How to choose a docking station

How to choose a docking station

The current notebook in order to make themselves appear more exquisite and perfect, the surrounding interface is also becoming less and less, especially the Apple system interface has become sporadic several. In the face of more equipment, a suitable and good docking station is extremely important.

Docking stations on the market are confusing, just to understand the types of all-in-one is a bit dizzy. In fact, it is very easy to choose a docking station. Today, we will take you in 3 directions to quickly choose your suitable model.

2 Types of Docking Station: Inline and Cabled

Although we see docking stations in different shapes and sizes, they all belong to 2 main categories, i.e. inline and corded.

Plug-in type is very easy to understand, it means that the docking station can be directly plugged into the laptop's interface for use, and can be well integrated with the laptop, taking up less space.

However, the problem is that it needs to be plugged into the computer all the time, for the heavier equipment is not very good to plug directly into the interface is easy to cause damage.

With a cable is the kind of ordinary docking station we see every day, generally with a Type-c cable, for convenience, which is divided into wireless models and models with a cable.

The former is mainly detached from the device itself with a line, can be placed more freely, but accordingly more part of the chip price will be higher; the latter is the device itself with a line, the connection will be affected by the length of the line.

The overall shape of the upright models, pedestal models, part of the Apple computer and magnetic models, regardless of how the style changes, are based on computer equipment and the scene to adapt, the choice needs to be based on their own people to pick their own habits.

7 major types of interfaces: performance changes to be clear

If the shape of the interface is a preference decision, then for the selection of the docking station required interface ratio, you need to adapt to the actual needs.

The current docking station mainly contains mainstream docking station are 4-in-1, 5-in-1, 6-in-1, 7-in-1, 9-in-1, 10-in-1 and more comprehensive 12-in-1. Regardless of the number, which interface mainly contains a video interface (HDMI/DP/VGA), USB interface, Type-C interface, charging interface, SD/TF interface, network cable interface, 3.5mm headphone jack.

VGA port: connects to old monitors, projectors and other devices, supporting 1080P 60Hz;

HDMI interface:

HDMI 1.4, bandwidth 10.2Gbps, support 4K 30Hz;

HDMI 2.0, bandwidth 18Gbps, support 4K 60Hz, 2K 144Hz;

HDMI 2.1, bandwidth 48Gbps, support 8K 60Hz, 4K 120Hz;

Network cable interface: mainstream Gigabit network port, RJ-45 interface, transmission speed up to 1000Mbps, 125MBps;

SD/TF interface:

Mainly for reading camera SD card / car recorder TF card, docking station equipment mainstream transmission speed is generally SD 3.0 version, transmission speed of 80MB/s; high-end part of the SD 4.0, transmission speed of 300MB/s;

USB Interface:

USB3.0:(also known as USB3.1Gen1, USB 3.2 Gen1) : 5Gbps (625MB/s), support 4.5W power supply.

USB3.1:(also known as USB3.1Gen2, USB 3.2 Gen2x1) : 10Gbps (900MB/s), supports 100W power supply; USB3.2:(also known as USB3.1Gen2, USB 3.2 Gen2x1) : 10Gbps (900MB/s), supports 100W power supply.

USB3.2:(also known as USB 3.2 Gen 2x2): 20Gbps, support 100W power supply.

USB4: Maximum transfer rate is 40Gbps (5000MB/s), support 100W power supply.

USB interfaces on the market today are predominantly USB 3.0, up to USB4 versions.

DP interface:

DP1.4, bandwidth 32.4Gbps, support 8K 60Hz, 4K 120Hz;

DP2.1, bandwidth 80Gbps, support 16K 60Hz, 8K 120Hz;

PD fast charging interface:

PD is the current mainstream standard fast charging protocol, USB-C supported by the maximum power default 15W (5V/3A), support for PD 3.0 protocol can reach 100W (20V/5A), the latest PD 3.1 up to 240W;

These are all interfaces that we will use on a daily basis, but whether we actually need them or not, we have to choose according to the application scenario. Of course, it does not exclude that there is a difficulty in choosing. But this is not a problem, after all, it has all the good docking stations.

Finally summed up the 2 major directions, first of all, clear your preferred style, wireless and with the line has its own advantages, the price is more or less different, according to the actual scene to choose.

As for the interface, the video needs more on the purchase of HDMI interface + DP interface have, read more on the requirements to buy more USB interfaces, as for the network port, SD/TF interface, etc. to the actual use of the good!