a problem anymore for modern smart batteries. In fact the further down you discharge the battery per cycle the shorter it will stay good. On the other hand it will not suffer any capacity loss while being constantly charged.

[winebozo]

How do I close the cover and use an external monitor? The system shuts off when I close the cover.

[Artem]

I have one question in mind - should you do something special before disconnecting OneLink from a notebook? Do you need to choose "disconnect" option like USB? Can you disconnect it while you're running Chrome or Excel? Thanks for an answer.

[Reinhold Scharnowski]

I haven been using the Pro Dock now for a week with the Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 12 - a dream combination. By using a Ultra HD display adapter, I could even get two attached monitors to work with 2560x1600 and 1200x1920 ... works like a charm. And the thing is full plug 'n play - so no need to close down the Yoga before disconnecting.