X4 UltraBase

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CNET editors' rating: 3.5 stars Very good
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Product summary

The good: Highly portable; includes modular bay for hard drive or battery; has stereo speakers and three USB outlets; three-year warranty.

The bad The bad: Lacks DVI input; ThinkPad X40's battery obstructs ports; expensive.

The bottom line: With a decent variety of ports, a pair of speakers, and a modular bay, the IBM X4 UltraBase will give your ThinkPad X40 a multimedia boost.

Price range: $139.63 - $209.95

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: Brian Nadel
Edited by: Justin Jaffe
Reviewed on: 02/11/2005
Released on: 02/01/2004

The $199 IBM X4 UltraBase snaps onto the bottom of a ThinkPad X40; it's less of a docking station than a highly portable, second skin that adds a nice slice of multimedia capabilities to the notebook. The UltraBase features a wide variety of ports, a modular bay for optional extra devices, and the best warranty of any of the docks we evaluated. Too bad it's also one of the most expensive.

At 1 inch thick, 10.5 inches across, and 8.2 inches deep, the 1.7-pound X4 UltraBase doesn't add too much bulk to the ThinkPad X40, although we were surprised that the dock's textured plastics did not match the notebook's rubberized case. Providing an additional three USB 2.0 ports, plus one more that remains accessible on the notebook, the UltraBase also takes over the laptop's existing connections for modem, LAN, and an external monitor. To these it adds PS/2, parallel, and serial ports. While it lacks high-end connections, such as DVI, the UltraBase's modular bay accommodates any of IBM's optional UltraBay Slim devices, including an optical drive, a second battery, or a hard drive. With its $199 price, we wish IBM had included one of these features gratis with the UltraBase. The dock charges the notebooks battery when theyre connected.

The UltraBase and the ThinkPad X40 fit together well, connecting solidly; just place the notebook over the dock and lightly press to snap them together. A plastic bar folds out of the UltraBase's bottom to raise the laptop's keyboard to a comfortable 5-degree typing angle. When its time to split up the pair, press the button on the side, pull on the release lever, and the notebook will pop out; it's fast and easy, and you can leave the ThinkPad X40 on when connecting to or detaching from the UltraBase. There's only one design flaw: the notebooks extended battery pack obstructs the ports along the back of the UltraBase. The dock features a built-in Kensington cable lock to attach it to a desk and a mechanical key lock to keep the notebook safe; they're nice add-ons, but a screwdriver is all youd need to separate them.

See more CNET content tagged:: dock,; ThinkPad,; notebook computer,; port,; bay

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4.0 stars

"Must Have for X series owners"

by Orterator on August 30, 2005

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X4 UltraBase

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