Samsung Central Station: The Future of Laptop Docking?
by Kristian Vättö on June 14, 2011 11:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Displays
- Samsung
- Central Station
- Laptops
Performance
Samsung claims Central Station is based on their own technology but unfortunately we don’t have any further details of what this technology holds inside. The technology shouldn’t, however, interfere with WiFi or Bluetooth so you don’t have to worry about messing up other connections. Samsung promises USB 2.0 speeds over the wireless connection so that would be a maximum of ~40MB/s in real world, which is quite a bit faster than what you currently get with 802.11n.
Update: As noted in the comments, Samsung uses UWB (Ultra-wideband) for wireless connection. It's the most suitable for small range connections which explains Central Station's 5 feet range. Some laptops even have UWB built-in (e.g. Samsung 9 Series) so they can connect to Central Station without the USB dongle.
CNET ran a couple of tests on their review unit and it turned out to be okay for videos and gaming. There was definitely a loss in quality but CNET claims that it’s not very noticeable and most users won’t see the difference. It’s quite obvious that these monitors aren’t a gamer’s choice anyway due to the price and poor panel type, but it’s good to see that it can manage such tasks if needed. I was actually fairly surprised to read that it can do any gaming or movie playback as I was expecting stuttering, especially with HD movies and any serious gaming. As it handled gaming okay, day to day tasks should run without a hiccup. Unfortunately we don't have a review unit (yet) so we cannot do our own extensive testing of the performance and Central Station in general.
Final thoughts
At $449 for 23” and $599 for 27”, Central Station is dangerously close to being overpriced. While it’s not too expensive for someone who really wants the features on offer, it’s not cheap enough for the mainstream audience. As mentioned earlier, a similar 23" display without Central Station can be had for around $150 so you could buy three such displays for the price of the 23” model. However, if you need a laptop dock as well, the price might not be so bad since a good dock will easily be over $100, and there are laptops that don't even have a docking option. In that case, Central Station is only $100-200 more expensive, but you get a wireless docking station that can be used with future laptops.
The biggest market for Central Station is clearly people who move their laptop a lot but still want a big screen when at their desk, with a fast and seamless connection method. I would expect business users to be a big market as they usually don’t need gaming or movie playback capabilities but often move their laptop around. Imagine that you are working on a document and you have to leave to a meeting very quickly. You just grab the laptop in your hand and leave; no need to undock or disconnect cables. You come back and after a few seconds, you can continue to work on your spacious monitor. Before Samsung updated their product page with full specifications, it actually mentioned two separate models for business use but the updated page has no reference to them.
It will be interesting to see whether other manufacturers will follow Samsung and come up with something similar. If there is a decent market for something like this we could see some degree of competition, which should provide more options and better prices. I’m pretty sure Samsung is already working on bringing Central Station to their TVs, but the range needs to be extended for such use. I also hope there will sooner than later be a monitor with 2560x1440 or 2560x1600 resolution that will support Central Station or equivalent technology. 1080p is okay but if I’m going to pay $150 more for the 27” model I'd want a higher resolution. I would rather pay $999 and get a nice resolution as well (though the bandwidth required to transmit 2560x1440 without lag could be too much).
All in all, Central Station is a very interesting concept and it seems to be something that we will hear about in the future. These are the first monitors to support it so they won't please everyone, but this is definitely a good start.
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Kristian Vättö - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
Thanks. I will update the article to include that is uses UWB (some other sites confirmed this too).Kyrra1234 - Sunday, June 19, 2011 - link
It is indeed Ultra Wideband. My friend wrote the USB driver and did some of the firmware work for this device. :)Slayeristight - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
I think a device like this would be most useful for people that use tablets or phones. Make it a touchscreen or allow the use of a keyboard and mouse and you are set. I think it would make tablets extremely useful and even a replacement for a computer.XZerg - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
If Samsung releases this for the TVs instead would be perfect.MrSpadge - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
no thanks!noeldillabough - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
I was thinking that Thunderbolt could be added to all laptops and have docks that take a single cable, I can handle plugging a single cable into my machine, especially if the same dock could be used on multiple laptops.BugblatterIII - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
Google for the Toshiba dynadock wireless U.I have the wired version and it works very well. Unfortunately the wireless version doesn't go up to 1920x1200, which rules it out for me, but the basic idea is great. It's a shame it never really went mainstream; they might have taken it further.
Belard - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
$450 for a 23 inch HD-Monitor? I'm sick of these HD monitors... I'm glad I got one of the last 1920x1200 screens, I DON'T like these narrow monitors we have today, especially for notebooks! My next notebook upgrade is going to suck.There is SHOULD be high-res 27~28" in displays hitting 2500x1600. That is what I want to upgrade to, but in the 27~28" size.
Such high price for a 23" screen, might as well buy the $100~150 dock and plug them into whatever monitor you want. Obviously, the issues have been pointed out (many notebooks don't have docking ports and even upgrading a notebook usually means a new docking bay)
ThinkPad's Docking bay is about $120. It includes: dual DVI output (for DUAL monitor display) in up to 1920x1200 each. 4 USB ports, PS/2 key/mouse ports, wired Ethernet port. From the docking unit, you can of course, add wireless keyboard and mouse. Such a combo is easily cheaper than this Samsung product.
hucklongfin - Wednesday, June 15, 2011 - link
I like the concept. Just don't build it into the monitor. If it was a box you attach a monitor to it'd be great. That way I could use it with any monitor and be good to go... add VGA/DVI/HDMI/Thunderbolt ports to cover all the bases. I just don't want to (and wouldn't) buy their monitor as part of the package.strikeback03 - Thursday, June 16, 2011 - link
This^ I think for this to go much anywhere the laptop side has to be integrated on a lot of laptops (like Bluetooth is now) and the desk side should be a box that the monitor and peripherals plug into. Pair that with inductive charging for the laptop and no wires would be required no matter how long the use and you could choose whatever display is suitable