Quick look: Dell Streak and Streak 7 home dock
The Dell Streak 7's release last month may not have affected or interested current Streak owners very much, but along with the new tablet's arrival came a new home A/V dock that was designed to be compatible with both devices.
It doesn't offer any additional functionality other than compatibility with both Streaks (the 7 doesn't fit in the old dock), but it's sleeker and more compact than the original one and the price is still the same ($69.99). Both docks are still being sold on Dell.com for some reason (old one here; new one here), so if you're looking to buy one, I think you'll agree after looking at the photos below that the new dock is the one to get.
Inside the box, you'll find the dock, an AC adapter with a USB power cord, a microUSB cable for connecting the dock to a computer, and two back plates made of thick plastic (one for the Streak, the other for the Streak 7).
Ports (left to right): power, microUSB, HDMI (no mirroring), and line out.
The dock is nicely weighted and has a rubber bottom to keep it in place on a table. It's heavy enough to stay put on its own when you're docking either tablet, but you'll need to hold it down with your hand when you're undocking. The entire dock is covered in glossy black plastic that looks great when polished clean and grimy when covered in fingerprints.
The back plates can be easily inserted/removed and serve as a back rest for the Streak to lean against so that the PDMI connector isn't bearing all of its weight. If your Streak is in a case, there's a good chance that it will fit into this dock without the back plate. An unsupported Streak won't tip the dock over (it's weighted, remember?), but I suppose the the extra strain could damage the connector or port over time.
I'll talk about Dock Mode, one of the dock's more unique features (the rest are standard fare), on another day. For right now, I'll leave you with some photos of the two Streaks in the dock.
