[syntheticnature]

I used to work at a place with a Dell contract, and I had a laptop ...with a docking station.

I always pooh-poohed proprietary docking stations before I had one -- all the cables went to it, dock the computer, done. Best of all, it wasn't having plug something in where you need to set the computer down, then navigate something with one hand -- the dock felt nice and intuitive to set the laptop down upon with two hands, as if it was meant to be part of setting your computer down. Even worked flawlessly with my Linux install.

Sadly the E-series dock was not as intuitive -- I found it easier to manually plug in my headphones as the dock was a different sound device.