Question 1

I would like to run 3 external monitors for business use, so graphics for gaming is not important.  This seems like a great option but will not use a 4k display.  So to verify, I should be able to connect 3 non-4k displays to this unit, correct?

Accepted Answer

LK you are correct. I am currently running 2 "non-4K" monitors, plus the laptops, concurrently. I have had the 3rd monitor connected and worked fine. Just keep in mind there are 2 HDMI's and one DisplayPort. Actually, if you plugin a monitor directly to your laptop HDMI/DVI port, then you can have 5 monitors at once (3 off the docking station, 1 off the laptop directly connected and 1 is the laptops monitor). We've bought 6 of these for my office so far. The most interesting thing, you can use it to connect your cell phone and manage the phone on your big screens with your keyboard/mouse. Amazing! DisplayLink has apps to support this.

Question 2

Does this docking operational even though the laptop is closed?

Accepted Answer

Yes, that is display setup function on your laptop. There is no power button like real docking station. you will still need to open the laptop to power on. I found it easier to keep the laptop open for a third screen.

Question 3

Does it come with all necessary cables and connections?

Accepted Answer

It comes with the power cord and USB to connect with the computer. It does not have the HDMI cables. Works great.

Question 4

Will this docking station allow me to use dual monitors doing different things or does just show the same thing on all of them?

Accepted Answer

Yes it will. That is just a setting in Windows.  I keep one I. Landscape and one in portrait.

But a warning, it runs on USB 3. It doesn't do well on anything above 1080p

Question 5

Will this work for an Ispiron 13 7000 series?

Accepted Answer

It will work for any laptop with USB. USB 3 is best. Screen resolution is the killer.  It can lag if your screen resolution is too high.

Question 6

I am using HP EliteBook 8460w laptop. 
And Dell U2417H monitors (2).
Can i use this?

Accepted Answer

By what it looks like, your laptop has 1 VGA and 1 Display Port, also has 2x USB 3.0. The monitors you have, both have 1 HDMI and 1 DP (also a mini DP...interesting). This dock will work perfectly for you connected in one of two ways. 1) suggested method: connect all peripherals including monitors to the doc station, connect the 1 USB 3 cable from the dock to the laptop and viola! 2) not so suggested, but if you have an addon GPU for gaming, this will be the better connection: connect both monitors to the laptop directly, one will require an adapter to your VGA port, or if you game primarily on only 1 monitor and use the other for web browsing, then connect the gaming monitor to your laptops DP port and the 2nd monitor to the dock station. This will provide 1080P to the 2nd monitor going through the dock station, rather than scaled down to 480P from the VGA adapter. 
The reason to connect the monitors directly to the laptop, if you do serious gaming, is the refresh rate / latency, which gets slightly increased by not using your addon GPU and going through a 2nd device before reaching the monitor. 
I've used this dock station for several years, home and work, with other colleagues as well - it is a superbly built one that is 100% dependable. Requires software installed. 
Side note: it is super cool that if you have a OTG cable for your cell phone, you can install the software right from the DisplayLink website to your phone and plugin your phone to the dock station and use it like a pc with keyboard & mouse. Awesome!!

Question 7

Will this work with Dell Precision M3800?

Accepted Answer

It will work but it uses USB video. So you loose the NVIDIA Quadro K1100M that is on the M3800.  So I would NOT recommend it. You have a good NVIDIA card there well worth using. Better to use a Dell E-Port Plus Port Replicator that would still use the Quadro.

Question 8

What is the 4k refresh rate? 30 or 60 hz?

Accepted Answer

Dell Pro Support Says the Following:

Minimum Core i7 running 2.0 Ghz or faster with Intel 4000 Onboard or Nvidia 5000 required.

Max resolution on this display is 3840x2160 @ 30 hz on Display port. BUT... you can run at that resolution with two additional monitors at 2048x1152 at 60 Hz each (plugged into the HDMI outputs) for a total of three monitors.

Question 9

This will work with ANY laptop, or it must be a Dell laptop?

Accepted Answer

I have it working on a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 so I believe it will work on any newer laptop with USB 3.

Question 10

Will this support Mac laptops ?

Accepted Answer

there are other versions of this same dock by startech, and they provide mac drivers.

Questions & Answers