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Afghanistan, Kabul
1 Level
723 Review
74 Karma

Review on ⚡️ StarTech.com USB 3.0 Mini Docking Station - HDMI or VGA Adapter Dock for Universal Laptop Travel (USB3SMDOCKHV) - Black by Greg Birchfield

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Wondering what to get the geek who has everything as a gift? That's it!

This is a hub with HDMI/VGA, GBe and USB passthrough. Since they are all connected via a USB3 cable, I was expecting choppy video and reduced throughput over Ethernet and USB. I was wrong. I installed the StarTech drivers on a 2017 MacBook Air, which took about a minute and required a reboot. I connected the hub to my laptop and connected my Panasonic TV to an HDMI port and an Ethernet cable connected to the network. I immediately played a high-definition movie from the network onto the TV and watched the processor load. The CPU jumped a bit and then calmed down (probably Bitdefender was scanning the file I double-clicked or scanning the directory I was in). The picture was sharp and smooth, even when expanded to full screen (1920 x 1080 at 60). I decided to do additional tests - watch a movie, copy the file over the network, copy the file to a USB flash drive through a USB adapter. There was some hesitation, which I think I noticed, but it was an extreme test and I watched and waited for it. To be honest I say "no hesitation" because it was minor and Bitdefender could be the culprit. I don't think the average person would have seen this if I hadn't told them to "wait and see". I consider this a gem. while playing with it for a day) noticed that all ports work at maximum speed at the same time Cons: None

Pros
  • Satisfied so far
Cons
  • Nothing