OP. I would recommend against L13. L series, no offense, are low-end. So if the budget is more flexible, I would suggest T-series.
Nevertheless, in answer your questions:
Originally Posted by
cblaisd
1) I am having trouble finding what docking stations are compatible with the Lenovo Thinkpad L13. (And, relatedly, I notice a lot of USB docking options. I've always had a hardware dock for my various Thinkpads. What are the disadvantages of a USB doc instead of a hardware doc? Ports I need in a dock include 4-6 USB ports, HDMI, ethernet, and audio (this one not essential).
a. L13 supports at least these 3 "traditional" docking stations - ThinkPad Basic Docking Station (40AG), ThinkPad Pro Docking Station (40AH), ThinkPad Ultra Docking Station (40AJ), per Lenovo.
b. The disadvantage of a USB doc is practically everything.
Because Lenovo does not put any port at the back side of the computer (they are all side ways), so using the hardware dock will expand the existing infrastructure. And you are able to charge the ThinkPad while the ThinkPad is docked.
This does not happen in USB dock. At least, you need 2 charger to make everything work. And you will have one less USB port available.
Originally Posted by
cblaisd
2) While I've read several Googled articles re, what are the experts' opinions here on the difference between Windows 64 bit Home and Windows 64 bit Pro? What am I giving up with the former?
Nothing practically.
It does not sound like to me that this is a business computer. So what you have missed are simply the features that "may" be used by business computers. In some cases, the features are not being used by businesses as they use something else.
How - what interesting is ThinkPad has been defaulted to have the "pro" or "business" edition of Windows. So it is actually a surprise to me to see Lenovo starting offer a lower tiered edition. So if not much difference, I would choose Pro instead of Home.