Item Details

Kensington Universal Notebook Docking Station with VGA/DVI and Ethernet 4

(19 Customer Reviews)

Price: $111.07
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Technical Details

• Works with widescreen and standard LCD Monitors up to 30 inches, or maximum 2048 x 1152 pixel resolution or 1080p
• Auto-Install design makes the initial installation a true "plug-n-play" experience. No CD software required. Perfect for office space shared with multiple users.
• All the port connectivity you need including 10/100 ethernet to maintain internet connection and avoid wireless hang-ups
• Hot pluggable, so you can connect to the dock and swap devices without shutting down
• Mini Tower design reduces desktop footprint, Kensington security slot allows you to secure your dock and its connected peripherals (via security cable and cablesaver)

 

Product Details

Product Weight: 1.00 pounds

Shipping Weight: 1.90 pounds

Model: K33926US

Manufacturer: Kensington

 

Customer Reviews

Does exactly what it's supposed to, painlessly,
by W. Rosenblatt, 2010-07-06

I got this product to use with my Lenovo Thinkpad, after having gotten a similar product from Lenovo. The Lenovo product had problems installing on Windows 7 and did not support the monitor resolution it claimed in its own documentation. This USB docking station installed completely painlessly - the software is preloaded on the device, so no CD or internet download is necessary. It drives my new 27" monitor with full, crisp 2048x1152 resolution, and all of my USB devices work fine. I also like the extra audio jack on the rear for connecting my external speakers so that the one on the front is reserved for my Skype headset.

This is a new standard for docking stations. Highly recommended.

 

Frustrating with the display,
by Joseph Otterstrom, 2010-07-05

The USB connection has been handy and for the most part this has worked well. The frustration with this product is that the monitor image is clearly superior when it is plugged in directly to the computer rather than when it goes through this devise.

 

Great Dock... But Not "Universal.",
by J. Wilmoth, 2010-07-01

OBSERVATIONS
Kensington makes a great product (K33926US), but unfortunately, "Universal" isn't what it is. I purchased three docks and three Toshiba laptops, one with an Intel processor, and two with AMD Athlon II Dual-Core chips and ATI Radeon 4100s. Of the three, only the Intel laptop worked correctly with the Kensington. When plugged in, both AMD laptops would install, but had blocky screen artifacts when motion occurred on the display (scrolling, opening the Windows 7 Start Menu). The artifacting was not on the second display, hooked up through the Kensington, but on the laptop's display! With the Kensington drivers (and specifically the "Displaylink" portion of the drivers) the block artifacts were there; without, they were gone.

I tried multiple drivers, different install orders, and talked to Kensington tech support twice. I also tried the displaylink drivers that Displaylink has posted on their website. I was never able to fix the artifacts, and returned two of the three docks. I am almost certain the issue lies with the Displaylink drivers and the AMD chip, because I installed the Kensington without graphics support, and experienced no problems.

CONS
- Does not fully replace a manufacturer specific dock (no AC laptop charging) - Amazon literature states this);
- Not "Universal", does not play well with some hardware combinations;
- Kensington tech support is responsive and helpful, if not always able to solve the problem;

PROS
+ Installs quickly and easily;
+ Secondary display crisp and without lag issues (for everyday work, at least);
+ Combines all laptop connections to a single USB connection, useful for mobile laptop users;

VERDICT
The Kensington K33926US is a good buy if your laptop doesn't have a manufacturer specific dock option, but beware of a Displaylink driver/AMD hardware conflict.

 

Did not work as advertised,
by Dillon S., 2010-06-10

Bought this port replicator to try and drive a 30" monitor with a laptop. The display I have is capable of 2560x1900, the highest resolution I could get this replicator to do was 1280x800. Tried it on 3 different computers and could never get the max advertised resolution of 2048x1152 or anything close.

Called Kensington support and the shortened version of the answer they gave me was that it depends on the max resolution of your primary monitor. Which IMO is a load of you know what, as I tried the replicator with the other monitor off and the replicator as the primary. I even installed it on a desktop and unplugged the monitor and disabled the display adapter of the PC and again the highest resolution available to select was 1280x800.

If you want to drive a large monitor with this thing, save your money and find a different option.

 

Interesting Idea but Fails in Driver Implementation,
by T. Danial, 2010-04-09

I have had this device for 8 months now, and I can't say I am any happier with it now, than I was when I got it. I got it because it was the only option for a docking stations for my Dell XPS 16 laptop that Dell would offer me. Unfortunately the drivers are so buggy that my Windows 7 machine is always crashing when it is connected to it. Or when I disconnect from it.

IF they got the drivers right, then it would be a reasonably good piece of hardware, considering what it has to do (pump screen data, Internet data, USB data from external hard drives, and sound all through one USB 2.0 port). I have updated the drivers 3 times since i have had and the results have been up and down. At first the image quality was very problematic, but that was fixed. But it continues to cause Desktop Windows Manager to crash in Windows, as well as locking up the machine on sleep or hibernate - corrupting my files.

The problem is that the display drivers are written by DisplayLink, and the sound drivers by someone else, and who knows when all the bugs will be worked out. For now (April-2010) I would say, stay well away. Spend your money elsewhere (and not on a product with DisplayLink technology, since it has a lot of bugs).

FYI, I am using 64bit Windows 7.

Hope that helps.