Kensington USB 3.0 Dual Display Docking Station for MacBooks, Windows and Surface (K33972US)

Reason for purchase: I have an HP Envy laptop that only has one video out (HDMI) but I have two monitors and I was in the process of replacing my desktop computer with the ENVY and I wanted the laptop to be able to make use of both of my monitors. First impression: I was super hesitant about purchasing the product because I had tried an IOGear (or something like that) USB display module before that, too, used DisplayLink. I had soooo many problems with it...well actually just like one or two but they were happening frequently and in my mind I came to associate the problems with DisplayLink, not the module. So when I saw that this docking station used DisplayLink as well I was nervous but the reviews were so positive that I figured the previous problems might have been with the module itself. My first impression: nice looking piece, looks kinda like a router, solid packaging though it was difficult to remove initially. Setup: I literally just plugged my monitors into the back of the docking station as well as two ext. hdds and the speakers. I then plugged the docking station into a surge protector and connected it to my laptop via the provided usb. For those of you who are confused as I was at first, all of the video goes through the usb cable, so you can have two external displays without plugging anything into your laptop's video output. My laptop recognized the docking station and a window popped up where I could install the drivers that I wanted (one for audio, one for video, etc). The set-up was seamless and it blew me away. As soon as the drivers were installed the monitors came to life, I don't even think it required a restart (though it may have but I don't think it did). Overall Experience: It's been pretty awesome, I've noticed little to no lag at all when dragging stuff between monitors, no delay or sync issues with audio, the hdds are fast as ever, I'm blown away really. I've only really noticed two semi-issues--playing two separate videos on the two monitors creates problems, even when they're not playing in full screen. Also (and this may not be the module, I'm not sure) but when I first hooked everything up, I decided to leave my wireless mouse and keyboard connected directly to the laptop but after a while I noticed a TON of lag with the mouse...the keyboard was fine. I changed the batteries and still, TONS of lag...to the point where it was unusuable. But when I moved the receivers to the docking station, the problem was gone. Not sure what happened there, I had never had an issue with the mouse before so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the docking station or not. OVERALL: awesome purchase that I highly, highly, highly recommend.

I originally purchased a USB-C dock, thinking I could attach it to my new HP Windows 11 laptop USB-C port. I have two external monitors, one HDMI and the other Display Port (or VGA), as well as 4 or 5 USB devices. Well, I connected everything to that USB-C doc, and the USB devices worked - but not the monitors. After some research, I discovered my HP 15-ef2033dx laptop (purchased at a great Black Friday price), does not support external monitors through the USB-C. Duh - I should have paid more attention. So, I found this Kensington Dock on Amazon, read the description carefully and watched the videos produced by Kensington. Convinced myself that this bad boy is for me. Got it yesterday, hooked everything up, and voila - my old external monitors work like a champ. And, because the Kensington dock has its own power supply, I can leave my laptop lid closed - I have no need for 3 displays - and the 2 external monitors work great in this mode. When I'm done working, I just turn off the monitors, leave the laptop in sleep mode, and then wake it up by simply activating with the mouse or keyboard. The provided DVI to VGA adapter works perfectly, with a VGA connection to my old Dell monitor (at least 8 years old). And - the dock also has an audio output port, so I can connect my external speakers also completely to the Dock - the audio jack as well as USB for the power. (The dock also has an audio input port if you want to connect a microphone.) I could not be happier. If you have a laptop with a USB-C which doesn't support external monitors, or a laptop with USB3.0 type A only, this is for you.

I ordered this docking station as my Macbook Pro, running mountain lion, has only two USB ports. I had considered a standalone USB hub, but instead ordered this as I had some extra LCD panels hanging around. After installing the DisplayLink drivers from the supplied CD, I grabbed a couple of monitors and HDMI cables and connected them to the Sd3500v, one using the HDMI connection, another with the supplied DVI to HDMI connector. I then attached a Yamaha MOX8 music production workstation, a Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 audio interface, and a Yamaha dtx700k drum module to three of the USB 2.0 ports on the back. Next I plugged in the supplied USB cable and attached it to one of the mac's 2 USB 3.0 ports. I was about to attach it to a power source, but like many before me I found I had no space left on the power bar. So off to a big box store to grab one... After powering up, both of the monitors came to life. I was also able to create an aggregate device in the mac's audio MIDI setup tool, and add the Yamaha MOX8 and the Focusrite 18i6 devices and boom i've got 20+ musical devices talking to my music production software through this humble little docking station. Couldn't have been easier, and I couldn't have been happier. Pros. HDMI and DVI connected monitors worked flawlessly USB 2.0 connections worked fine USB 3.0 stick plugged into a front USB 3.0 port worked Plugged a PC style headset/microphone (pink+green 3.5mm connectors) and verified that the audio connection in/out worked Cons: The Kensington sd3500v like just about everyone these days places the transformer on the plug so that you need waste 2 or three power bar spaces to plug it in. Same with my Macbook and music devices. My thinkpad does this right by having a normal plug and cord into the transformer. Didn't test the wired ethernet connection. just for fun I plugged a windows 8 laptop into it. Everything hooked up to the docking station worked fine. Couldn't create an aggregate ASIO device on windows, but after all it is windows. Would I buy this again? Yes 100%

Build quality seems good. Really like that it has a separate power adapter, rather than hard wired. Right out of the box I started experimenting. Plugged up my monitor using HDMI and plugged in my wireless dongle for my keyboard and mouse. I have been using Chromebooks for a while now. The main page said NOTHING about Chromebook compatibility. Plugged up to my Acer R13 and within seconds docking station began working including the attached screen. While you can click on preferences to make changes, I shut the Chromebook's lid and started working away at my new workstation. I can't say it will work with all Chromebooks but it worked with the two I own just fine. Windows 10 laptops installed the drivers after plugging the USB cord. In order to get the thing to work once you close the lid of your laptop there is a switch under power setting that must be changed. I set our to never turn the screen off while plugged in when closing the lid. Works fine. Occasionally the audio flakes out and you have to reselect it as your audio output device. (this is a windows issue) On to my negative part of this review. Mac OS. I know the Displaylink website claims the driver works for newer versions with some system tweaks, but in our tests we had NO LUCK getting this to work with any OS past High Sierra. Once you upgrade the video just stops working. We reached out to Displaylink support, read through every forum we could, and still ended up rolling the Macbook back to High Sierra. This next little bit is more on Mac OS in general. ALWAYS DO A SYSTEM BACKUP TO A SEPARATE STORAGE DRIVE BEFORE UPGRADING. This will save you a lot of headaches because once you go from the Itunes store to whatever they are calling it now, getting to where you can download older versions of the OS will really try your patience. "And that's all I have to say about that." Your mileage might vary. I can neither confirm nor comment on how well this dock work with any other devices, like the MS Surface, as I don't currently own one. I may come back later after trying it out with some ODD stuff, like a linux laptop or some SBC's running various OS's and add to this review. Sorry this has gotten so long.

When it was time for a new computer, I wanted to go from a desktop and laptop (and copying things back and forth, etc) to just a laptop. But, at home, I like the "feel" and convenience of a desktop (full keyboard, mouse, big monitor; you know what I mean). This is a great docking station and gives me just the setup I want. It was very easy to install the drivers and it runs everything well. I run it from a USB 3 port on my lattop. In the station I have an 8 port USB hub plugged in (with 4 peripherals in that: Keyboard, wireless mouse, etc), and an external monitor and speaker set. All works well through this station and, when it's time to disconnect my laptop for use elsewhere, I just unplug the one USB (and laptop power) and I'm off. I don't recall if it is supposed to be "plug and play" but it is. When you need to add a peripheral for just a while, the 2 USB 3 ports in the front are very convenient. If you are interested in doing the "make my laptop a desktop at home" thing like I wanted to do, this is what you want and need (given you also need another monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc). If I ever need another one, I'll look first for a Kensington like this one. Definitely recommended.

I am using a Lenovo Thinkpad Carbon X1 for my daily driver, and an HP laptop from work as needed. I fought with 2 other docking stations before arriving at a last ditch effort with the Kensington. I tried Toshiba's Dyna Dock which is very similar to the Kensington in style and functionality however fell short with reliability. I also tried Lenovos in house USB 3.0 dock which is, at of today, a firmware disaster. I think in months to come Lenovo will sort out the stability issues with their offering, but I am not willing to wait. The Kensington has been bullet proof since day one. No issues that I have been facing with the other two are present in the Kensington. I am very happy and would recommend this to anyone looking for a stable USB 3.0 dock that gives you desktop accessibility on a laptop. Only gripe is I wish it had more than 2 x USB 3.0 ports. But I am nit picking now, seriously, it's a great product. To the three star review, please try updating the Display Link drivers to the latest. The Gigabit Ethernet driver is baked into that. Can't fault Kensington for your issue. I have had 0 issues with the gigabit Ethernet choosing priority over wireless.

I really liked the quality and the simplicity of this docking station. I was looking for a few days and was about to spend 150+ but this one does the same thing for less than that and was just easy to use. I have a macbook pro 2018 with 4 tbt ports and my OS is 10.14. Then I have a hp elitebook 8470p. The windows laptop didnt need to install a driver and that was nice. It worked as soon as I plugged in the usb plug to my ss usb port. Is was easy to install the driver and then set up the settings in system preferences. I am very happy that it extends, and not just mirrors the mac and windows displays. I had bought a hdmi spiltter and that just mirrored my mac displays so this was a step up to have extended displays. Follow the security instructions for the mac if you want to extend the display. Then go to display settings for both the mac and windows to align your display windows to get the configuration you want. The only downside is that it doesnt charge my macbook pro but its not supposed to charge.

Don't know why I hesitated to buy this but honestly, if you're looking for a psuedo diving station for your laptop that supports dual display setup (meaning not using your laptop screen but using two full size monitors) this is excellent... It won't support hi-res/refresh for hint Applications (wouldn't buy one for a gaming specific laptop to game on) but for business applications/image/video editing/visio/office/photoshop/publisher/etc... This is excellent... It allows connection to two external hdmi monitors (using it with 2 24" monitors) - has 4 usb2 ports for accessories like keyboards, mice, drawing tablets (like Wacom), low power charging (like for wireless headsets and Bluetooth devices) - has 2 USB 3.0 ports for hi speed connections for external drives plus a built in gigabit ethernet port... They include an dvi to hdmi adapter for your 2nd monitor and the first is a standard hdmi port (both are standed hdmi NOT display ports) Only gripe is the size of the power adapter and length of the power cord... - it only connects via a USB b to USB a cable that's included but not very long (1m I think)... If your laptop uses usb-c you can pick up a USB A to C adapter and it will work with a data only usb-c connection (great if your laptop 's USB c port doesn't support Alt-Display Port - which many don't...) I've had this for over a month now and am very happy with it... One note - upon 1st connecting the dock to your computer - BE PATIENT! Initial setup takes 1-3mins before all the drivers are installed and functional and attached displays pop-up... You will have to adjust the displays to put them in the right order and switch to extended displays mode (starts in mirror mode)... Once this is configured, connection time is under 5 seconds when you reconnect the dock...

Works well just what i need

Works perfectly

Principalmente lo compre para poner conectar varios monitores a mi laptop a la vez, funciona de maravilla, el input lag es muy poco siempre y cuando se use atravez de usb 3.0, en realidad le saque muy buen provecho, gracias a sus multiples puertos usb, es plug & play, llevo con el varios meses y no me ha fallado, lo utilizo en windows y mac y funciona perfectamente con ambos. Lo unico que no he probado es el cable de red, ya que tengo otro adaptador para la red que estoy utilizando.

Excellent product, very easy to install, no fuss no muss, and more than meets my needs.

Amplia compatibilidad, funcional, buena calidad, fácil de usar e instalar.