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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Sabresiberian - Thursday, June 16, 2011 - link
$600 for a 1920x1080 27" monitor??First of all, I'm not buying anyone's 27" monitor for any price with truck-sized pixels. Second, you can buy a GOOD 27" monitor for $225-250 more with a 2560x1440 screen and decent pixel pitch (excellent by today's standards). I paid $825 for the Dell U2711 by waiting for the right time to buy it. From Dell. There are other good manufacturer options that sell in that price range - and in the U.K. and I believe the rest of Europe, Hazro offers the 2560x1440 27" at around the $600 price (we just can't get them in the U.S.).
I'm not sure what the big deal is about connecting wireless anyway. I mean, my Mom's $400 laptop came with a VGA connector on the back - don't most laptops provide a connector for another monitor? No limitation in bandwidth or degradation in signal - really, what's the point of these things again?
hucklongfin - Thursday, June 16, 2011 - link
No wires is the point. You go to your desk with your laptop and just use the KVM there without attaching anything. When you want to go mobile just grab the laptop and go. As is, I attach my monitor with an HDMI cable, plug in the speakers and the power. Not that big a deal especially since I switched to a wireless mouse and keyboard.HMTK - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
Crappy resolution: I hate 16:9. That's nice for TV but useless for work. Actually I don't like 16:10 either. 4:3 is far superior but along the way some fucking idiots decided to use widescreen panels on business laptopsIt also needs drivers. Docking stations normally don't (except the crappy USB "docks"). I'd prefer an industry standard connector for video/sound/USB/Firewire/whatever and even power to the monitor. Just 2 cables to plug in on the laptop: power and monitor. And NO drivers. For home use this seems nice, for serious business use less so.
Anon_12345 - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
http://www.alereon.com/This product uses UWB technology from this company Alereon, they even link to this article on their homepage. They also have some other cool products for wireless HDMI linking and the like, very cool company.
StormyParis - Friday, June 17, 2011 - link
hopefully we'll get a generic version not bundled with a monitor, too.Conficio - Sunday, June 19, 2011 - link
In my eyes this is wasted money:* No open standard, so it only works between Samsung equipment. Well, its an USB dongle, but still...
* USB dongle, that means it also steals a USB port. So the limited number of ports laptps have these days are reduced.
* it connects USB, but USB devices need to be ejected in order to disconnect properly. So just walking away is not an option.
* While many laptops these days dow hold power for a long time. when I'm at my desk I really would liek to charge them at the same time. So now I still have to plugin and unplug a cable.
* The number of USB ports is actually rather low. If I plug in a simple keyboard, a mouse, and a CD drive, what is left? You mean a dockign station just for the screen? Ha, ha, ha, if I dock I want a better keyboard and a mouse. That's me.
* If this central station also would contain a backup and storage server, which also woudl be accessible over the Wired ethernet port and wifi, we might be talking.
Also many questions:
* Is the USB dongle included in the Monitor purchase? If not what is its price?
* Multiple laptops? All off a suden my colleague comes over with his Samsung enabled laptop does it interfear with my conection?
* Can I use my colleagues screen to demo something from my laptop? Is there some on screen menu to choose from teh multipel laptops in the receiving range?
* Are there extender stations for the receiving antennae and projectors (or large TV screens) available? Conference room use, where I want to decide which laptop does project.
roycecrazy - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - link
It's perfect for business use. I've already got the Samsung Series 9 at work, and with this I'll have a dream setup. A nice looking, ultraportable laptop with great specs, and a superslick wireless docking solution for my office.I can't really see anyone challenging the combo of the Samsung Central station and the Samsung Series 9 laptop for business use.
HN55 - Friday, June 24, 2011 - link
I have a Series 9 and just got the Central Station. Can't seem to make the 9 talk to the CS via WiDi. And, the CS USB dongle is too small to fit into the 9's recessed USB ports.If you figure out how to attach via WiDi, I'd appreciate hearing how you did it.
roycecrazy - Monday, July 4, 2011 - link
This comment is from CNET:"Samsung support tells me that the Series 9 will NOT connect to the CS without the dongle. The realize (now) that the dongle will not fit into the S9, so they are providing a new dongle. Just call Samsung support with the serial numbers of your S9 and CS.
Does seem a bit strange that Samsung's two newest products can't connect wirelessly without an extra dongle."
I'd like to get Kristian Vättö to comment on this. He claims in this article that:
"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."
I will call Samsung and have them send me a new Dongle, but I'd still like to be able to connect without the dongle.
katepop79 - Friday, January 27, 2012 - link
I do NOT recommend buying a Samsung Central Station monitor - after spending nearly $400 more vs regular monitors for wireless connectivity and docking, it is full of bugs. It has tremendous trouble sensing my laptop at all (despite being 3 inches away) and constantly shuts itself off or doesn't sense the laptop at all. Samsung customer service told me that's because it works best when NOT plugged into a surge protector! Best Buy Geek Squad told me they would never NOT plug office equipment into surge protector. It's too late to return this monitor and honestly I wasted so much money on it. VERY DISSATISFIED and samsung said there is nothing they can do to help. I was pretty apauled that they are aware of these flaws and do not clearly label that on the product or make their retail partners aware. That's the last time I buy anything that Samsung makes.