I honestly can't comment on the dock. I didn't buy one for mine. I simply wanted a tablet. Couldn't afford both either. The great thing about the dock is that it doubles battery life. So that is definitely a plus. It adds 2 full sized USB ports as well. I'd imagine the dock isn't as terrible as people make it out to be, it probably just doesn't feel as sturdy as an actual laptop. But a tablet dock really shouldn't be compared to a laptop anyway. Yes, you can use bluetooth devices with this unit. That is what I use for a gamepad, but then you can probably use bluetooth with your phone and use a gamepad on it. But then you're dealing with that dinky screen. You could use a USB setup too. With a wireless set or something, but that kinda gets complicated without a place to set the tablet and hold the keyboard. A dock makes things easier in that it attaches directly.
There are probably devices with better docks (but much more expensive too.) You might check out the ASUS Vivotab Smart.
http://www.amazon.com/Vivotab-Office-ME ... us+vivotabThis is supposed to have a better dock, but its $140 dollars more (before the dock.) The dock is cheaper but doesn't include a second battery doubling battery life. So there are trade-offs compared to the lenovo. You can check out the lenovo Thinkpad Tablet 2. Its supposed to be sturdier with a much better dock, but again, much higher priced.
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T ... ovo+tablethttp://www.amazon.com/ThinkPad-Tablet-1 ... d+tablet+2First link has a stylus, second link doesn't. The non-stylus version cannot have a stylus added at a later time. It isn't built for use with one.
Though, you might just be better off with a convertible laptop for game related work or even a netbook, but this baby's battery life will definitely beat most of those. And its typically lighter than those. I had uses beyond game related work. Having eye problems, this was the perfect fit for me for the things I needed it for.
Again, I don't recommend this for game related work anyway. The dock might change that but I don't own it.
But, I do recommend this for other things. Reading, surfing the web (without having most sites default to mobile versions), full flash support, gaming (well emulation gaming), viewing e-mail, and especially being able to work with programs you already know and use. This isn't just true of this tablet, this would hold true of any tablet. If you want to be productive, you need a dock. And I definitely wouldn't recommend anything with those flat docks like the surface uses for example.