Macbook Pro Docking Station

[silentsim]

Have been wanting one for a long time- as I use my laptop as a desktop workstation. Finally a company came out with one- so I ordered it. It Arrived today.



It is excellent !

www.hengedocks.com

[Jordan!]

That is pretty damn cool! How many USB ports?

[silentsim]

My Macbook Pro has 3. this dock covers every port that is available on the laptop. From a port i can then run a hub if i wish- but my monitor acts as 2 more usb ports. It uses USB male-female cables from the dock to the cable of your choice, so if I were so inclined i could put one near the dock for easy access to a USB flash drive.

[fundmark19]

Wow that is awesome! I am turning my macbook into a desktop once I get an ipad since my screen doesn't light up and it has to be plugged in constantly to run anyways since battery is dead this would make it look very sleek and stylish

[silentsim]

My desk was a mess before, and it's a relatively smaller desk so this saves ALOT of valuable space.

[fundmark19]

How do you turn it off or on when docked or will it just go into sleep mode then when you use mouse/keyboard it will wake it up?

[photon]

Yeah I wanted one of these bad, but they don't make them for my older MBP.

Got a stand instead:

http://www.raindesigninc.com/mstand.html

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

How do you turn it off or on when docked or will it just go into sleep mode then when you use mouse/keyboard it will wake it up?

Bluetooth or USB wakes it up.

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by photon

Yeah I wanted one of these bad, but they don't make them for my older MBP.

Got a stand instead:

http://www.raindesigninc.com/mstand.html

Yeah. i used that on my old model as well. When the connections were on both sides =(

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Wow that is awesome! I am turning my macbook into a desktop once I get an ipad since my screen doesn't light up and it has to be plugged in constantly to run anyways since battery is dead this would make it look very sleek and stylish

How dead is the battery? I know that running a macbook with the battery removed will limit the CPU to less than full speed - the battery serves as a buffer against spikes in power consumption that could exceed what the AC adapter can put out. If the Macbook decides that the battery is inoperative (ie. has zero capacity), I wonder if it would behave the same.

[Sliver]

That looks slick.

[Captain_Obvious]

Probably a silly question but doesn't the macbook go to sleep when the lid is closed?

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by Captain_Obvious

Probably a silly question but doesn't the macbook go to sleep when the lid is closed?

If it's plugged in to a power source it has the ability to run in "clamshell" mode with the lid closed. Just needs a USB or BT Device to wake from sleep.

[fundmark19]

The battery is dead and will not take a charge. It seems to work just fine when I use it though. It wont be for heavy consumption or anything like that as I don't do anything fun

[Captain_Obvious]

Originally Posted by silentsim

If it's plugged in to a power source it has the ability to run in "clamshell" mode with the lid closed. Just needs a USB or BT Device to wake from sleep.

Just got my Hengedock today... pluged all the connections in but can't get it to show up on my TV.

It goes to sleep when I close the lid, and I can't get it to wake up with the bluetooth mouse or keyboard.

I do have the "Enable to be woken up by bluetooth" option selected in Bluetooth preferences... but no luck so far.

Any idea?

Looks pretty slick so I'm hoping I can get it working.

[silentsim]

Make sure your power and display ports are securely plugged in, if not readjust them in the dock. Without those 2 it won't appropriately show.

[Captain_Obvious]

Originally Posted by silentsim

Make sure your power and display ports are securely plugged in, if not readjust them in the dock. Without those 2 it won't appropriately show.

Tried that, I even bypassed the dock and plugged them in manually so I know they're connected properly. I can see the image on both my macbook display and the TV. Then I close the lid, and the image stays on the TV for a few seconds and then disappears when the macbook goes to sleep. Neither the mouse or keyboard wake it.

Am going to try searching through apple support. Seems kind of strange.

[silentsim]

Originally Posted by Captain_Obvious

Tried that, I even bypassed the dock and plugged them in manually so I know they're connected properly. I can see the image on both my macbook display and the TV. Then I close the lid, and the image stays on the TV for a few seconds and then disappears when the macbook goes to sleep. Neither the mouse or keyboard wake it.

Am going to try searching through apple support. Seems kind of strange.

When you wired the dock, did you set it up "upside down" to ensure the plugs were in properly? They posted an updated PDF on their website for this method- it ensures the mini displayport is indeed plugged in securely.

[Captain_Obvious]

Originally Posted by silentsim

When you wired the dock, did you set it up "upside down" to ensure the plugs were in properly? They posted an updated PDF on their website for this method- it ensures the mini displayport is indeed plugged in securely.

I'll check that out, thanks.

But as I mentioned, I can't wake it up in clamshell mode even when I'm bypassing the dock completely.

I have the mini display plugged in tight and have it working with the TV. Then I close the lid, and it goes to sleep and won't wake up despite trying to wake it with the mouse and keyboard. So it seems to be a problem with my macboook and not the connections.

Just doing some searching on Google to see if anyone else has trouble with a macbook being unable to wake up in clamshell mode...

[silentsim]

Are you using USB to wake it?

Try this.

Ensure it is plugged in (do this outside the dock so we can confirm this)

Shut down the laptop. Reset PRAM and SMC

SMC: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964
PRAM: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379

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