Plugable’s new UD-4VPD, an 11-port USB4 dock, can be overkill for some of us. Nevertheless, if you happen to want a dock with all of the bells and whistles, you’ll discover it well worth the value.
It’s one of many first docks available on the market to assist twin HDMI shows at as much as 4K 120Hz — although there’s a downside for Mac customers. Extra on that in a second.
So what are these 11 ports? USB4 twin monitor dock with 2x HDMI 2.1 ports for twin 4K 120Hz, 100W charging, 3x USB, 1x USB Sort C 10Gbps with 20W quick charging for telephones and different units, 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, SD card readers, and a combo audio jack.
One in all my favourite options is that the UD-4VPD is a docking station for laptop computer with 100W charging akin to my 16-inch MacBook Professional. For laptops that want much less energy, the USBC dock “negotiates” with the host to ship the optimum cost. For iPhone, iPad, and different USB-C units, the dock can fast cost with 20W USB-C port. And it does all of this by way of a single USB4 cable (a 3.3-inch USB4 cable is included).
However again to that twin 4K 120Hz difficulty. TheUSB4 laptop computer docking station twin monitor enables you to lengthen to at least one 4k monitor or two at as much as 120Hz, or 1x laptop monitor at 8K 60Hz for suitable computer systems.
To get essentially the most out of the UD-4VPD, you’ll want a USB 4 or Thunderbolt 4 port that provides the 40Gbps value of bandwidth wanted by the dock. (Thunderbolt 3 is supported, however Plugable’s assist website notes that, in some circumstances, it’ll supply “lowered show mode choices.”)
The dock can also be designed for Home windows 10 methods and newer. Will it work with the Mac? Yep, however macOS doesn’t assist the multi-stream transport (MST) expertise utilized by the UD-4VPD, so it’ll solely supply one extra show at “as much as 4K 60Hz, or 8K 60 Hz,” in line with Plugable.
Plugging two displays right into a MacBook docking with the UD-4VPD will end in certainly one of them cloning the laptop computer’s show, giving two screens whole. This isn’t a Plugable difficulty, however a Mac difficulty; nonetheless, it’s annoying.
Why doesn’t macOS assist MST? In line with the Kensington assist website: “DisplayPort 1.2 is proscribed to 17.28 G bits/sec, the quantity wanted for ONE “4K” hi-color show “4k” at 75 Hz. Supporting MST would imply solely small shows might jam their knowledge on to that shared hyperlink, earlier than it was utterly saturated. Apple has made the technical determination NOT to assist that characteristic.”
The UD-4VPD is accessible now at Amazon for US$199.95 with (as I wrote this assessment) a $15 off launch coupon. One other good contact: Plugable presents a two-year restricted elements and labor guarantee, in addition to Seattle-based e-mail assist.
The UD-4VPD has numerous noteworthy options. It’s an amazing dock for Home windows customers and a good-but-not-great one for Mac customers.
Apple World At the moment score (out of 5 stars): ★★★★
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