Price When Reviewed

271.99

Best Prices Today: StarTech USB-C Triple Monitor Dock

StarTech.com’s USB-C Triple Monitor Dock is one among a small however rising variety of laptop computer docking stations that use the DisplayHyperlink protocol to attain the identical kind of efficiency as a Thunderbolt dock; on this case, a connection to a few distinct 4K shows.

This might very effectively be overkill, after all. But StarTech mixes in a bevy of extra ports, plus smartphone charging, to supply a compelling, future-proof(?) product. It arrived on the heels of the very related Sonnet Echo 13, which presents a bit extra at a cheaper price.

A DisplayLink dock presents related capabilities as a Thunderbolt dock, and we mix each classes into our listing of the best Thunderbolt docks and laptop computer docking stations. You’re most likely conscious that video delivered through YouTube or Netflix arrives in your TV or laptop computer in a compressed format, the place it’s decompressed and performed again. Thunderbolt docks ship uncompressed video between your laptop computer and show. DisplayHyperlink makes use of particular silicon to compress video and ship it over a 10Gbps USB-C connection, with none visible artifacts.

It’s this functionality that permits the StarTech USB-C Triple Monitor Dock to output to a few 4K shows, one thing that Thunderbolt 3/4 (no less than on paper) can’t do till Thunderbolt 5 rolls out. StarTech’s dock makes use of your PC’s native video output through DisplayPort 1.4 Alt Mode — and whereas your laptop computer’s specs ought to let you know whether or not or not it helps that spec, it most likely doesn’t. (The newer the laptop computer, the extra possible it does.) Unlike Sonnet’s dock, it solely offers you the selection of an HDMI connection — and solely to a 4K show at a slower than anticipated 30Hz refresh price.

Mark Hachman / IDG

However, the StarTech USB-C Triple Monitor Dock (mannequin 116N-USBC-DOCK) does offer you two different pairs of show ports to select from: DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 on every. That’s a plus, since which means you’ll be capable to use the show cables that your monitor shipped with or that you just personal already.

On the entrance of the StarTech dock is a USB-A port operating at 10Gbps, an unusually excessive velocity for USB-A. This port is rated at 7.5W of charging energy. Next to it are two USB-C ports, correctly labeled: one provides 10Gbps of bandwidth and seven.5W of energy, the opposite 5Gbps and 4.5W of charging energy. There’s a headphone/mic jack, too, and an influence button, however no SD card slot.

The USB-C cable to connect with your laptop computer extends from the aspect of the dock, and is 3.3 toes lengthy. It is rated at 100W of charging energy. On the opposite aspect is a Kensington lock slot.

The majority of ports seem on the again of the dock, the place the ability is related. Next to it’s a gigabit Ethernet port, plus two 5Gbps USB-A ports. StarTech.com then provides the 2 pairs of show ports, plus the 4K, 30Hz HDMI port.

Like Sonnet, StarTech’s documentation is excellent — not extravagant, however with each port labeled clearly. StarTech claims that the suitable DisplayHyperlink software program ought to robotically obtain when the dock is plugged in. (I wasn’t in a position to check this as my check PC was already configured.) The firm gives a URL to obtain the required drivers, too.

Mark Hachman / IDG

So what does this imply in the true world? This dock works completely effectively to output to 2 4K shows, however the third is barely wasted on the 4K30 output. Personally, I don’t thoughts setting a 4K30 show off to the aspect for e-mail or one thing I occasionally seek the advice of. But 30Hz might fatigue your eyes over lengthy durations.

Neither of the USB-C ports places out fairly sufficient energy to fast-charge a telephone. (I’m a bit confused over this dock’s labeling, because the USB-C “charging” port places out about 8.2W of energy, and the opposite put out about 7.8W. The USB-A ports put out 2.5W.) But the dock additionally transferred essentially the most energy to the laptop computer that I’ve ever seen, touching 95W. That’s remarkably environment friendly.

Performance was a combined bag. The dock appeared to take an unusually lengthy period of time to attach when switching from one PC to a different. Contention additionally gave the impression to be a problem. When I labored on one show, or streamed on one show, every little thing went effectively. But simply streaming on one show, whereas transferring the mouse on one other, prompted dropped frames and stuttering in every single place. On the opposite hand, working in a normal day-to-day workplace atmosphere (Web searching, e-mail, and so forth) was completely stable, with no instability points in any respect.

Mark Hachman / IDG

Likewise, StarTech’s dock had no downside with warmth. StarTech warns that if a peripheral (comparable to an SSD) tries to eat greater than 1.8A of energy, the dock gained’t let it. StarTech might then disconnect and reconnect the machine. It sounds annoying, however I by no means skilled that.

The dock appeared to have hassle passing knowledge over the USB-C cable. When I streamed a 4K60 video over Wi-Fi, all was effectively — no frames had been dropped. Our PCMark storage check went fabulously: 145MB/s, barely the quickest I’ve seen. Copying a check folder of multimedia recordsdata from an SSD to the PC’s desktop accomplished in 48 seconds — once more, among the many quickest I’ve seen — and dropped to 54.3 seconds whereas streaming.

But on Ethernet, our check video dropped 470 out of 10,000 frames — not good. Performance on the 4K30 HDMI show wasn’t nice, both. And in the course of the SSD folder copy check, the video streaming suffered fairly severely. Watching video shouldn’t be an uncommon activity, so that you’ll desire a dock that may accommodate that.

StarTech.com’s USB-C Triple Monitor Dock is priced quite excessive for a DisplayHyperlink dock. Overall, it seems like an actual combined bag: top-notch efficiency when finishing up a single activity, however then an actual dropoff when requested to do an excessive amount of. And that’s form of the purpose of a laptop computer docking station, proper?