At a look
Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Multiple show prospects
- Tons of ports
Cons
- Confusing documentation
- Slow SD card slot
- Numerous high-speed ports can get clogged by the principle 10Gbps USB-C connection
Our Verdict
The Monoprice 13-in-1 Dual-HDMI + DP MST Dock affords good worth, although your expertise with this premium USB-C dongle actually relies on your laptop computer.
This Monoprice docks lands squarely in the course of the messy actuality that’s USB-C {hardware}: quite a few acronyms, ports, and options. What can this Monoprice 13-in-1 Dual-HDMI + DP MST Dock do? A first rate quantity, although it relies on your PC.
What the Monoprice 13-in-1 dock’s documentation implies is that you simply’ll have the ability to run a pair of 4K shows throughout this USB-C dock. (The “MST” within the product’s title stands for “MultiStream Transport,” which signifies that it could actually energy a number of shows.) At an MSRP of $54.99, this would seem to supply a reasonably inexpensive deal on the earth of USB-C hubs and docks.
Further studying: This overview informs PCWorld’s roundup of the perfect USB-C hubs and docks.
What Monoprice doesn’t inform you is that this dock’s efficiency will rely on which laptop computer you personal: The rule of thumb is the newer, the higher. A Microsoft Surface Book 2 with an Eighth-gen Core chip inside didn’t produce any output over its USB-C port; a number of latest Samsung and Surface laptops with Twelfth-gen and Thirteenth-gen Core chips inside labored properly, although.
So what’s the perfect you may count on? Monoprice’s in-box documentation is complicated, however the precise product web page is considerably clearer: If you’d like to make use of a single exterior show, you may run it at 4K, 60Hz. (Our exams verify this.) With two shows you may run one at 4K30, and the opposite at 1080p60. Three shows? All of them have to be run at 1080p.
Mark Hachman / IDG
But even on paper, it’s muddier: One HDMI port helps 60Hz; the opposite, 30Hz. Which one? Pull out the documentation. And in actuality, after I related two exterior shows — irrespective of the configuration — one displayed 4K30, and the opposite defaulted to 1440p, at 60Hz. That’s higher than anticipated, nevertheless it’s nonetheless complicated.
In half, that’s as a result of I had related the shows, by way of the dock, to my PC’s Thunderbolt port, which makes use of DisplayPort 1.4 as a transport protocol. If you might have a PC or a laptop computer with DisplayPort 1.2 (and few folks know in the event that they do, offhand) count on even slower speeds. Without your laptop computer’s documentation in hand, you’re rolling the cube.
Get previous that, although, and this Monoprice dock simplifies itself. The dock saves cash by not supplying an influence brick, however attaching your laptop computer’s USB-C charger to the enter port works effective — as much as 100W of energy supply. Just notice that the dock and any bus-powered units you might have hooked up will eat up a few of that energy, too.
Mark Hachman / IDG
What ports does the Monoprice 13-in-1 dock embrace?
Otherwise, there’s a bunch of ports: 5 USB-A ports (three transferring information at 5Gbps, and two at legacy 480Mbps speeds), SD and microSD readers (each transferring information at a poky 104MB/s, or UHS-I speeds), an audio/mic jack, and gigabit Ethernet, plus the HDMI and DisplayPort ports.
Just do not forget that the whole lot is being transferred over the 10Gbps USB-C bus, so chances are you’ll discover slowdowns or stuttering when downloading one thing over Ethernet, transferring information on a tough drive, and displaying it on a number of screens. That’s not the dock’s fault.
Mark Hachman / IDG
Monoprice’s dock doesn’t undergo from any thermal points; the plastic chassis will get heat, however barely so. It measures 5.5 x 2.2 x 0.65 inches.
This 13-in-1 dock is priced pretty aggressively, too. We’re seeing 8-in-1 docks priced at about $25 to $35, relying on the configuration; the $54.99 feels acceptable. This is admittedly extra of a high-powered dongle than a real USB-C dock, anyway.
Monoprice’s 13-in-1 dock is priced $5 lower than Lasuney’s providing, at present our decide for greatest full-featured USB-C hub. We’re going to carry to that decide for now, however the characteristic set may be very comparable between the 2. Make positive you evaluate costs on each that will help you determine.
…. to be continued
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