You Can Add USB And HDMI Ports To Your Laptop With This Cheap Gadget

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Modern laptops have develop into as highly effective as ever. You needn’t lay our a fortune to discover a laptop computer that is adequate for mundane duties like writing, learning, shopping the online, and watching content material. Even with a finances of lower than $1,000, yow will discover one thing from each the Windows and macOS camps. While laptops proceed to get highly effective, one of the backward traits we have seen for the previous few years is the elimination of ports. Just take a look at the M4 MacBook Air, for instance. It solely contains 4 ports: a MagSafe port for charging, two USB-C ports, and a single 3.5 mm headphone jack. The similar will be mentioned for a number of the finest laptops in the marketplace.

While a handful of ports will be greater than sufficient in sure circumstances, there are nonetheless quite a lot of gadgets that you could be want to hook up with your laptop computer that do not use the more and more ubiquitous USB-C port. The resolution? You could need to get an applicable adapter. Sure, whereas adapters are helpful, you could have to buy a number of ones for connecting USB drives, exterior displays, and many others. Not solely is that inconvenient, but in addition costly. So, the best choice is to buy an inexpensive dock, like Lionwei’s Laptop Docking Station, which supplies you a spread of ports — permitting you to attach just about any gadget to your laptop computer.

While the Lionwei docking station retails for lower than $60 with none low cost, do not mistake the low value for poor high quality or outdated performance. It features a whole of 13 ports: two USB-A 2.0, a USB-A 3.1, two USB-C 3.1, and a single USB-C port with energy supply as much as 100W quick charging. That provides a complete of six USB ports at your disposal, permitting you to attach a wide range of important USB devices, particularly for distant staff. Aside from the USB ports, this docking station additionally has a VGA connector, a gigabit Ethernet port, two HDMI ports, an SD card slot, and a microSD card slot. If you need to join your USB-C-only laptop computer to a monitor, you should use both of the 2 HDMI ports obtainable, as they assist as much as 4K decision. 

For those that have an 8K monitor, there is a DisplayPort 1.4 connector able to supporting an 8K monitor at a 30Hz refresh fee. You can join as much as 4 exterior shows utilizing this docking station, though it additionally is determined by your laptop’s compatibility. If you may have an M-series MacBook Air, for instance, it’s possible you’ll solely be capable to join one or two displays attributable to inherent {hardware} limitations.

As far as specs are involved, the Lionwei docking station is filled with ports — particularly for the value. However, specs alone do not inform the entire story — consumer critiques is usually a extra dependable metric. On Amazon, Lionwei’s Laptop Docking Station has earned a mean score of 4.3 out of 5 from over 12,000 critiques.  Several customers love the docking station for its performance and wide range of ports. Users point out that the docking station works nice for his or her work-from-home setup.

Another consumer says they have been in a position to exchange their damaged $300 docking station with the Lionwei one, indicating how highly effective this low-cost gadget actually is. Lionwei’s Laptop Docking Station sometimes retails at $55.99, however the machine is at present on sale as a part of the model’s Black Friday deal on Amazon — for simply $45. If you need to add extra ports to your laptop computer, you’d higher hurry and lock on this deal earlier than costs bounce again to MSRP.