External Displays and USB 3.0 Docking Stations

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Guest

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Community,

I've recently been extensively searching for a laptop that can support simultaneous dual video output, and from the ones that I have chosen, one single issue exists.

The issue is that, to access both video output ports on the machine (HDMI and VGA) the fins of the VGA cable needs to trimmed.

What I'm considering now, is using an external USB 3.0 docking station to easily access both video output ports.

My question is: How does a docking station manage to send the video output signals, as well as all the connections of all USB ports and even the 3.5mm audio signal over a single USB 3.0 cable?

I would love to get the docking station, but wouldn't want to compromise the performance of external USB 3.0 storage devices as well as dual 1080p external displays by using such a solution. Minor performance drops are acceptable, but screen flickering / noticeable lag / drastic loss of transfer speeds are not.

Setup:
- Laptop connected via USB 3.0 to the dock (Screen Closed & Display turned off)
- Dual Displays Connected to Dock (Extended Desktop across both)
- 2x External Hard Drives connected to Dock

I will only be using the 2 video ports on the dock, none of the built in ports on the laptop.

The laptop will have:
- i5 or i7
- 8GB Ram
- Integrated Haswell GPU or Dedicated GT 2GB 740M (I am aware the dedicated is better, but if choosing the Haswell would mean i can get the other specs I wanted, I'd go for it)

Just looking for some understanding of the technology, and some clarification if i would lose performance.

I'm not interested in choosing another laptop.

Thanks in advance,
DarkBlazer641
 
Solution
Someone Somewhere
Asus only? That definitely limits it a lot. There's a number of other good brands out there; I'd also be looking at Lenovo, for starters.

Frankly, at least at QHD, you could see the difference between a direct connection and a DisplayLink the moment anything moved. Moving more data over the same USB3.0 connection (and on most, the bandwidth is shared amongst the ports IIRC) would just make it worse.

I'll have a think.
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Someone Somewhere

Someone Somewhere

Titan
Sep 23, 2012
22,291
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84,965
USB docking stations almost always have a chip made by a company called DisplayLink.

I'd avoid it at all costs; especially for multiple or higher-resolution screens. You run in to bandwidth issues very quickly, and the framerate drops. Stuff stutters.

Also, their Linux support is worse than pitiful, and they have forced updates that can brick your dock if it gets unplugged when it's first plugged in.

I'd strongly suggest getting a laptop with a Displayport (or thunderbolt) out. You can run multiple displays over those, plus most QHD screens aren't set up for anything more than 1080p over HDMI. Plus you get to avoid VGA.
 
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G

Guest

Guest


Thanks for your reply.
Such a solution seems perfect (displayport/thunderbolt) but the issue is that my price range drastically reduces the laptops I would like to get. Also, my requirements for the machine makes the selection process much more difficult.

So summarize:
Price Range: Around AU$1500 (Australian Dollars)
Brand: Asus Only
Design: Thin Laptop or Ultrabook. Well designed, Reasonably thin (doesn't HAVE to be ultrabook thin)
Processor: i5 or i7
Ram: 8GB +
Storage: Dual Drives (SSD + HDD) (Atleast 500GB of HDD)
Display: 13" - 15.6" / 1080p would be preferable but not required.
Graphics: Integrated Haswell or Dedicated
Other: Dual Video Out, 2+ USB 3.0

I've been hunting for weeks...
the issues are purely centered around the video ports...

The other roadblock is the display.....is 1080p really useful??
I'm gonna be using this machine for university (engineering) and wouldn't mind using a 720p laptop on the road, and using 1080p screens at home.. any thoughts on whether using a 1080p for university would be beneficial in anyway?
 
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Someone Somewhere

Someone Somewhere

Titan
Sep 23, 2012
22,291
8
84,965
Asus only? That definitely limits it a lot. There's a number of other good brands out there; I'd also be looking at Lenovo, for starters.

Frankly, at least at QHD, you could see the difference between a direct connection and a DisplayLink the moment anything moved. Moving more data over the same USB3.0 connection (and on most, the bandwidth is shared amongst the ports IIRC) would just make it worse.

I'll have a think.
 
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Solution
G

Guest

Guest


Thanks for the reply.
Would be willing to look at lenovo as well....
Recently been considering it cause a friend ordered a machine from them for uni as well.

Will forget about the dock then..seems more like a trouble than a help..
thanks for your advice in regards to this.

I greatly appreciate your help.

DarkBlazer641
 
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