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j5create
USB 3.0 Docking Station (JUD481) Boomerang by Lawrence Patterson lawrence@opcug.ca
Best
Buy; $109.99
As the IT guy at work, the
importance of having a workable docking station is important to my
users as they want to quickly undock their laptop, go to a meeting
and just as quickly dock back in to use the main monitor. At home,
most consumer laptops just have an USB 3 standard port (though
they’re starting to come with USB C) and it be nice to have the
same docking capability, while not constantly messing with cables
(especially if you’re swapping in and out multiple laptops at your
home desk).
Most
USB type docking stations are a rectangular box that just gets in the
way, here the folks at j5create have come up with a solution that
places itself out of the way and underneath the laptop (with the
added advantage of tilting it up so the screen is position higher).
As you can see it provides for a network connector, 4 USB 3 (2
charging ports), microphone / speaker, standard VGA and HDMI (max.
resolution 2048 X 1152 at 1080p video playback). For those of us not
into gaming, this unit more than does the trick, and I just have to
plug in one USB 3 cable into my laptop (make sure it’s a USB 3 port
and not a USB 2) to have 2 additional screens come to life.
A
quick note, when I picked up this just before Christmas, my biggest
issue with the Best Buy folks is making them realize such a product
exists (the term “Docking Station” was totally foreign to them)
and you need to look for this where they have the USB hub devices. Take care.
Originally
published: February 2019
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