How can I find out whether it is possible to buy a docking station that is compatible with both a Lenovo W520 and P50?

Question

I am being "upgraded" to a Lenovo P50 laptop from a W520 laptop, but keeping my existing laptop as a test machine.

How can I find out if there is a docking station that is compatible with both?

Lenovo's documentation is not useful; for example the Ultra Dock 90W just says

Hardware compatibility

For best user experience it is recommended to use with the dock the AC adapter of same or higher electric power in watts than adapter which comes with the ThinkPad.

Please refer to Lenovo QuickPick or the Accessories Compatibility Guide for the complete list of supported systems.

and if you look at these guides they don't seem to contain the information I need. The Accessories Compatibility Guide includes an "option compatibility matrix" which is an Excel spreadsheet that doesn't include the P50 anywhere in it.

Answer 1

They will not have a single docking station that is compatible with both. Unfortunately, Lenovo has made it a little difficult to tell what is compatible with what.

Although, I will say that I am noticing they both have different ports on the bottom of the devices (For the docking station to plug into)

ThinkPad P50

ThinkPad W520

While I cannot find documentation on Lenovo's site that supports my conclusion, I have a feeling you may be out of luck.

Let me know if that helps.

Answer 2

In this case you'll want a USB docking station. The good news is that with USB3.0, connection speeds are sufficient to offer some pretty decent services over these USB-based docks.

If one of the laptops does not have USB3.0 ports, it should still work more or less OK using USB2.0.