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NEC VersaDock II
Description
The NEC VersaDock II - Model OP-560-4701 - is a full-featured docking station compatible with the following NEC Versa Laptop models....
- NEC Ultralite Versa
- NEC Versa 40E
- NEC Versa 50E
- NEC Versa 75E
- NEC Versa V50
- NEC Versa V75
- NEC Versa M/75
- NEC Versa M/100
- NEC Versa P/75
It was identical to the AT&T DS Docking Station released as a proper-branded vesion for NCR & AT&T Laptop computers that shared the same platform with the Versa - these models included...
Technical Details
The VersaDock II was a Multimedia Capable version of the NEC VersaDock released around the same time as the NEC Versa "M" Series. It was designed to allow audio input and output through the docking station.
The NEC Versa (and AT&T/NCR) laptops would attach to the docking station via a 3-row, D-SuB, contact-pad-laden male connector on the left rear of the laptop behind an access dor that would open and fold into the case. The laptop would be released via a slide-lever on the right side of the dock.
A common problem people had with this docking station was a slide-switch on the back near the 2 ISA slots that was used to determine whether to use the floppy drive on the laptop or an internal floppy drive as the primary floppy drive (boot drive). People would accidentally hit this connector, causing the BIOS to error out at boot.
There was a plastic cover that went over 2/3rds of the top of the docking station to allow a monitor to sit on top of the docking station like a desktop LPX computer. This part is usually missing on used examples these days.
The Docking Station offered externally accessible 5.25" slots to allow for up-to a slimline 3.5" floppy, 5.25" floppy, and a regular half-height 5.25" CD-ROM drive, usually a NEC 2x model in IDE format. Inside the case was also a provision for one 3.5" IDE Hard Disk Drive of the user's choice, likely for large-capacity storage when docked.
On the front were 2 PS/2 connectors for Keyboard and Mouse, a headphone/speaker jack for using a Versa M or P model's internal audio (older models just played through the speaker on the laptop), as well as input to that audio chipset via a Microphone/Line-In on the front as well. This "Audio Module Card" was the defining characteristic between this, and the original VersaDock.