Tech Talk – Laptop Dock

Do you need a Laptop Dock? Not sure, well Scott is here to help.

CoolToys Host Scott has used laptops as his main computer for many years. The small screens and lack of additional connection ports have been a big problem. In the early days companies like Dell and HP made special docks to go with the laptop. When the laptop died or models changed the dock went with it.

In this Tech Talk Scott covers another great convenience for your home or office because today it is a different story. There are tons of “port replicators” or “docking stations” out there. The problem is how do you know which one to choose?

Many of the big names in the computer accessories business make port replicators and docking stations for laptops. There is a big gotcha though. If you use an external hard drive with your docking station, not all of them close files properly when you unplug and run. You could lose your files.

Laptop Dock by Belkin adds multiple pots with just one USB-C connection to a Mac or PC.
One port in, 8+ out

The three big benefits are:

  1. The ability to get a bigger screen on your desk.
  2. The ability to have a wired network connection
  3. The ability to add USB ports and devices

All of this can happen with one cable.

There are a couple of other caveats. If you want to use a 4k TV that uses HDMI as it’s input cable, you will likely need an adapter. For some reason the Mini-Display port to HDMI cable from Apple worked fine with the OWC Thunderbolt Three adapter we tested. The Displayport to HDMI did not work on the Wavlink adapter and we found that we needed an “Active” adapter.

You’ll also need to know what kind of adapter your laptop takes. USB 2.0, USB 3.0 or USB C. There are still some custom docks for business class windows computers out there as well.

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