Plugable USB 3.0 Universal Laptop Docking Station for Windows (Dual Video HDMI & DVI / VGA, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio, 6 USB Ports)

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Product Specifications

Provides SuperSpeed USB 3.0 (5Gbps) link from PC to dual video, gigabit Ethernet, audio input/output, and two USB 3.0 ports. (VIA VL811+ chipset with latest 9095 firmware. USB 2.0 backwards compatibility, plug and play, devices can be hot-swapped, supports USB over-current protection)
HDMI port supports resolutions up to 2560x1440* and DVI/VGA port supports display resolutions up to 2048x1152 / 1920x1200; wired Ethernet port supports 10/100/1000Mbps speeds
Full support for Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, & legacy XP systems. Surface RT, Mac OS X, and Linux/Unix are not supported. Docking station suggested for use with web and productivity software; not recommended for gaming
*2560x1440 output only available when using a single HDMI display. If dual displays are connected, each will be limited to a maximum resolution of 1920x1200. 2560x1440 output requires a “High Speed” HDMI cable. 2560x1440 mode operates at a 50Hz refresh rate; all lower modes support 60Hz refresh. 2560x1440 output requires current DisplayLink drivers and attached monitor must natively support 2560x1440 via HDMI input
We love our Plugable products, and hope you will too. All of our products are backed with a 1 year limited parts and labor warranty as well as Seattle-based email support

Product Description

Size:Dual Display

Product Description

One-stop upgrade for your Windows tablet, laptop, or desktop. Connect up to two additional monitors and nine accessories through a single USB cable. Includes the latest drivers and firmware for compatibility with Windows 10 and earlier. Backward compatible with most USB 2.0 PCs. Features two graphics ports: an HDMI port and a DVI-I port with VGA adapter for mirroring/extending your Windows desktop to external monitors, a Gigabit Ethernet port, audio input/output, two USB 3.0 ports, and four USB 2.0 ports.

With graphics, networking, and USB hub chipsets that have been selected and tested together to ensure maximum quality, the UD-3900 provides: An HDMI and a DVI port for connecting two external monitors and support for resolutions up to 2560×1440* (HDMI only) and DVI / VGA up to 1920×1200 (DVI-to-VGA adapter also included) An RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet network port (also supports ¹⁰⁄₁₀₀ Ethernet) External headphone/speaker output jack and a microphone line-in Two USB 3.0 ports for accessories (such as an external hard drive or another USB graphics adapter) Four USB 2.0 ports (great for legacy devices such as keyboards, mice and printers) Note: *2560×1440 output only available when using a single HDMI display connected through the dock. If dual displays are connected, each will be limited to a maximum resolution of 1920x1200. 2560x1440 output requires a “High Speed” HDMI cable. 2560x1440 mode will operate at a 50Hz refresh rate; all lower modes support 60Hz refresh. 2560x1440 output requires current DisplayLink drivers and attached monitor must natively support 2560x1440 via HDMI input (most 2560x1600 monitors do not support 2560x1440).

Compatible Systems Windows 10, 8.1, 7, and XP drivers can be automatically installed by Windows Update (with an existing Internet connection) or can be downloaded from Plugable. USB graphics require dual-core 2GHz+ CPU and 2GB RAM for best performance. Requires supported Intel / AMD / NVIDIA main GPU and WDDM compatible driver (most recent systems meet this requirement). Ethernet port requires full-duplex network infrastructure. Updated USB 3.0 host controller drivers and graphics drivers suggested for best performance and compatibility. Non-Compatible Systems Cannot be mixed with non-DisplayLink USB graphics adapters and drivers (e.g. MCT, j5, or SMSC). Mac OS X, ARM-based versions of Windows (Surface RT) and Linux/Unix are not supported. Monitor Compatibility Supports a single HDMI display up to 2560x1440@50Hz, or dual 1920x1080 displays @60Hz DVI dual-link connection not supported. 2560x1440 (1440P) resolution only available with native HDMI monitor. 1440P not supported when using HDMI-to-DVI adapter/cable or DVI monitor. Application Compatibility Does not support HDCP, and will not allow for playback of encrypted Bluray disks or copy-protected content. Suggested for web/productivity software; not recommended for gaming.

Power and Charging Functions as a USB hub only; no special charging functionality for charging tablets and smartphone devices. Does not provide power to attached host laptop or tablet; the host system will still require its power cable/charger. In the Box

The Plugable UD-3900 comes with a UL certified 5V/4A (20W) power adapter (US AC Wall Outlet Plug, 100-240V 50/60Hz); a USB 3.0 Type-A male to Type-B male cable (USB 2.0 compatible); a passive DVI-to-VGA port adapter; a quick-install guide; and a drivers CD.

Product Reviews

Disappointed by performance with USB 3.0

Well, with it’s USB 3.0 connectivity, and all the touting about the relatively decent graphics performance, I was very much looking forward to this for use on my ASUS Zenbook UX31A with a 3rd generation Intel I5 processor (which as I said, has USB 3.0 Super speed ports). This was connected to a 24” Samsung display at 1080p resolution.The good:- Well made and balanced - stays upright pretty easily- I do appreciate how Plugable uses the Displaylink drivers directly - always gives you the latest version of it- Drivers installed flawlessly and without a rebootThe not so good:- There is still noticeable lag in the mouse and keyboard actions- Dragging things like Windows around your desktop also cause lag, along with tearing of the image. A big bump in CPU use is also noted when this happens- Youtube drops many, many frames in 720p, and there is compression appliedFor regular Excel, and Word, this may prove ideal, but I think I will return the device, and make do with a regular USB 3.0 dock with a USB sound card, and Ethernet adapter, with the penalty of having to plug one additional thing in every time (the HDMI port on my laptop). It’s just the laws of computing (cramming 1080p video bandwidth down a USB pipe) that is the limitation.UPDATE 10/3/2012I received an email from Plugable after they had read my review and suggested one key change: That I enable Aero desktop in Windows. Apparently non-Aero Windows (such as the Windows Classic theme I was using) are not accelerated by the GPU and instead are rendered by the CPU. After doing this, the lag and compression artifacts decreased significantly - almost to imperceptible levels, and large spikes in CPU were no longer present. I was also able to watch Youtube videos without dropped frames in HD. I am awarding two additional stars, one that represents the performance of the product, and the other for the excellent, and unprompted customer service that Plugable provides. I also failed to mention that I had a 3TB USB 3.0 hard drive plugged in to the device as well, with no noticeable issues or performance hit.

Like Magic.

Works great! I use this with my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 as a “home base.” All the reviews pointed me in this direction rather than the official Microsoft Surface dock, and I’m glad I went this way. Plugged into this docking station I have two external widescreen monitors (one running HDMI to HDMI, the other DVI to DVI, both at 1920x1080 - no discernible difference between the two monitors), wired ethernet, another USB 2.0 4-port hub to connect non-power-sucking peripherals (keyboard, mouse, card reader), audio out, and a USB 3.0 card reader. A single USB 3.0 plug runs to my Surface to lasso all of this together. When I want to leave the house with my tablet, I unplug it and run. When I come back and want to work at my desktablet “workstation,” I plug it back in and everything magically works. Can’t imagine living a mobile lifestyle without this.

The Plugable UD-3900 and Surface Pro 2 go great together

I recently bought a Surface Pro 2 (running Windows 8.1) with the hopes of using it as my daily driver. The Surface’s lack of ports is a real problem when used as a desktop machine especially to a guy like me that measures his manliness by the number of monitors he’s using. There is the official Surface Deck, which is a sexy piece of machinery, don’t get me wrong, but it’s $200, not available right now, and itself has frustrating ports. For instance, while you can connect two monitors to the Surface dock, you have to do it by daisy chaining monitors off of the DisplayPort. Who has time for all that? And my existing monitors don’t have DisplayPort connections anyway. What’s a fella to do?And in walks the Plugable UD-3900.While the UD-3900 wasn’t built specifically for the Surface Pro 2, it works beautifully. Even with the incredibly snappy Amazon Prime shipping Plugable sent me an email before I got the unit with a link to the latest drivers and contact information in case I had problems. Being impatient like I am, I installed the drivers right away and anxiously awaited the package.When the UD-3900 showed up it took no time to hook it up and start using it. Everything just worked. Mostly. But I’ll get to that later. I’ve used USB monitors in the past, and they’ve always disappointed me. They were always a little laggy and sluggish. I was worried the UD-3900 would suffer the same disappointment. It definitely did not. I was able to drive both of my 23” monitors with ease. The additional USB ports were very handy and the added network speed of the UD-3900’s Gb Ethernet jack was extra icing on the cake. I can’t explain how easy it was to get everything working flawlessly. It just worked. With one exception…The UD-3900 was sending all its audio through the crappy, tinny little speakers on the monitor I had hooked up via HDMI. That wasn’t quite the experience I had in mind. Even when I connected my regular speakers to the headphone jack on the UD-3900 the sound stayed on my monitor. I replied to the email Plugable initially sent me and told them my tale of woe. They replied in less than an hour, on a Saturday afternoon! They gave me a couple of things to try. When those things didn’t pan out they immediately sent me out a replacement unit. I got the replacement unit today and it works like a champ.A few of my friends are picking up Surface Pro 2s, and I’m recommending the UD-3900 to all of them.tk

The Plugable is fantastic. I bring my Surface Pro 3 to the …

I purchased this docking station for a new office; I use a Surface Pro 3 for most of my mobile computing but in a new workspace I wanted the luxury of a larger screen as well as the ability to use a full-size keyboard and trackball. At first I planned to install a full-size all-in-one desktop PC, but then realized I could purchase this Plugable dock, a monitor, keyboard and trackball for much less. In short: The Plugable is fantastic. I bring my Surface Pro 3 to the office, plug in the USB cable running to the Plugable, and I’m ready to work in about 10 seconds flat. Honestly, the Plugable probably has a few features that I’m not using - I admit that I’ve never read the instructions beyond how to install the Plugable’s driver. It has made my Surface Pro 3 much more enjoyable to use, to the point that I forget that I’m theoretically using a tablet to do all of my work. Get the Plugable - you won’t be disappointed.

Headphone jack broke off inside unit!

The headphone (speaker) output was erratic. When I tried to change the cable the jack broke off inside the unit. It appears that this product is real junk.