Toshiba dynadock wireless U puts wireless USB to good use at last

We just spotted Toshiba's new wireless U dynadock in the flesh, and guess what: it looks a lot like a dynadock. The good news is that wireless USB makes the whole docking concept a lot more attractive, though we'd much rather have a solution that's integrated into the laptop -- the included wireless USB dongle looks quite precarious, and kind of ruins the whole idea of not having to plug anything in. The $300 pricetag also makes this hard to swallow, but there's a real logic to wireless docking that we hope can expand in the industry as the components become more integrated in laptops, or least a bit more miniature.

Toshiba dynadock wireless U hands-on

[mozzis Posted Sep 19th 2009 8:08AM]

Toshiba took over almost two years and several revisions to get the drivers for the Dynadocd right. The 64-bit version only appeared this June. That said, their solution, including DisplayLink compatible video, is better than any other I have tried, and they seem to have gotten it right this time.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 18th 2009 3:00PM]

Does anyone know how well this works as a sort of KVM replacement?

[radarskiy Posted Sep 18th 2009 5:04PM]

I would think pretty badly, since has no features in common with a KVM.

[daewootech Posted Sep 18th 2009 3:01PM]

I got feeling im going to love wireless usb, just cant wait until its super cheap like the rest of usb.

I'm also wondering, is it only a two lane road, as will the one wireless usb hub be attached to the single dongle? if so theres no real advantage over a wifi or ethernet product besides the lack of network cable. if its like wifi where you can have one usb dock and have it share to both my laptops, my girlfriends netbook and my guests laptops as well as my desktop, then we have a winner.

[rcappo Posted Sep 18th 2009 3:07PM]

Does wireless USB work through walls yet? I want to 'dock' my in-car mp3 player when I drive into my garage with my laptop upstairs. It's one of the only ways of doing wireless docking of the iPod at this time. (the other is to have a laptop in the car and sync the two laptops over wifi).

(I haven't looked at Bluetooth since OS 3 came out, I'll have to do that first.)

[Maeztro Posted Sep 18th 2009 3:45PM]

Seems like a lot of wires in the that wireless demo.

[rakeshin Posted Sep 18th 2009 3:48PM]

not saying that ipod is bad but i like zune just for this. my zune 30 usually stays in my car and i sync it over wifi. very handy feature

[appsman Posted Sep 18th 2009 10:11PM]

@ rakesh. I didn't know that about Wifi sync! Cool! One question though: With the Zune 30 plugged into the car adapter for power, if you shut off the car, will the Zune stop playing? My iPod does this and it has been a key feature. If I'm listening to a podcast, I can shut the car off and leave without stopping the player. When I get back in and hit play, the podcast starts where it left off. Will the Zune do this? I'm not trying to pull your chain. I really want to know this and may switch if it does because I'd love to not have to unplug the player each week to reload podcasts.

[rakeshin Posted Sep 19th 2009 4:16PM]

@ lens42: yup.. it pauses automatically. even pulling off the headphones pauses the player automatically.

[crazyburns Posted Sep 18th 2009 4:04PM]

Combine this with the wireless power from that new Dell laptop and then you don't need anything plugged into your computer (well except for that giant dongle).

[Arimanio Posted Sep 18th 2009 4:40PM]

Having a wired usb docking station...I can only imagine what the display is going to be like over a wireless connection as it is horrid over the wired USB docking station I have been using.

[picassoinactions Posted Sep 18th 2009 4:48PM]

Agree, i tried few of them, belkin, targus and they are all horrible for video, everything else seems to work.
I had wireless USB iogear hub and it sux big time. I am very skeptical about video claims on this thing.

[radarskiy Posted Sep 18th 2009 5:07PM]

Since you still need to worry about connecting power and locking the machine, the wireless usb aspect is of no advantage in a corporate environment.