This docking station is exactly what I needed. I have a Lenovo Yoga 910, and after doing a lot of research, I wasn't sure there was any way for me to be able to extend its display to two external monitors. Then I found this docking station. Still unsure whether or not it would work, I contacted Plugable support and received a prompt response confirming that it would work with my laptop as desired. I've now received my docking station, plugged it in, and confirm it works wonderfully.
The main reason I wanted to leave this review is to share some of the steps I had to go through to get it set up on Windows 10; the instructions are not 100% clear in this regard.
1) The drivers did not update automatically, so you will need to do this yourself. If you're not sure how to do this, you can open up Windows
Explorer, right click on My Computer, and right click properties. Then click Manage Devices on the left side of the window that opens. In
here, look under USB devices and you should see the Plugable device. Right click on this and choose Update Drivers. Then continue
through the prompts and choose to search for drivers on the Internet. This should get you the drivers you need for it to work.
2) When choosing to extend my display, the display only extended to the monitor that was plugged in with the HDMI cable. You will need to
modify some display settings to get the display to extend to two monitors. Do this my opening your system settings application, click on
the System menu item and then click on the Display menu item. You should see that there are three displays shown in the settings, but
only two are working. To fix this you need to scroll down to the section titled Multiple Displays and choose 'Extend desktop to this display'
from the drop down menu. Now your display should be extended to both monitors and you may need to scroll back up to the top to
rearrange the screens how you want them
Hope this helped anyone experiencing issues setting up dual monitor external display.
Works great! I use this with my Microsoft Surface Pro 3 as a "home base." All the reviews pointed me in this direction rather than the official Microsoft Surface dock, and I'm glad I went this way. Plugged into this docking station I have two external widescreen monitors (one running HDMI to HDMI, the other DVI to DVI, both at 1920x1080 - no discernible difference between the two monitors), wired ethernet, another USB 2.0 4-port hub to connect non-power-sucking peripherals (keyboard, mouse, card reader), audio out, and a USB 3.0 card reader. A single USB 3.0 plug runs to my Surface to lasso all of this together. When I want to leave the house with my tablet, I unplug it and run. When I come back and want to work at my desktablet "workstation," I plug it back in and everything magically works. Can't imagine living a mobile lifestyle without this.
Good news. It worked.
So just for everyone else thinking of trying this kind of setup, this is what I’m using.
Surface Pro 4 i7, 16g ram.
Plugable Dual Display Dock along with TWO
Plugable 3.0 to HDMI Adapter connected to it via 3.0 port.
as far as the monitors
THREE HP - 27" IPS LED FHD Monitors (model# T3M86AA#ABA)
I noticed that the displays wouldn't really work with the 2.0 behind the dock, well they did BUT it was laggy when a window would minimize and video play was fine. It went away once I connected the adapters via 3.0, and I must say after looking through every review on amazon, I’m glad I found these dock and adapters.
Right out of the box everything started working. I will post an update some time down the road if i do encounter any issues but so far nothing at all.
Just wanted to say thank you and I hope this helps anyone thinking of using this product. It’s worth it, period. (don’t get the Microsoft dock, it sucks)
I connected this docking station from my laptop to two monitors. Easy to set up. Install updated software to your PC/Laptop, takes two minutes and Plug in the dock to your PC or laptop. Depending on your monitors you will need to purchase a dvi and hdmi cords with whatever connection you have on your monitors. I am also running a straight hdmi from my laptop to a 42" screen. Total of 4 screens in my office. Laptop screen, two 19" monitors and a 42" inch screen tv on my wall. Tv on the wall is not on in the picture but will upload one that does. Hope this info helps.
This worked perfectly, better than expected. I am using this for a Surface Pro 4, which has one single usb 3.0 port, and sure enough that single cable is all you need to hook up to expand/dock the Surface to everything needed at the desk. Docking and undocking is seamless, takes about three seconds to sync/sort itself out. This is setup for a coworker who isn't very computer savvy, and it is working flawlessly and without headaches or glitches. The software/driver was easy to obtain and install from their website, and despite running 24/7 has a very small resource footprint.
I am docking to...
-Dual 24in monitors (1920x1080). (handles three screens support when you count the laptop screen, even a 4K)
-Headphones (tested audio in too, works fine)
-Ethernet
-USB ports(have maxed all ports out with devices and everything works smooth at once. webcam, printer, external HD, wireless kb/m dongle, thumbdrive)
Network speed tests, USB read/write speed tests, audio and display quality are all fine for normal use. Got nothing negative to say, I installed this a month ago and havn't needed to go back to tinker with it at all.
Feature Product
- Provides SuperSpeed USB 3.0 (5Gbps) link from PC to dual video, gigabit Ethernet, audio input/output, and two USB 3.0 ports. (VIA VL811+ chipset with latest 9095 firmware. USB 2.0 backwards compatibility, plug and play, devices can be hot-swapped, supports USB over-current protection)
- HDMI port supports resolutions up to 2560x1440 with a single HDMI display or 1080P if two displays are attached. DVI/VGA port supports display resolutions up to 2048x1152 / 1920x1200; wired Ethernet port supports 10/100/1000Mbps speeds
- UD-3900 docking station is compatible with Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, & legacy XP systems. Surface RT, Mac OS X, and Linux/Unix are not supported. Docking station is suggested for use with web and productivity software; not recommended for gaming
- 2560x1440 output only available when using a single HDMI display. If dual displays are connected, each will be limited to a maximum resolution of 1920x1200. Cannot be mixed with non-DisplayLink USB graphics adapters and drivers (e.g. MCT, j5, or SMSC). DVI dual-link and DisplayPort connections not supported. Does not support HDCP, and will not allow for playback of encrypted Bluray disks or copy-protected content
- We love our Plugable products, and hope you will too. All of our products are backed with a 1 year limited parts and labor warranty as well as Seattle-based email support
Description
One-stop upgrade for your Windows tablet, laptop, or desktop. Connect up to 10 accessories through a single USB cable. Includes the latest drivers and firmware for compatibility with Windows 10 and earlier. Fully backward compatible with USB 2.0 PCs and devices. Features two graphics ports: an HDMI port and a DVI-I port with VGA adapter for mirroring/extending your Windows desktop to external monitors, a Gigabit Ethernet port (10/100/1000 supported, full-duplex required), audio input/output, two USB 3.0 ports, and four USB 2.0 ports.
Compatibility
Windows 10, 8.1, 8, and 7 drivers can be automatically installed by Windows Update (with an existing Internet connection) or can be downloaded from Plugable.com/drivers.
Requires Intel / AMD / NVIDIA main GPU and driver. USB graphics require dual-core 2GHz+ CPU for best performance.Up-to-date USB drivers on host system recommended.
DVI dual-link connection not supported. 2560x1440 (1440P) resolution only available with native HDMI monitor. 1440P not supported when using HDMI-to-DVI adapter/cable or DVI monitor.
Cannot be mixed with non-DisplayLink USB graphics adapters and drivers (e.g. MCT, j5, or SMSC). HDCP/Blu-ray playback not supported. Not recommended for gaming.
Mac OS X, ARM-based versions of Windows (Surface RT) and Linux/Unix are not supported.
Power
Includes robust 20W UL certified power supply for supporting several devices requiring USB 3.0's more demanding 900mA per-port power. Does not provide power to attached computer.
In the Box
UD-3900, premium 20W UL certified power adapter (US AC Wall Outlet Plug, 100-240V 50/60Hz), USB 3.0 Type-A male to Type-B male cable (USB 2.0 compatible), DVI-to-VGA adapter, quick-install guide
The first one of these I purchased failed within the first month. I began to have intermittent ethernet connectivity problems. Plugable asked me to download a bit of software to log the problems, but then the unit simply failed to turn on so I never got to log anything. Needless to say I was a bit frustrated. I wonder if the Amazon gorillas at the warehouse drop-kicked the unit across the floor before shipping it out to me. However, Plugable Tech Support responded with amazing speed. Within one day they had shipped a new unit out to me via Priority Mail, as well as providing me with a pre-paid shipping label to ship the old one back. The new one is up and running with no problems. I own my own business and I use this unit as my docking station for my company laptop, so that I can bring the laptop home and work on things in the evening. The Plugable is connected to a CAT5 ethernet cable. I have a dual-monitor setup running both monitors at 1080p (1920x1080). I have USB connections for keyboard, mouse, a web cam, and a Western Digital MyBook external storage drive. I have experienced no problems with monitor response, including watching You Tube videos. I have no problems with ethernet connection speed (other than the failed first unit) and no problems with mouse or keyboard response, etc. It works very well, and I am going to consider the first unit as a fluke. Stuff happens,and they stepped right up to it. I highly recommend this product.
This dock is very useful. You get a bunch of USBs which is great for plugging in your devices. I took 1 star off because when I used the dock to connect my gaming laptop to an external monitor via HDMI, it couldn't handle transmitting the graphics that well. So now I use this dock to plug in everything else and just plug my laptop into the monitor directly with a DVI cable. If you use it this way, this combination does work for a gaming setup. I'm able to connect all the external things I need (PS4 DS controller, headphones, mouse, keyboard, etc.) directly into the dock and just connect my laptop directly to the monitor and the whole thing works flawlessly.
Haven't tried this with a Macbook Pro but from what I understand other reviewers, it isn't compatible. Too bad. Because I'd love to use it for that too.
Recently ordered a Surface Pro 3 from Amazon and went ahead and ordered the Plugable UD-3900 at the same time. I couldn't be happier with the way they work together. Already owned wireless keyboard and trackball that I used with a four year old Asus laptop, so I didn't need the Surface keyboard (nor did I want to spend another $130 for it). Wanted the ability to use external monitors, but didn't want to pay an additional $200 for the Surface dock. Thankfully, the UD-3900 solves all these difficulties AND provides additional connection ports for external drive, USB drives, and other attachments.
One of the problems I had encountered with devices that sit vertically and have multiple connections is their tendency to move around on the desk due to the pulling of the connected cables. This device appears to have just enough mass to prevent that from happening.
Reading Amazon reviews prior to my purchase, I was impressed by the way the company appears to stand behind their products. I saw quite a few comments from Plugable following reviews from those who encountered problems with the product. I was also impressed with the video reviews on Youtube that I believe were done by the company's owner or president. Amazon makes it easy to read many reviews, and when a company stands behind their products the way Plugable appears to do, it makes me want to help expand their business.
I'm not a big fan of laptops, the screens seem very small, the keyboards are very crowded and the touch pad will never be as practical as a mouse. By necessity I had to buy a portable computer and as I had a previous desktop computer monitor I decided to check if it was possible to use the laptop only as a CPU, although I could connect the monitor through an HDMI cable. connecting and disconnecting the accessories, such as 2 external hard drives, the adapters for the mouse and keyboard. I did not know about the existence of the dockings and I ordered this with some reservation. I could not be more wrong, within minutes of making the order I received a plugable email indicating that I could download the drivers to advance some work before the team arrived.
When the dock arrived and following the instructions it was not even necessary to use those files, Windows took care of everything and in less than 5 minutes I was already using the monitor as the laptop screen and all the accessories worked as if they had always been connected to the laptop, all this through a single usb cable, when finished just disconnect that cable and the laptop is back as if nothing had happened, all the accesories are plugged to the docking station. Easier is impossible.
I have not had any performance problems, even with full screen video, highly recommended!
Excellent! One of the unexpected benefits of this device is that it has a sound card which is considerably better than the one on the Toshiba laptop connected to it, so all the audio stutter and external loudspeaker issues I was experiencing have vanished, to be replaced with rich, accurate sound. The set up was easy, once I had rebooted the laptop to properly register the drivers. The video looks fantastic and the displayport drivers are handling the 1080p second screen with aplomb - sharp images and no noticeable lag. I'm *very* pleased with this purchase.
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