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.
| Standing screen display size | 1 Inches |
|---|---|
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 4 |
