Dell Usb 30 4k Triple Display Docking Station
- Ports: 1 x DisplayPort, 2 x HDMI, 2 x USB 2.0, 3 x Superspeed USB 3.0 , 3.5 Audio, Ethernet port
The Dell docking station is one of the few docks which can connect your laptop to three monitors. Woah, right? The best part is that this dock is small and compact and doesnt occupy much space. Like its counterpart above, it lets you connect your laptop to several peripherals.
Its a simple plug-and-play device and doesnt need any extra drivers to work. But the feature that has won the hearts of many users is the space between the various ports. So even if you have a rugged or braided HDMI cable, this dock will be able to accommodate them easily.
Even if its a compact device, the number of ports is sufficient. Dell has thrown in a bunch of USB 3.0 USB-A ports as well. It also ships with an HDMI to DVI adapter if on the odd chance that you have an older monitor.
Theres a slight catch. If you have 4K monitors, only one can stream in 4K, and the other two will stream at Full HD.
But at the end of the day, this Dell dock is compatible with a few selected models from Acer, Dell, Lenovo, HP. Do make sure to check the compatibility before you hit the Buy button.
What Is A Laptop Docking Station
Laptops are becoming lighter, smaller, and smarter day by day. The size of an integrated circuit is being compressed but the processing speed is being increased at a higher rate. Due to the tiny size of laptops, it seems inconvenient to connect all the requisite peripheral devices.
To illustrate, the individuals who hold office from home can hardly integrate the additional devices that are essential to accelerate the working rhythm. Despite such drawbacks, they refuse to go back to the traditional desktops. That is because a laptop is easy to navigate and operate.
To give the best solution to laptop lovers, a laptop docking station can be the ideal option. What is a laptop docking station? Indeed, a laptop station is a technological device that allows the user to connect multiple components.
As a regular laptop user, you may know deeply about the functionality, features, and facility of such a device. If not there is nothing to worry about. In this article, Im going to break everything down to make your journey thoroughly productive.
Closing Thoughts On Laptop Docking Stations
We have compared benefits of top laptop docks from brands like WAVLINK, StarTech, Dell, CalDigit and others. You have had a chance to discover dual HDMI, USB-C, and USB 3.0 docking stations, and more. Whatever USB dock ports and features you need, one or more of these hubs should fit the bill. Enjoy connecting all your peripherals while keeping your laptop or tablet charged.
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Best Budget: Tobenone Usb
You get a lot of great value in this laptop docking station from Tobenone at a fraction of the cost of the other options on this list. Its compatible with devices with Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C connections, including the MacBook Pro and the Microsoft Surface 3/Pro 7, though MacOS systems only support mirror mode, meaning you can just cast your laptop screen to an external display. The Tobenone dock also doesnt require any downloaded drivers, so its ready to go and start connecting right out of the box.
There are two HDMI ports and one VGA port for you to connect your displays. If your device supports it, you can connect up to two HDMI monitors and get 1080p at 60Hz on both or 4K at 30Hz. The monitor connected through the VGA port will display at 1080p at 60Hz. Then, you can connect externals like headphones, a microphone, keyboard, and mouse to complete your desk setup. Whats awesome about this laptop dock is that even though its a budget option, it offers up to 100W of charging power for your laptop.
Improve Ergonomics And Add Ports
As its name implies, this device combines a USB-C hub with a folding laptop stand, letting you set up a more ergonomic work experience just about anywhere. The lightweight aluminum stand sets up in a matter of seconds. The laptop supports can be set at five different angles from 15 to 36 degrees, which makes it good for increasing airflow, getting a more comfortable typing angle or raising the display for better viewing. The stand supports up to a 17-inch laptop but the larger the laptop, the more awkward it is trying to use the ports, especially the SD card slots.
Built into the left side is a 5Gbps USB-C port along with two USB 3.0 ports , a full-size HDMI output supporting up to 4K resolution at 30Hz and SD and microSD card slots. Just connect the attached USB-C cable to a USB-C port on your laptop and you’re done. The cord conveniently stores on the bottom of the stand when you’re traveling or don’t need to use the hub. It will draw power from your laptop when it’s plugged in, but there is a USB-C power passthrough on the left foot for up to 100-watt power delivery.
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The Two Docking Station Form Factors: Portable Docks Vs Stationary Docks
Traditional docking stations are stationary, designed to be used in a single location like a home office. A key distinction, because of that: This type of docking station has its own power supply. As a result, it doesn’t draw on your laptop to power up any connected peripherals. This kind of docking station, depending on the design, may also be able to power and/or recharge your laptop.
Portable docking stations, on the other hand, are smaller and thus offer fewer ports than stationary docks. The differentiator here is that they lack their own power, so they draw power from your notebook to power external devices. Think of them more as port replicators or small hubs than docking stations.
The Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Dock Core is small enough to take with you.
You’ll want to know what a given dock you are looking at actually is before purchase, in light of how you’ll use it. A dock having its own power source is usually the best choice if the dock will not go on the move with you, and will be used mainly to connect monitors, deskbound storage drives, and input devices.
Owc Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock
The OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock is a portable docking station that turns a single Thunderbolt 3 port into a desktop-worthy array of one USB 3.1 Type-A port, one USB 2.0 Type-A port, two HDMI ports , and a Gigabit Ethernet port.
The compact aluminum dock also includes OWC’s Dock Ejector software, which safely disconnects external drives connected to the dock and ensures all data is written before disconnection.
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Vava Usb C Docking Station 12
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The VAVA USB C Docking Station, 12-in-1 Type C Hub is a fantastic deal as it balances high-end features with a manageable price tag. The unit comes with a built-in USB-C cable to connect to your computer, which means that it’ll charge your battery as you work with devices attached to the dock. The myriad of ports on the VAVA will accommodate up to three screens at a time while managing devices connected via USB 3.0, USB 2.0, HDMI, and audio ports.
While this unit certainly has a great deal to offer users, its low cost does not come without some performance issues. First off, there are some limitations when using this dock with Macs. Only newer MacBooks will support 4K resolution at 60Hz when using both HDMI ports anything older than 2019 will go down to 4K resolution at 30Hz. Additionally, the dock will not support 3 independent displays with any macOS platform. As far as portability goes, the dock itself is sleek and slim. However, the AC/DC converter on the power cord is quite large, thus offsetting the dock’s convenience for travel. However, we think that consumers on a budget will be willing to tolerate these limitations as the 15-inch USB-C cable connecting the dock to the laptop allows one to push the dock, and its mess of wires, out of the working area.
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Tobenone Store Usb C Docking Station
- Ports: 2 x HDMI, 4 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB-C, 1 x USB C PD 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x 3.5mm Audio, 1 x SD card reader and 1 x Gigabit Ethernet port
Tobenone Stores docking station brings more than a dozen ports to the table. It bundles around 16 ports, and unlike the ones above, it bundles dual HDMI ports. And hey, theres an SD card reader as well. More importantly, the USB-C port supports Power Delivery and can deliver up to 87W of power to connected laptops.
Other than that, it works as expected. Its a plug-and-play device and doesnt need any additional drivers. At the same time, the instruction manual is clear and easy to understand.
The form factor is a little different from the ones from the one above. It has a vertical form factor, but the good news is that the device is small and compact and doesnt occupy much space.
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Transform Your Laptop Or Tablet Into A Desktop Setup With One Of These Top Usb
BySimon Jary, SVP Consumer| 02 Jun 2022
Laptops and tablets are so much more convenient than desktop computers for the very obvious reason of portabilityyou cant lug a desktop PC between your home and office or on holiday with you.
The portable computer’s limitation, though, is screen size and often a lack of ports to plug devices into. Some laptops have just one or two ports included as standard, and you need one of those for charging. And tablets have even fewer ports for device expansion.
There are plenty of people who prefer a mouse to the laptops trackpad, and even a full-size keyboard to tap away onof course, there are Bluetooth keyboards and mice that dont require a side port on the laptop.
The perfect setup would be a laptop for flexibility, plus one or more larger external displays, some USB ports for adding hard drives or a printer, and an Ethernet port so you can enjoy wired Internet access rather than flaky Wi-Fi.
The solution is a dock or docking station that includes all these ports and lets you connect your laptop or tablet to it with one cable.
Setup is simple. Just connect your laptop or tablet to the dock, and it instantly has access to all the dock’s ports as if they were on the laptop itselfexcept to have that many ports, in reality, would make your laptop as thick as a brick.
Many docking stations are compatible with Apple’s iPad Pro and iPad Air , and USB-C Windows tablets.
- Pros
- 3.5mm Analog Audio In & Out
- 100W power supply
Ease Of Installation And Use How Easy Is It To Work With The Docking Station
We all have been in situations where a device would not work with our system or has a long and tedious installation process. In many cases, missing drivers or firmware/software updates are usually the reasons behind these types of technical problems. If you wish to avoid struggling with such issues, as most people do, it is important to check out how easy to use a docking station is. Ease of installation can be even more crucial for employers who want to purchase a large quantity of docking stations and equip an entire office with them.
Fortunately, many new models of docking stations that are USB-C enabled are completely driverless, which makes them usable right after connecting them to your system. Almost all universal docking stations are very easy to use as well since they work with most systems.
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Best For Apple Laptops: Hiearcool Macbook Pro/air Docking Station
If you have a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, this laptop dock from Hiearcool will give you everything you need for a full desk setup. And its actually pretty affordable, too.
While a lot of docks only allow mirror mode for devices with macOS, Hiearcools docking station will allow you to extend your laptop display, meaning you can use your laptop screen independently while adding extra screen space on one or two monitors. You can connect one monitor through an HDMI port for 4K resolution at 60Hz, or you can connect two monitors through HDMI ports for 4K resolution at 30Hz.
The Hiearcool dock is plug-and-play, so once you have stuff plugged in, its good to go. Its compatible with 13 and 15 MacBook Pros from 2016-2019, 16 MacBook Pro from 2019, and the retina 13 MacBook Air. And the dock can send up to 100W of charging power while its plugged in.
Recommended By Our Editors
How do you double your money? Fold it once and put it in your pocket. How do you quintuple a USB-C port? Connect the $159.99 Accell Air Docking Station, which gives you five USB 3.1 Type-A portsâtwo Gen 1 and three Gen 2âplus two HDMI 2.0 ports.
The latter support dual 4K monitors at 60Hz with a DSC 1.2-compatible Nvidia “Turing” RTX 20 or 30 series or AMD Radeon RX 5000 or 6000 series GPU. Without DSC 1.2, dual monitors are limited to one 1080p at 60Hz and one 4K at 30Hz. The 1.3-by-4.3-by-3.5-inch dock comes with a 3.3-foot USB Type-C cable and weighs half a pound. Accell backs it with a one-year warranty.
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The Best Thunderbolt Docking Stations For Laptops
Laptops are great, but a Thunderbolt docking station can make them even better. Anyone who had an older machine will miss the plethora of ports that were once available. USB-A, B, video outputs like VGA and HDMI, and even disc drives used to populate the sides of our mobile machines. Unfortunately, as laptops got thinner and more tightly integrated and the need for certain ports vanished, the ports slowly faded away.
The Im typing on right now, for example, has a measly 2 USB-C ports and a combination headphone/microphone jack. To use multiple accessories these days, youll need to take a look at some Thunderbolt docking stations for your machine.
Plugable Usb 30 And Usb
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The Plugable USB 3.0 and USB-C Universal Laptop Docking Station for Windows would just be an average docking port if it weren’t for its unique ability to accommodate laptops with both a USB-C and USB-A 3.0 cable . Its vertical orientation is great for those working off the dock because the ports are easy to access, and the connected cables are all oriented in the same plane. All in all, the unit facilitates a shipshape workspace which is needed because it will support dual monitors at 1920 x 1200p with its 2 HDMI ports and a variety of other devices ranging from headsets to printers.
The gamers digesting the Plugable’s list of features might be thinking that they’ve discovered a cheap way to get a gaming-quality dock. Unfortunately, they will be disappointed, because this model is designed for office-type work such as accessing the web and using productivity software. Additional performance shortfalls include an inability to charge the connected laptops and an inability to play HDCP video. While these are not insignificant shortcomings, we think that its competitive price tag earns it a spot on a thrifty consumer’s shortlist.
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What Do Laptop Docking Stations Consist Of
Laptop docking stations solve perhaps the biggest caveat of laptops. Their limited number of ports. How many times have you wanted to plug in another pendrive to your laptop and it didnt have any ports open?
Or maybe you needed to hook it up to an external monitor but you didnt have the port for it. If youre anything like us, this has happened to you way too many times and it can get pretty annoying. Purchasing a laptop docking station is an easy fix to this issue.
If youre wondering what all you get with a docking station, let us tell you. Think of a laptop docking station as an extension of your laptops ports. The docking station usually connects to your laptop through a single fast port and then gives your laptop access to a multitude of new ports that enable you to connect to other devices.
The specs and features of docking stations vary across models, but having these ports is the norm and youll find that laptop docking stations will have some combination of the following. These docking stations tend to have extra USB ports, the latest and a couple of old ones for backward compatibility. Display ports like an HDMI or VGA port, an ethernet port, possibly an SD card reader and some even charge your laptop for you!
Wavlink Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station
The latest version of the Wavlink Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station supports 85-watt Thunderbolt 3 host charging and converts a single Thunderbolt 3 port into a desktop-worthy baker’s dozen of ports.
This is an ideal docking solution for photographers and videographers using SD and microSD cards to transfer images and video files to the PC for editing. The model UTD01 dock delivers one pass-through Thunderbolt 3 port, four USB 3.0 Type-A ports, a single DisplayPort with 4K/60Hz support, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, both SD card and microSD card reader slots, and a headset audio jack.
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