Creating a custom docking station with USB

When most of us first got into computers, they were big, heavy, and expensive. We only knew of a few people that had laptops of which most of them were work provided. That was usually the only way a normal household had one. But with time technology has become smaller and cheaper. It's now common place to walk into any coffee shop and see someone browsing the web or blogging on their laptop. And having more than one isn't too out of the ordinary. 

Along with these technological advances came along things like having multiple displays. Being a coder I don't think I can go back to the days of having just one monitor. Having a web browser open to sites like MSDN, Stack Overflow, or some other random forum that Google\Bing directed me to while coding in the other display is no longer just a convenience, but something I can't imagine doing on just a single display.

And in there lies the problem. Everyone today wants portability and therefore purchase laptops. But doing your work on just a laptop with it's single display, often cramped keyboard, and touch pad that you keep hitting instead of the space bar, is understandable when you're on the go, but painful when you're sitting at your desk at home or work. There are docking stations you can purchase for some laptops, but these tend to be expensive and specific to your model and\or brand. When you upgrade your laptop, the station is no longer compatible and you have to buy another.

How I've solved this problem is by creating my own custom docking station. How did I do this? USB. I've got a 7 port USB hub that's connected to external drives, one that's for backups and another for storing large files that I don't need all the time. Having a 2^nd monitor is handled by an external USB video card. If you're just using it to browse the web, code, or anything else that doesn't require major video processing power, it works great! And of course I also have a full size ergonomic keyboard and wireless mouse transceiver connected to it.

One of the best parts about doing this is that you're only hardware dependence is on USB. I use the same docking station for my Mac as I do for my work PC laptop. And when I upgrade my computers, there's no new band\model specific hardware I have to pick.

Below is a list of the hardware I used to create my custom docking station. 

• Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
• Microsoft Wireless Mouse 5000
• Belkin 7 Port USB hub
• Western Digital My Passport Essential external 320GB HD (used by Time Machine)
• 3.5” Seagate 2TB HD in an external case
• Diamond BVU195 HD Display Adapter

 One thing I couldn't get away without purchasing specific to the brand\model of my laptops were extra power supplies that I keep hooked up at my desk for convenience. I could just use the ones that come with the laptops, but I usually keep them in my go bag so they're with me at all times. Plus I don't have to crawl under my desk each time I want to plug them in.

Also, if you're looking for a laptop stand, you may want to check out this IKEA shelve. I first read about it on IKEA Hackers and now use one myself at home and work. For $5.99, it's sure of a lot cheaper than even some of the lowest costing laptop stands.

I hope this helps give you some ideas on how to handle your need for portability and workstation configuration in your office. Do you have any tips or tricks you'd like to share? If so, please comment. I'd love to hear how others handle their setup.