Kensington USB 3.0 Dual Docking Station

This product is very good in converting USB to multiple ports. I bought it to have extra Screen via HDMI port. Also, there is extra app from Kingston that it helped me to switch off the extra display whenever I want to use my iMac screen only.

Using with m1 Macbook air to get the holy grail 2 external monitors. It works. You need the displaylink software in combination. I was using one of my own DVI cables which didn't work initially but noticed the provided DVI adapter was a different pin combination so using that, it worked.Your charger plugs into one of the mba's usbc ports, & the SD3500v into the other usbc port. No more ports! Still, the SD3500v has a bunch of USB so you are covered. Good value I reckon. Provided connector cable requires adapter for usbc & you certainly don't want to be knocking it be accident so I've gone to aliexpress for that particular cable (Type C to USB 3.0) as they are stupid expensive in nz.

Did the trick!

This gadget did the trick! Needed to connect two monitors to my laptop with only one port. This dual docking station was the key. It has its own power, which I guess is key when connecting monitors (not all USB ports deliver enough power to connect a monitor). Has tons of extra slots as I add more peripherals but currently it has both monitors, a wifi extender, my mouse/keyboard dongle and a speaker attached. Still two slots in front to spare, and two more in the back!

Do not buy this unless you are desperate

bought this 1.5 years ago, went dead without warning today. Works well when it does. Seriously either get a hub or another docking station. The quality of this doesn't last long.

Good performance depends on good computer

I've tested this in three different scenarios. I will break them down for you. [Test 1] Computer: Fujitsu Lifebook A6030 (Core 2 Duo 2ghz, 4gb Ram, Expresscard USB 3.0 card Install Method: Included CD plus any drivers Windows Update took the liberty to install. Results: Everything worked right away without having to install any additional drivers. Performance, however, was less than desirable. My benchmark test was playing music videos from youtube. I figured since video, audio, and network are all going through this thing that would be a good test. The video quality was really choppy and the audio was even worse especially when moving windows around. Obviously at this point I wasn't very happy. [Test 2] Computer: HP Envy 17 (Core i7, 8gb ram, onboard USB 3) Install ... MoreI've tested this in three different scenarios. I will break them down for you. [Test 1] Computer: Fujitsu Lifebook A6030 (Core 2 Duo 2ghz, 4gb Ram, Expresscard USB 3.0 card Install Method: Included CD plus any drivers Windows Update took the liberty to install. Results: Everything worked right away without having to install any additional drivers. Performance, however, was less than desirable. My benchmark test was playing music videos from youtube. I figured since video, audio, and network are all going through this thing that would be a good test. The video quality was really choppy and the audio was even worse especially when moving windows around. Obviously at this point I wasn't very happy. [Test 2] Computer: HP Envy 17 (Core i7, 8gb ram, onboard USB 3) Install Method: Let Windows Update run it's course first then ran the setup t finish. It recommended updating my USB 3 drivers so I did that too. Results: Night and Day. Everything ran near perfect. The only way to tell that video was coming through USB instead of HDMI was when video was playing and even then it was hardly noticeable. Audio was also perfect.After this I decided I would try to tweak the Fujitsu to see if I could get a little better performance. [Test 3] Computer: Fujitsu from Test 1 Install Method: Downloaded the latest USB 3 drivers and installed those. Reinstalled the video drivers from my Intel Mobile 965 Chipset. Installed the beta reference drivers direct from DisplayLink. Results: Much improved. The big improvement after these changes is audio. Although video still isn't great, the audio hardly skips at all. Other USB devices work normally. Video is better but I still wouldn't use it for daily use. I've reverted to plugging the VGA cable in. Yeah I have to unplug two cables to go mobile but it's better than the eight I had before. Who knows, the USB card may be partly to blame for performance, I may try another one just to see. Bottom line: This is really a great docking station if you've got a modern laptop with a good amount of horsepower. If you don't it still makes a great docking station for everything but video. The nice thing is that when I bring the HP home from work I can just swap one USB cable and have all of my USB devices, network, etc. Would I recommend this? Definitely yes if you have a good computer.

Great In Theory. Not So Much In Practice

While looking for a solution to un-tether a bundle of cords from my laptop when at home, I came across docking stations. There's cheap ones and expensive. I really wanted to like this unit (especially because of the price) as Kensington generally has a good name. While this was at the mid tier (not cheap, not the most expensive), it definitely has some great features and seemed like the pick of the bunch: - 2x USB3.0 on the front (for quick plug & play drives etc) - 4 x USB2 on the back (for 2.4GHz dongles and legacy devices) - 1GBs LAN connection - Two monitor connections (HDMI & DVI) - One USB 3.0 cable to the laptop! I'm running this with Windows 10 on an ASUS Laptop running an A10 quad core with 16GB RAM and upgraded with an SSD. Generally still pretty fast even ... MoreWhile looking for a solution to un-tether a bundle of cords from my laptop when at home, I came across docking stations. There's cheap ones and expensive. I really wanted to like this unit (especially because of the price) as Kensington generally has a good name. While this was at the mid tier (not cheap, not the most expensive), it definitely has some great features and seemed like the pick of the bunch: - 2x USB3.0 on the front (for quick plug & play drives etc) - 4 x USB2 on the back (for 2.4GHz dongles and legacy devices) - 1GBs LAN connection - Two monitor connections (HDMI & DVI) - One USB 3.0 cable to the laptop! I'm running this with Windows 10 on an ASUS Laptop running an A10 quad core with 16GB RAM and upgraded with an SSD. Generally still pretty fast even today. Connections are fairly easy - just hood up your peripherals to the unit (monitors, audio, LAN, keyboards etc) and plug the USB3 cable to a USB 3 port on the laptop. Windows picks the unit up easily enough. Download the software from the Kensington site and install. Then all your monitor options will work, as well as setting up audio (which won't work unless you have their drivers). In practice the device under performs on all fronts. Where this may be a limitation with USB3.0 or the unit is up for debate. The end result is the laptop gets bogged down, even doing simple browsing. 1. LAN Port - going from a 100MBs+ speed with the laptop LAN port to just 75MBs (if you're lucky) on the Kensington. That's a 25% reduction in speed because a monitors hooked up. Okay, connect the LAN cable back to the laptop. 2. Display ports - It will display generally well on two monitor plus your laptop if you so desire. At the cost of LAN speed and USB 3.0 speed. Even USB 2.0 speed is affected...More on that later. OK, connect the external monitor back to the laptop port. 3. No USB 3.0 ports on the back? There's no way to easily remove drives from the unit. I hooked up a separate USB hub with switches so I can turn backup drives off when not in use. Personally I would like either all of them on the back, or have a few of both on the front and back. A USB 2.0 dongle on the front would take up less space than a USB3.0 cable hanging out of it (because that's the only option you have for USB3.0) 4. Dongle Support - it depends on the dongle you're using. I tried a few different mouse/keyboards and most stuttered when being used. Sometimes you have to press the left button on the mouse a few times until it would respond. OK, peripherals connected back to the laptop. 5. Both mic and speaker audio ports on the front?? Yeah maybe the mic port I could understand, but the speaker port should be on the back. 6. Random Disconnects - Sometimes the USB mouse would just disconnect randomly with no response. Sometimes the USB connection from the laptop to the device would disconnect and the only way to get it back online was to un-power and power up the Kensington. So you need access to the Kensington to unplug the power cord. All the while, the monitor would still be working. 7. Being such a large unit and stand provided, there's not a lot of places you can put it and you can't take the stand off. Maybe hide it behind or under a monitor. But with connections being on the front makes it impossible most of the times. A flat unit would probably be better with most connections on the back. And maybe a hanger so you could hide it behind a monitor if so desired? Or a horizontal stand so you can put it under the monitor with USB 3.0 connections easily accessible. So all in all, I still have connections to the laptop - The LAN cable - Kensington USB3.0 (to run the USB on/off hub) - HDMI monitor cable - Keyboard USB Hmmm, for essentially a USB3.0 hub with a speaker connection seems a bit over priced. And I still have to have my original USB3.0 hub connected to turn off backup drives so they don't keep spinning and wear out. Yeah, nah - I'd give it a miss. As I said, great in theory....

High-performing, cost-effective way to create a workspace for any laptop.

Better than expected performance since it uses USB 3 ports instead of Thunderbolt. A very affordable alternative. VERY happy with this unit. Makes it convenient for our Team and family to connect their computer to any open workstation.

Simplifies wiring on my desktop

The Kensignton USB docking station works great for me. I simply plugged everything into it and plugged it into my HP Pavilion i7 laptop and it works! It simply worked with zero hassles. Because my laptop doesn't have the newest generation of USB ports that allows the whole computer to be powered off the USB port, I bought this unit. It means I still have to unplug and take with me laptop the power cord. However, this is much simpler than unplugging all the USB devices, HDMI, speaker output, and external hard drive. My only negative is the cost. I think it should be much less expensive and only purchased it when I could get a discount and use reward dollars to lessen the cash outlay.

Versatile and dependable

This versatile docking station has become a must-have for all of the laptop users in our office. It functions flawlessly and provides more connection options than most others. Also a good price point for such a versatile unit. No software or driver installation is necessary for Windows 10 computers either.