5 ms·

A single USB3 port can be used to dock to keyboard, mouse, monitor and ethernet - thats what I do with my Surface Pro 1. Just needed a few cheap hubs and adapte

A single USB3 port can be used to dock to keyboard, mouse, monitor and ethernet - thats what I do with my Surface Pro 1. Just needed a few cheap hubs and adapters. A proper dock would be nice but its not strictly necessary.

TTPrograms 12y ago
Plus power. That means two cables! That's literally double the number of things I should need to plug in. I hate to admit that this actually bothers me. It's true of all laptops, though.
- shanselman 12y ago
  The new Lenovos have a "one dock" plug that does USB, video, and power on one plug. It's lovely.
  - TTPrograms 12y ago
    Yet another reason for my next laptop to be a Lenovo...
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
  - Too 12y ago
    Last time I saw a USB dock with video the video performance was really poor, max 30hz at 720p etc... Do you have any experience of how these work?
    - jrockway 12y ago
      I'm guessing the dock is Thunderbolt, since Intel CPUs support it directly, and it does video, USB, and power.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- ghshephard 12y ago
  Given that Thunderbolt 3 can supply 100 Watts out - you would think there would be an equivalent trick one could do to bring power in http://www.extremetech.com/computing/181099-next-gen-thunderbolt-details-40gbps-pcie-3-0-hdmi-2-0-and-100w-power-delivery-for-single-cable-pcs http://www.extremetech.com/computing/181099-next-gen-thunder...
- Pxtl 12y ago
  Wait, so USB 3 still doesn't solve the problem of "Host needs to draw power from the connection"? That the connection has to be in client/charging mode or hosting-periphs/supplying-power mode? That's always been a massive disapointment in USB - the fact that you can't host and draw power through the same port at the same time. Big part of the reason you don't see many docks for non-iOS devices.
- jimmaswell 12y ago
  The cables really don't sound like that big of a deal. I'd much rather use a wired keyboard and mouse anyway. Every wireless one of either that I've tried has had lag and connectivity issues.
- Ogre 12y ago
  For MacBooks there's these things: http://hengedocks.com http://hengedocks.com I had one for an older laptop. Worked fine, but I didn't use it much just because I wasn't at my desk at home very much.
JBiserkov 12y ago
You do know there is a proper dock, that taps into the device's USB, DisplayPort and charging port to provide excellent, all-in-one, no-cables-to-plug-in-device experience, right? http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/hardware-and-drivers/docking-station http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/hardware-and-...
- codeulike 12y ago
  Yes. But I could not get one very easily (because generally I only buy second hand kit). I have an improvised docking station made of 2nd hand usb components that is also very small so I can take it to client sites with me and dock my surface into the keyboards, mice, monitors and ethernet that they have on site. The point of my post above was to remind people that they dont need a docking station to 'dock' a surface.

TTPrograms 12y ago

Plus power. That means two cables! That's literally double the number of things I should need to plug in. I hate to admit that this actually bothers me. It's true of all laptops, though.

shanselman 12y ago
The new Lenovos have a "one dock" plug that does USB, video, and power on one plug. It's lovely.
- TTPrograms 12y ago
  Yet another reason for my next laptop to be a Lenovo...
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
- Too 12y ago
  Last time I saw a USB dock with video the video performance was really poor, max 30hz at 720p etc... Do you have any experience of how these work?
  - jrockway 12y ago
    I'm guessing the dock is Thunderbolt, since Intel CPUs support it directly, and it does video, USB, and power.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
ghshephard 12y ago
Given that Thunderbolt 3 can supply 100 Watts out - you would think there would be an equivalent trick one could do to bring power in http://www.extremetech.com/computing/181099-next-gen-thunderbolt-details-40gbps-pcie-3-0-hdmi-2-0-and-100w-power-delivery-for-single-cable-pcs http://www.extremetech.com/computing/181099-next-gen-thunder...
Pxtl 12y ago
Wait, so USB 3 still doesn't solve the problem of "Host needs to draw power from the connection"? That the connection has to be in client/charging mode or hosting-periphs/supplying-power mode? That's always been a massive disapointment in USB - the fact that you can't host and draw power through the same port at the same time. Big part of the reason you don't see many docks for non-iOS devices.
jimmaswell 12y ago
The cables really don't sound like that big of a deal. I'd much rather use a wired keyboard and mouse anyway. Every wireless one of either that I've tried has had lag and connectivity issues.
Ogre 12y ago
For MacBooks there's these things: http://hengedocks.com http://hengedocks.com I had one for an older laptop. Worked fine, but I didn't use it much just because I wasn't at my desk at home very much.

JBiserkov 12y ago

You do know there is a proper dock, that taps into the device's USB, DisplayPort and charging port to provide excellent, all-in-one, no-cables-to-plug-in-device experience, right? http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/hardware-and-drivers/docking-station http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en-us/support/hardware-and-...

codeulike 12y ago
Yes. But I could not get one very easily (because generally I only buy second hand kit). I have an improvised docking station made of 2nd hand usb components that is also very small so I can take it to client sites with me and dock my surface into the keyboards, mice, monitors and ethernet that they have on site. The point of my post above was to remind people that they dont need a docking station to 'dock' a surface.