If you stumble upon this page and try to Google OlympiaControls like I did, heads-up, its actually: OlympicControls.
http://www.bookendzdocks.com/

Jeez, I don’t know why more of corporate America hasn’t adopted the MacBook over Dells and HPs. Come on Steve, get a clue, people want that second/larger display, a mouse, and a keyboard without having to (un)plug them all the time.

i totally agree. i switched to OS X from Windows 2000 three years ago. i’m seriously considering switching to a Vista laptop for 3 reasons:

1. no docking station is seriously idiotic. the bookendz are not the same. apple really needs to add this pronto.

2. i hate finder so much. it’s the worst application ever written. it’s slow, doesn’t browse samba shares well at all, and the interface is bad. put folders together at the top apple. it’s not just windows that does it that way. linux and other operating systems do it that way as well. at least give the user a choice of which way they want to see it.

3. overall lack of business compatibility is annoying. i just but a Mac Pro for home and will use it all the time for home stuff. but in most offices you really need a windows PC still…

Wow, you guys are some mac haters. Finder is by far the best system I’ve used for file browsing and this is coming from someone that has used a pc for about 20 years now. Set that thing to column view and you can haul ass through your files, or perhaps you’d like to just double click on every thing in windows to find your files. hmm. As far as the comment with samba, it works EXCELLENT. We use this in a professional environment all the time, and it has never failed us. The docking station thing is a minor inconvenience in my opinion. All I need is a usb keyboard and mouse, and I’m sorry but if you are too lazy to plug in two devices something is wrong.

> I’m sorry but if you are too lazy to plug in two devices something is wrong.

That’s fine if you only have 2 devices, but the one of the main points of a docking station is so that you can use your laptop as a desktop when you are at a desk, so as a minimum actually its keyboard, mouse, network, display, power. I have a bookendz dock for my black macbook and to be honest the thing is so fiddly its easier to plug each thing in individually; its not as if it causes any more wear on the ports.

Finder: totally agree, its not good. but for most of my needs, its been replaced with the excellent quicksilver.

samba: I have found the samba network shares support to be better than on on windows machines - it works and fast too. but then i guess different setups, different results.

JC.

Eric,

It isn’t a hating issue. Docking stations are a major need in the business world. I want a large display, keyboard, mouse, exernal speakers, and I don’t want to disturb that setup every time I undock. Part of the draw to the mac is the neat and clean look. The lack of a docking station destroys one of the biggest draws to the product.

mac needs to find a way to become more business friendly to gain wide acceptance by the business world, and a dockingstation as elegant as the one I have for my Dell is what is needed for me to migrate.

Time to step up, Apple!

Eric, I’d have to disagree. Having used a docking station with my PC laptop for years there’s a bit more to connect than 2 cords.

Yes, the monitor, then the mouse, then any other peripherals that you use (printer, hardline to office hi-speed internet, scanner, etc.), then there’s the power cord. Each docking station comes with a power cord to charge while in use.

So instead of having to plug all that junk in every time, you just plop it down and “CLICK” it’s all hooked up. Not so with the Mac notebook. Is it annoying? Yes! Will I go back to a PC? Not a chance…

Sean

I think the file choosers suck more… you can’t even float them around an application, they’re glued to the top of the window that opened them…. idiotic.

Why is anyone who is critical of Apple suddenly a hater? (that was a rhetorical question).

It’s not about being too lazy to plug in a mouse and keyboard, it’s about doing it every day for (hopefully) a few years when moving between home and office/client/hotel/wherever. I’m not so worried about the USB devices but I’m not sure that pinned connections (e.g. screen) will fair so well with all those connects/disconnects.

Apple is really taking a decent market share for notebook PCs with the MacBook/MacBook Pro - it’s about time they started to think about how people will use them and provide a decent docking station/port replicator.

I’m a newbie, in the sense that I finally stopped wistfully looking at Apple laptops and bought one of the damned things. I love it dearly, but this thing about no docking station is very puzzling indeed. I mean, I live within several blocks of Steve, should I stop by on Halloween to try to get a special treat or something? Distract him with my dog while I slip a petition into his back pocket for later discovery?

Yeah, there’s lots of things to plug in. I want a big monitor. I want my keyboard and mouse, though I can be fancy and go wireless for those. I’d like a printer, thank you, and my choice of network connections all ready to go. A fully set up and prepared USB hub would be nice.

It’s true, I’m lazy, I admit it. I hate plugging and unplugging. I’ve been doing it all my professional life, and it is… well… boring.

Macs are cool! I love my MacBook! But this one little thing bugs me… :)

Completely agree, can’t believe Apple still is not supporting docking stations!

People who are saying mouse and keyboard obviously have never used a decent docking station. Your laptop becomes a “true” desktop with it! You have network, mouse, keyboard, big monitor, power(!), real speakers(!), and of course random USB printers and such. All you do is sit the laptop on the ONE connecter (located on the bottom of my Fujitsu laptop which is soooo easy) and boom everything comes alive. It makes there 100% no reason to buy a desktop anymore as you’ve got the comfortable use of a desktop with the mobility of a laptop.

BookEndz looks ok but a bit ghetto imo, have not tried it but I will if I have to. :(

Well, I am new to Mac as of 3 weeks ago (my wife has had one for years). I purchased a 17″ MacBook Pro for use at home and office (law). Mac needs a docking station - honestly, I assumed they had one until I went online this morning to purchase one. Mac has PC beat at the moment, but it is things like this that is holding wider adoption of Macs back. And yes, there are more than two plug-ins when I go to the office - keyboard, mouse, power, monitor, network, printer - it doesn’t take that long, agreed, but we are talking hassle, not time.

Me-thinks Eric needs to desensitize a bit there….

The Finder has flaws. But it’s not so much the MacOS Finder - it’s the NeXT Finder that’s the problem. Apple can’t seem to decide whether they want the old classic finder/chooser system or the NeXT system. Since Tiger, I don’t even worry about it because I use Spotlight for almost everything…. problem solved.

As for the idea that “gee what’s you’re problem connecting 2 cords blah blah blah”, it makes me think you’ve never actually used a desktop or a docking station (in part, because you’d know you could connect a keyboard and a mouse with just one cord on a Mac).

I came across this blog posting because I was googling to see if Apple had finally gotten off of their duffs and gotten a docking station. Until they do, they’ll NEVER make it in corporate America. Who the hell wants to plug/unplug (at a minimum) a DVI connector, USB cable, power cable, and ethernet cable at least twice a day? [once in the morning when you pull it out of the locked cabinet and once in the evening when you put it back].

More realistically, it would also include a headset, possible firewire connection, and possibly other USB connections [yes - I'm assuming one of the USB connections is to a USB hub - whether it be a dedicated hub or via a keyboard or monitor].

And, more realistically, it’s not twice per day. It’s more like 6-8 times per day [you know - those pesky wastes of time known as "meetings"?]

And OS X’s “chooser” [a.k.a the "Network" connections] has pretty much sucked royal every since the OS X Beta. IIRC, OS X Server 1.1 was more MacOS like - but I haven’t had it installed for a long time so I might be wrong about that. But since 10 beta, there have been appearing and disappearing aliases, crappy scanning, poor keychain support [meaning crappy automount]. It’s quite the abomination.

Defending whatever comes out of Apple as being perfect only means that you’ll be stuck with stuff you don’t like (or inferior stuff you don’t realize is inferior) until they feel like correcting it. That is, if they ever even realize it needs to be corrected. The power of bitching is the reason that 2/3 of the 1st amendment exists.

To address JC’s issue - if the courts had prevailed and Microsoft had been divided into an OS and Applications company, the PC/Mac divide would probably be a lot smaller. What I mean by that is that Microsoft quite obviously won’t provide Access and Project for the Mac purely to keep Apple from competing with Windows on a level footing. Until iWorks includes Access-compatible and Project-compatible applications, that will probably remain as a major barrier. Okay, that and Autocad.

If I could get a docking station or port replicator, I’d have a MacBook Pro right now. I don’t think I’m the only one. As described above, I move back and forth between home and work, I have things the way I want them (external keyboard, wireless mouse, speakers, widescreen monitor, network connection, printer, wireless mic, etc.). Give us a real drop-in place docking station.

Now having said all of that, I’m hoping all of these current accessories I have would actually work with a MacBook Pro (I’m sure most of them will).

My company (3000+ Employees worldwide) looked into switching groups to Macbook pro/Parallels. Many employees were excited. (I’m one of the few test cases with a MacBook pro).

The plan was shelved. Why?
NO DOCKING STATION. Yes they looked at the Bookendz station (got one of those too). A valiant effort - but not a real solution.

Today - IT was un-boxing dozens of new Thinkpad T61s

I jealously envy my coworkers when the plop their thinkpad on the station, hit power button and start working - no fishing for cables that fell behind the desk, plugging into the powerstrip… Wasn’t it Apple that had ads lampooning PCs multiple connectors?

As an IT admin, I hate docking stations. They fail more often than Dell laptops (the Yugos of the computing world). They’ve got different MAC addresses than the laptops, but the lusers all want to have the option of using the docking station or not, so now one computer hogs two IPs.

Docking stations aren’t worth the petrocarbon they wasted making them.

I just got a MacBook pro yesterday. I’ve been a pc guy for years, my Viao plugs into a dock easily, giving me instant setup. I am seriously considering returning this, even though I love Leopard and the mac. I just CANNOT plug in 5 or 6 cables two or three times a day. Look at the ONLY review of the Bookenz product (same as the Olympic product) and you can see it’s not the solution. It’s butt-ugly and - as the reviewer says - it stands a very good chance of wearing out your connector ports with serious use. Plus, the price is HIGH. Belkin has a docking station that works thru the ExpressCard slot, which the macbook has, but it appears only compatable with PC’s for some reason. Truly a ridiculous oversight in my view, I may have to return the macbook and move to Vista, which I hate. How sukky.

Gotta say that I’m as sad as sad can be…

That bookendz is just too nasty to call itself a docking station, it’s more of a port replicator. With no docking port for any Mac laptop, well, so long and thanks for all the fish, I’ll stick to my very productive Windows XP Pro laptop.

I almost made a huge mistake! Oh, and no bluetooth for the iPod Touch? Steve - put the pipe DOWN bro… just say no! Oh wait, that’s me… “So, would you like a new Mac Powerbook”…. NO!!!!!!

How about a Time Capsule/Airport Base Station/Docking station…all in one, it could easily be done in to one slick device. Apple still has its edge but I fear the larger is gets, the bigger the ego…and just like MS, they won’t listen to the market, they’ll start dictation to the market.

Apple is actually working on a docking station now. Its rumored that it will look like the 24in iMac and the notebook will slide in the side giving you a iMac. When your on the go, just slide out the notebook. There are patents out with Apple on this and Im sure its to come in a year or so.

Tough choice! I’m considering a MacBook Pro, but REALLY need a docking station (not the POS that bookendz makes). It’s the only thing holding my company from “jumping over” to Mac. I can’t plug/unplug a mouse at least twice a day a keyboard, 2 external monitors, printer, speakers, network cable, and an external hard drive. Like it has been said, the ports will eventually wear out and it would be a pain. The question really comes down to…deal with a crappy OS (Vista/XP) or deal with plug…unplug…plug…unplug…plug…unplug. Hmmmmm??? I think I’ll deal with XP until Apple releases a docking station.

http://www.thetwistergroup.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=F5U273%20D39627&source=fr
try this for a docking station.. apple developers take note!!
this is something it should be based on.. using a pc express card to connect.. it does everything and even comes with a dual output on board video card..
im looking for something that has an onboard video card that can drive 2 external monitors.. (i do alot of video work)