C840 with 8200 BIO

Hi,

There wont be a problem unless you buy a docking station. If you wish to change it, boot into DOS with the floppy, have the Bios .exe on a disk and type in C840_a12 /jabil   There are a few things, there is a space before the / , the a12 is the Bios version you will be using and the _ may be a .   Have a look at the .exe find to find out. As there is always a chance of things going bad, dont do it unless you are sure and you need to.

                                                                              Regards Chris

Actually the C840 BIOS is up to A13. I just flashed my 8200 to it about 3 weeks ago so I could use it in a C/Dock 2.

It just a Dell thing. Actually a C series Latitude will work in a i series dock with the Latitude BIOS. It just doesn't work the other way around.

Recently I bought 2 docks. 1 a C/Dock 2 and a C/Dock APR (Advanced port replicator) and the C/Dock 2 cost me $2.99 + Shipping ($8.99 I think) for a total of $12.??, I bought it off eBay, and the C APR cost me $46.?? with shipping from Dell Auction. Althought the C APR did come with a AC power adapter, a PA 9 90W, and the C/Dock 2 was just the dock.

Perhaps because more businesses buy Latitudes and are also more apt to also get port replicators there are many more and cheaper C/Dock 2 port replicators than there are PRX 7345U APR's for Inspiron 8200 owners.

Do you know why the C/Dock II does not work on the 8200 unless the BIOS has been changed to a c840? Why would Dell make them so they only worker on one series model if the mobo is the same?

Are there any downsides to rebadging an 8200 to a C840?

I have one PRX APR, but want another port replicator that will work with my 8200. Will the PRX work with a c840?

Ed C,

Are you sure about the Lat. in an " I " Dock ? I have seen the dock damaged, and they come up with a warning message. It was a C610 or C640. You cant go the other way as the Latitude dock has a hook, that wont engage an Inspiron. The latitude Docks also work with a Precision. M40 and M50.

                                                                        Regards Chris

Hmmm. I was thinking about rebadging my 8200 to a c840 so I could buy and use a Latitude dock which are cheaper. I was also wondering about the hook that I see on eBay pictures of the C/Port II's. The PRX APR that I have does not have one. I looked at the back of my 8200 and there is a hole where I think the hook might go. It seems to be covered by a thin metal plate. Ed C - did you modify your 8200 to accomodate the hook?

Also exactly what do you mean by an "I" dock with which a c840 will work? Do you mean a PRX 7345U?

LongKnife56,

The metal plate will unscrew if you take the hinge cover off.

                                                                           Regards Chris

It's also very easy to take the mental hook off the dock.

Ed C,

I have PRX 7345U now. I want a dock for both home and office, so I need to know whether I need to get 2 Latitude docks, or whether the PRX 7345U will still work with my 8200 if I rebadge it to a c840. With what "I" dock did you use your "c840?"

Do you recommend getting a Latitude dock with the PCI slots and the module bay?

Also, I was reading some (old) reviews of the c840 and it said it did not have a hardware volume control. The 8200 does. Is the review incorrect? In any case, does anything not work, or not work as well if I rebadge to a c840?

Thanks for all your help.

Sorry if I may have mislead you but I personally have not used a Latitude notebook with a i series dock. But from what I have read at these forums a Latitude will work with a i series dock. So YMMV and I really don't know for sure that a Latitude will work on a i series dock.

I have flashed my i8200 to the A13 C840 BIOS to use with the 2 C/Docks I have. I have also removed the back metal hook from both of the docks instead of removing metal block out on my i8200. I just thought it would be simpler then taking the i8200 apart to remove the metal piece on it.