Basically a docking station is offered as an accessory to a notebook. The station could be permanently hooked up to the network. And devices such as a printer or mouse could be permanently attached. This saves the user the trouble of making connections upon arrival at destination. Instead the user just docks the notebook and he/she is up and running.

http://tech.tom.com/1624/1700/2005412-179335.html

这种燃料电池实际上是在笔记本电脑的旁边安装了一个扩展坞（Docking Station）。 这样就增加了笔记本电脑的宽度和厚度，使标准的ThinkPad笔记本电脑的尺寸大了三分之一到一半。




--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 59 mins (2005-04-18 19:37:34 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

An even better explanation:

http://notebook.china.com/zh_cn/apply/a1/11026563/20050224/1...

　　扩展坞，说起它可能有很多的朋友不知道他有什么用途，扩展坞（Docking Station）就是用来扩展笔记本电脑功能的底座，通过接口和插槽，它可以连接多种外部设备（驱动器、大屏幕显示器、键盘、打印机、扫描仪……）。可以弥补轻薄笔记本电脑本身携带附件较少的缺陷，这种设计让用户在办公室里能够享受到台式机一样的便利和舒适，在移动办公时又能发挥笔记本的便携性。