Why is this dock $150?

[Microsoft Master]

So ths HP ultra slim dock 150 bucks i am looking to get it for my HP folio 1020 g1 elite book<------------- Really solid laptop So could someone tell me why it costs so much?

 

http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-2013-ultraslim-docking-station

[The Sloth]

took a bit of engineering to make it and supply and demand. 

[Arcanekitten]

Because they want to rip you off. It's a OEM made specifically for their laptops.

Ofc it also takes a bit of resources to make and design.

[Squirrel724]

Proprietary item which not many people are going to buy.

[kennethnakasone]

Proprietary docks tend to cost that much. My father used to have a Thinkpad; I believe the dock for it was about the same (if not more). Even cheap dongles from big makers tend to start at $50 or so.

[manikyath]

3 minutes ago, Arcanekitten said:

Because they want to rip you off.

or.. you could completely forget the engineering that goes into a dock that's made to last 10 years going trough several docks per day.

 

quite simply put: yes, it's expensive, but it's expensive because it's targeted at a market that has the dough for a product that's made to last, and because it offers quite an extensive amount of IO trough that single dock connector, which doesnt come cheap either.

[lieder1987]

4 minutes ago, manikyath said:

quite simply put: yes, it's expensive, but it's expensive because it's targeted at a market that has the dough for a product that's made to last, and because it offers quite an extensive amount of IO trough that single dock connector, which doesnt come cheap either.

Yeah IO on that thing is impressive. 

[manikyath]

so.. i did some math based on this topic..

 

let's say a baseline is someone uses their laptop on the dock at the office, 5 days a week, docking it in the morning, and undocking in the evening to go home.

 

that's 5 docks per week, or about 260 docks per year (roughly, i know holidays etc.)

 

the standard for USB A plugs, calls for a minimum of 1500 insertion cycles. which *if this dock would be USB A*, would result in a lifespan of about 5.7 years if only undocked once per day.

 

now.. if they would also, for example, undock their laptop for lunch every day, and another time for a meeting once a week, that turns into 11 cycles per week, which results at only 2.6 cycles per week.

--

that piece of math aside, this dock connector has much more data capability than USB A, and under the latter scenario is expected to last 4 years AT THE VERY LEAST, with some companies gladly using their devices 8 years or more in some cases. i'll let it to whoever cares to think of the cost of just engineering the connector by itself, not even mentioning the electronics at both ends, straight up the mechanical durability of the dock itself, and the potential of harsh enviroments accelerating wear.

 

at this point, when the dock comes *with a power adapter included*, is $160 really so much money?