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I've never really needed a [PC] laptop before and just used desktops for my work and chromebooks for out of hours browsing which has been fine but now I need more power so I've bought a s/h Dell XPS 13.
What I'd like to do is be able to plug one cable into the XPS and for it to connect to twin monitors an external wired keyboard and a wireless mouse. Maybe a USB printer also but I don't have a great need for one.
The XPS has a pair of thunderbolt 3 ports and a USB-C port while the monitors I have are all Displayport - no HDMI.
Should I be able to run everything through just one port? Any suggestions on a suitable dock - I know Dell do something but it's pretty spendy!
Dell d6000, there are some used ones on Amazon for ~£100 at the moment. Covered under some sort of one year Amazon renewed guarantee apparently..
I was literally just googling this, and apologies in advance if I can't give you an answer, but do some research into keyboard and mouse lag through docking stations.
It seems like a fairly universal problem, and I'm not tech savvy enough to understand most of the forums I strayed into to find an answer, but I think you want to invest in a docking station which connects through whatever your 'best' available connection is, be it USB-C or thunderbolt or whatever.
Wired keyboard is a must I think, I'll go through periods of lag, the last one took me five attempts to log in because I couldn't enter a simple password without missed keystrokes 😖
I have a dell laptop with the Dell D6000 hubentioned above. I think it only has one HDMI connector though so double check. It does have two display port connectors as well.
Also has a fan which makes more noise than the laptop and can spin up sometimes. Other than that it does the trick and provides power as well all via one usb c port.
Have a look on Amazon as there are some that do a similar thing via usb c and are far cheaper.
Edit: Just read your post properly. D6000 should be fine for you as had two display ports.
Timely question for me also as I've just changed jobs and the new company has issued me with a s/h XPS 13.
What you likely need is a port extender rather than a docking station. I've just looked and there's a shitload on Amazon for considerably less spend than £100 (or north of £200 for a new one).
Bear in mind also, you can daisy-chain DisplayPort so you don't need an adapter with two ports, just plug the second screen into the first.
Do you already have the monitors?
If not, there are some with a laptop powering USB-C hub all built in - e.g. the Philips 276B. Not sure if that particular model can do the daisy-chain thing as well but there are some that can.
Edit: looks like it can - see Page 6 diagram here: 276b1_00_dfu_eng.pdf (philips.com)
We have a couple of Thinkpad docs, one USB3 (older) and one a USBC. The older one needs a driver, the newer just plugs into the USB c and powers the laptop. I've got a HP Probook coming as my replacement (work) so I've asked for the 'older' driver to be put on so I can use the displays at home. I paid £30 for the older Thinkpad Pro hub on ebay. The newer one was nearer £200 - but came from MrsF's work.
Have used something like this for a few years, works well, and haven't had any probs w keyboard or mouse lag
will drive 2 screens, and if you have a logitech wireless keyboard and mouse you can get a unifying adaptor (or use bluetooth) that you plug in to the laptop and it will see the keyboard and mouse, and you can add a second mouse that you can keep in the laptop bag for when you're travelling
I think the "standard" many docks/hubs use is DisplayLink?
I've got one of the Dell hubs, (knicked from work), works well with mynwork laptop, 2 screens out. Also plug it into my desktop when not using the laptop, easy way to swap between PCs. Combined with a Logitech keybaord and mouse. All works very well and easy to swap over.
For our business I bought the dell usb 3 dock.
This works perfectly fine for the scenario you’ve got. One of those, mouse and monitor sits at each space all you do is plug in a lead and off you go.
As others have said - a USB C port extender rather than a docking station is the way to go.
If you want true one cable connectivity then you'll need one that delivers power to the laptop with enough wattage and those are quite a bit more spendy.
some of the older docks (dell K16 for example) need to install drivers on your computer - that might be problem for a corporate laptop
I got one of these because it was pretty cheap and it has lots of ports - but it won't charge my laptop as well
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09WVWGJ45/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Depending on the resolution of your screens, you might want to go for a thunderbolt/usb4 dock, rather than a usb-c thing, for the additional bandwidth.
Avoid any displaylink docks/usb extenders.
Thanks all..... at the moment I'm looking at Dell WD19 docks as they seem to do what I want and can be bought for about £50 on the bay of thieves.
We go through a lot of Dell docking stations at work. The fireware is flakey and the usb-c cables fall apart. At home I use a £30 Anker usb-C hub. It does exactly the same job and has never given me any issues.
One thing to be aware of is that Bluetooth keyboards don't work until Windows has booted up. So bit locker password has to be typed in on the laptop
I already have the monitors and I'm pretty sure they're just 1080 so the USB-C version will be fine..... Plus, as the WD19 is modular, I could always upgrade it to the thunderbolt version if needed.
I'll look at Anker as well, although that won't charge the laptop at the same time will it?
Some USB-C hubs/port replicators will allow you to plug your USB-C charger into the hub/port replicator and pass the power through to the laptop and charge it.
Some of the cheaper eBay/Amazon ones can be a bit flakey but if Anker do one with power pass through it should be sound as they make decent kit.
Well I've bought a WD19 (with a cracked USB-C plug.... But that's not very important)..... £20!!
Well I’ve bought a WD19 (with a cracked USB-C plug…. But that’s not very important)….. £20!!
scrap that comment.... Turns out the seller had 'forgotten' to mention in the listing that there was no power supply 🙄
Bought another £50 this time but in much better condition and a thunderbolt version.
Still cheap for something that retails at silly money!
If your monitors are only 1080p then yeah the WD19 is a good choice, depends a bit on your laptop's thunderbolt version but it doesn't support certain higher resolutions (on both monitors). I'm looking at a WD22TB4 but it's over £300 and my work won't pay as they've supplied a WD19 for the office and although they support hybrid working they don't supply extra kit 🙁
Bear in mind also, you can daisy-chain DisplayPort so you don’t need an adapter with two ports, just plug the second screen into the first.
I thought it's a very limited range of monitors that support that (doesn't one of them need two DPs for a start?), it's how I have my Dell P27 monitors currently at home but only a specific model in the range supported it.
If your monitors are only 1080p then yeah the WD19 is a good choice, depends a bit on your laptop’s thunderbolt version but it doesn’t support certain higher resolutions (on both monitors)
So my monitors only actually display 1920 x 1080.
But even though the XPS 13 only supports HBR2 it is Thunderbolt 3 which apparently "gives the WD19TB dock access to 4x more display bandwidth than the regular WD19. The WD19TB can run dual 4K displays each at 60 Hz even from a system that only supports HBR2 over USB-C."
This is all new stuff to me, but it looks like I almost accidentally got the best dock for my very limited budget .... a non-thunderbolt WD19 might have been disappointing in the longer run.
I thought it’s a very limited range of monitors that support that (doesn’t one of them need two DPs for a start?), it’s how I have my Dell P27 monitors currently at home but only a specific model in the range supported it.
You may well be right. I know it can be done, I don't know the detail.
I deleted my half-baked, partial answer - you're sorted already!
Thanks all….. at the moment I’m looking at Dell WD19 docks as they seem to do what I want and can be bought for about £50 on the bay of thieves.
Think that is what my laptop is plugged into as i type this.
Works fine with mine and my wife's work laptops - i've got 2 x HP monitors plugged into it - using a variety of adaptors to get around the HDMI/Display Port compatibility issues.