limitation limitation !!!!!! BRING BACK THISE GLORY DAYS.

[debendra]

Has Microsoft limited everything for this powerful device. First thing, Its very hard to find anywhere what technology its dock connector is based on, how fast is it both ways, how good the docking station could be. Second thing, why is there just ONE docking station in the whole world with hundreds if not thousands of manufacturers. I want docks that can replace my desktop, with a hard drive, and/ or its own processor, a TV cast, probably a console as good if not better as a Xbox and everything around, or a something way better than a macpro ( the specs which I will never need though) .... If the Microsoft is not interested to make it why not let others. Is Microsoft afraid of the other manufacturers, hacking and system instability ? I don't mind if my computer crashes to few bugs, there is always a way around. Bring back the glory days where we could do tons of things with windows..
don't get me wrong, I own a surface pro 2 and I love it more than anything, but I have been thinking to extend its peripheral And a dock without at least a Hard drive ?????? is what I am not willing to pay £150...

 

[jnjroach]

The Dock on the SP3 contains a Power Connector Pass-through, USB 3.0 Pass-through and a DP Pass-through. IHVs have the ability to make accessories utilizing the connector by reaching out to Microsoft in Licensing the Technology.

 

[sharpuser]

Seems this is mostly about money, for you, @debendra, your price being somewhere less than £150.

There are indeed many universal docks available, most using USB 3.0, with plenty of ports. You need not stick with Microsoft.

A dock with a built-in hard drive is unlikely to be popular, because it takes the storage portability away. That is why cloud-based storage is so popular, and why storage continues to be rather important on the portable tablet/computer itself.

And building a dock "which can replace my desktop with a hard drive and/or its own processor, etc." sounds like a big portable. Also sounds like a desktop. Also sounds like a Surface Pro 3.

I hope you can find a solution for your needs. Could you perhaps describe what they are a bit more?

 

[New2ToMe]

I have rolled my own "dock." I have a powered 7-port USB-3 hub, a USB-HDMI adapter and a 10/100/1000 LAN adapter. For backups I use a USB-SATA 3.5" drive enclosure,. Total cost, not counting the HDD 43-bucks. The HDD in the drive is an old 500GB from a dead laptop. The Printer plugs into the 7-port hub. I also have a full size RF keyboard and mouse with a single USB transmitter in the hub.

I plug the USB-hub cable in to the SP2 and bingo., I have it all. I have tried about 5-different universal docks but they all use the same terrible LAN drivers which makes Static IPs impossible to manage.

 

[debendra]

Seems this is mostly about money, for you, @debendra, your price being somewhere less than £150.

There are indeed many universal docks available, most using USB 3.0, with plenty of ports. You need not stick with Microsoft.

A dock with a built-in hard drive is unlikely to be popular, because it takes the storage portability away. That is why cloud-based storage is so popular, and why storage continues to be rather important on the portable tablet/computer itself.

And building a dock "which can replace my desktop with a hard drive and/or its own processor, etc." sounds like a big portable. Also sounds like a desktop. Also sounds like a Surface Pro 3.

I hope you can find a solution for your needs. Could you perhaps describe what they are a bit more?

Its not just £150 I'm worried about. I'm concerned about no third partys participating to create docks. If the docks have speed greater than usb3.0 or thunderbolt or perhaps who knows more (the information is impossible to find bty ) there could be tons of competitive docks in the market from every major manufacturers. I would perhaps ditch my TV box, my internet router and my game console, buy two these docks, have my whole house connected to it, connect my TV, refrigerator and every things possible. More than two years have passed since 1st surface pro and the same dock, a USB 3.0 extension will do all of what it does...

 

[debendra]

USB3.0 ???? it already has a usb3.0. I was ok with it until a year ago. what about the docks. Doesn't it do more than type cover?

 

[jnjroach]

Its not just £150 I'm worried about. I'm concerned about no third partys participating to create docks. If the docks have speed greater than usb3.0 or thunderbolt or perhaps who knows more (the information is impossible to find bty ) there could be tons of competitive docks in the market from every major manufacturers. I would perhaps ditch my TV box, my internet router and my game console, buy two these docks, have my whole house connected to it, connect my TV, refrigerator and every things possible. More than two years have passed since 1st surface pro and the same dock, a USB 3.0 extension will do all of what it does...

Except the SP2 Dock also contains Display Port and Power, the USB Docks are not able to do this.

 

[Philtastic]

The SP2 is a full-fledged computer so any peripheral that works on PC and Windows 8 works on SP2. You should really be asking why those hypothetical uses (eg. fridge control) haven't been made for desktop already since those have been around forever and were already in homes ready to control fridges and your heating/cooling system, etc. Heck, phone support for universal appliance controls would probably come first before it comes to PC since that's even more convenient for most people.

As jnjroach has just said, the SP2 dock has built in video out and power on top of a USB hub and ethernet connection. With that, you can make it a "desktop" or "console" by hooking up your USB/wireless keyboard, mouse, and gamepad/joystick/trackball/VR headset/3D glasses and then play movies or games on your monitor/TV. Although, concerning video games, you will never have current console power in the current portable devices at any given time just simply due to size: a larger device will always have more computing and rendering power (and better cooling) than a portable one. For computationally demanding games, you'd probably either want to stick to your console or buy a slightly more expensive desktop for the best experience. Concerning TV, a lot of people have already ditched their TV boxes for Netflix and other TV streaming services or just download shows in HD quality.

I wonder though: what fantastic uses were you thinking of that existed in the past but no longer work due to "limitations"? I'd argue that we are more free today to use whatever peripherals we want than we have ever been in the past, especially with USB as an almost universal port, wifi/Bluetooth-enabled devices, our advances in plug-and-play device recognition, and X86 being the only/major architecture to develop products for.

 

[debendra]

Guys, I'm not talking what Microsoft has right now, by the way , it has been having the same set of gadget for last 2 years. Surface pros are all great products in all its respect. But it has not progressed as it should have been on the dock aspects. One of the reason for me to buy SP, besides wacom digitizer, SSD and powerful processor is the DOCK, many 2x1 detachable hybrids all have docks with both ways data transfer, and power charging. When we could have instead Use its usb3.0 and Bluetooth for peripherals, why did Microsoft make the dock ?, besides it uses different port for power input. I don't think it was just made for the type cover and the same old surface dock with many usbs, Ethernet port blah blah blah... It is definitely made for something more, but where is it???

 

[GreyFox7]

Where is it??? The same place PC innovation has been for years... nonexistent. until very recently when faced with the possibility of extinction PC Vendors were riding the upgrade cycle complacency gravy train. Obviously there's more opportunity in making a new iPad Keyboard every six months than accessories for a Surface. The iPad Keyboard market is an interesting one... apparently people are forever looking for something that works... that they keep buying different models in that search indicates that none of them actually meet the desires of those buying them. it's a case of repeated failure equaling a financial success. I know people with 3 or 4 iPad keyboards yet I never see anyone using one.

 

[jnjroach]

Guys, I'm not talking what Microsoft has right now, by the way , it has been having the same set of gadget for last 2 years. Surface pros are all great products in all its respect. But it has not progressed as it should have been on the dock aspects. One of the reason for me to buy SP, besides wacom digitizer, SSD and powerful processor is the DOCK, many 2x1 detachable hybrids all have docks with both ways data transfer, and power charging. When we could have instead Use its usb3.0 and Bluetooth for peripherals, why did Microsoft make the dock ?, besides it uses different port for power input. I don't think it was just made for the type cover and the same old surface dock with many usbs, Ethernet port blah blah blah... It is definitely made for something more, but where is it???

It was made at the request of Enterprise Customers and was designed based on their inputs and requests. Many traditional users want a place to plug all of the peripherals into the dock and be able to use the SP has a desktop, then undock for use as a mobile device.

If you are holding out hope for a Video Dock running an AMD or NVIDIA SLI Video Card, you're going to be out of luck....the Dock is designed to work with 2 generations of the Device, so what we have for the SP3 will work on the SP4.

 

[okto]

"Hundreds, if not thousands" of dock manufacturers?

Are you high?
There aren't even ONE thousand manufacturers of accessories for iPads, and that device has outsold the Surface Pro by four hundred twenty-five to one.
The Surface Pro is a fantastic device, but I think you wildly overestimate the impact it has had so far in the market, and thus isn't very profitable to make accessories for.