A laptop is a portable computer designed to fit on your lap, rather than requiring a full desktop. Because laptops come with a monitor and, in many cases, a battery and a wireless connection, you can use them as is, without any other devices or connections. A laptop docking station is a device that easily converts a laptop into a desktop computer. The laptop docking station can be of three basic types.
A laptop docking station turns a laptop into a desktop computer.
The first type of laptop docking station is a stand that holds the laptop at a comfortable height on a table so that its screen can be used as the primary monitor. With this type of docking station, the laptop is held at an angle that can be adjusted to provide an individually chosen viewing height. This docking station is used with a full-size keyboard and mouse, which may come with them or must be purchased separately. Since all peripherals plug into the docking station, the connections can be kept in place and the laptop connects to the docking station with a single connector. This type of docking station may be specific to a small set of laptop models.
The second type of laptop docking station is a receiver for all the peripheral plugs needed for a laptop, but without a laptop stand. To use this type of docking station, you need to place the laptop on the table or on a separate stand and plug a single connector into the docking station to access all peripherals. Choosing this type of docking station would give you the freedom to choose a laptop stand that does not have a docking station included. Many of these docking stations have a USB 2.0 connector between the port and the computer.
The third type of laptop docking station is the one that is designed to use the laptop with not only an external keyboard and mouse, but also an external monitor. This type of docking station, like the first type, includes a stand for the laptop, but the laptop is held in the closed position, turned on its side, so that it takes up as little space as possible on the table. As in all other cases, the computer connects to a single connector that connects it to all the peripherals that remain connected to the docking station in its absence.
