90W Docking for HP Zbook 15 G2

[WhizzWr]

Hi,

I've just got a Zbook 15 G2 and currently looking for docking station as I mainly use it with combination of monitor + keyboard/Mouse + speaker in my desk.
Since this laptop is quite large with its equally unwieldy power brick I figured out I'd better go with a docking for easy daily attach/detach.

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetHTML.aspx?docname=c04287869
I think I need the basic dock (not the advance one)

So a few internet searches suggest the suitable dock for HP Zbook 15 is the one with 230W power (it makes sense since its factory power brick is 150 watt), but I also see a the 90W one is offered considerably cheaper.. and I get a vague notion that the additional power in the 230W is simply to allow you to successfully operate more peripheral items at a single time.

Since I'm not going to connect and/or daisy-chain any power hungry device, is there any chance 90W docking would be able to hold?

Regards,

Razz

[banhien]

Hi,

That 90W docking station on the link won't work with your machine. You need at least 180W this type of dock because its power brick is ALSO for your machine which requires 150W PSU already.

Regards.

[WhizzWr]

@banhien thanks for the reply.

That indeed would be the logical conclusion.

However upon closer inspection on the HP's official QuickSpec:

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c04407527.pdf

Power Adapters HP 90W Slim AC Adapter H6Y83AA#xxx is listed as compatible accesories (there are also a bunch of other 90W power adapters listed on that document).

I also checked the "Accessories" leaflet that came with the laptop, it also mentions "90W/230W Docking" as recommended accessories.  

I also confirmed several anecdotal successes with 90W power adapter. So I think I trust HP QuickSpecs sheet on this one. I'll go with the 90W and cross my finger. 

Note that for others reading this, I think it would be safer to assume 230W docking is more suited for a  workstation notebook especially if you are going to push it for demanding task and/or attaching a lot of peripherals at the same time.

[banhien]

Hi,

Normally it will display a message: your machine is running under power source. We used to have not one but thousands of them and we all had to use 120W docks for 90W machines.

Good luck.

[WhizzWr]

@banhien

Could you please elaborate which notebooks and docking docking are used in your place? Also what kind of peripherals connected into the setup?

Thank you.

[WhizzWr · Accepted solution]

For anyone interested,  I went with 120W Dock and my laptop works just fine (no warning/no error/no "running under power" message). No degradation of performance whatsoever.

My setup:

HP Zbook 15 G2+ HP 2012 120W Dock  + Displayport Monitor + Wireless Keyboard/Mouse + 1 or 2 low power USB devices (Smartphone/Portable HDD)

Additionally I found out that some people also have success using 90W dock, but this is anecdotal. I can't really confirm.