Plugable Universal Laptop Docking Station Dual HDMI Monitor for Windows and Mac (Driver Required), USB 3.0 or USB-C, 2X HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, Audio, 6 USB Ports (UD-3900)

I don’t normally write reviews because like everyone else on this planet I’m busy, between my graduate degree, work, and life in general, my spare time is valuable. However, I struggled for months trying to find the right combination of things for my specific situation and I am hoping this will help other people make an informed decision that they are happy with. After talking with tech people at work and in stores, and in addition to my own internet research I finally settled on the Plugable USB 3.0 Docking Station (Model UD-3900, Dual Monitor Docking Station). I’ve included my thoughts on the Plugable USB 3.0 Docking Station as well as some helpful hints that users who are not super computer savvy might find helpful (I will add, I’m not a super techy person myself). First, my thoughts on this product: It accomplishes my “wish list” without having to spend hundreds of dollars on a Docking Station. I have two computers – an older, personal computer (from around 2013/2014 time frame) that does not have a 4K screen and a brand new 2019 screaming machine that is provided by my job that does have a 4K screen. My home monitors are two 27” LG Class Full HD IPS LED with dual HDMI connections that I purchased around 2 years ago. This means that I am dealing with resolution differences across all of my equipment (I’m working with 3 generations of technology). Each computer has the following connections – 1 HDMI port (both computers), 3 USB ports (older computer - 1 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0), 2 USB ports (newer computer – all USB 3.0) and 1 USB-C Port (newer computer). My wish list included the following: 1. Connect and EXTEND my desktop display to my two 27” monitors. 2. Keep a resolution that does not blow everything up to a size that is unusable (an issue when dealing with 4K and not 4K capable equipment) 3. Plug one cord into my computer (rather than multiple) The Plugable USB 3.0 Docking Station does exactly this with minimal effort and without spending hundreds of dollars. I was really pleased when I plugged everything in and changed the display setting to extend and everything just worked. (As a note, I did tinker with the resolution settings on both computers to get my mouse to move screen to screen anywhere along the side borders – I did not observe a noticeable change in the image on my computer or on the monitors after doing this.) I was fortunate that all I had to do was plug and play and did not even have to restart either computer after plugging the unit in for the first time. The little informational booklet that comes with the product is actually pretty helpful if you know a little bit about what you are doing and want to accomplish, though it is brief and mostly contains pictures. There is also a web page and email address listed in the booklet if you need troubleshooting help. In short, if you have lots of cords that need to connect to your computer (for whatever reason), you don’t care if it charges your laptop, and you need two additional displays I would definitely recommend this docking station. Here are some things I learned along the way in regards to my specific situation. This is not meant to be a how to for all systems or set ups, just information that hopefully helps others. There is a lot of functionality in this little device way beyond what I have covered below - again, I'm not a really tech oriented person, a lot of what follows is laymen's terms. 1. Calling this a “docking station” is a bit of a misnomer – a true docking station, when plugged into your laptop, will charge it (this product does not charge the device it is plugged into). True docking stations also have a multitude of other capabilities, including supporting more than 2 screens and device charging and will run you in the $200 - $400 range. I would dub this a “docking station Jr.”, some but not all of the capabilities of a true docking station. That being said, it does have the option to plug in an Ethernet cable to it, thus eliminating an additional cord attached to your computer (super convenient!). I’m all about fewer cords if possible and if you have to be hard wired into your internet this is definitely a plus. 2. The order of the monitors (1, 2, 3) is as follows on the back of the Plugable USB 3.0 device (keep this in mind if you are picky about how your mouse will travel from one monitor to the next) a. Monitor 1 will always be the device you are duplicating or extending by default b. Monitor 2 will be the DVI port c. Monitor 3 will be the HDMI port 3. Cables…there are so many choices and some are directional and some are not and some need adapters and some don’t and, and, and… jeepers cats batman why can’t this be more simple!!! Here’s what you need to know about your computer and monitors to make THIS PRODUCT work. a. Do you have a USB 3.0 Port on your computer? It will say SS (super speed) next to the port. Most new computers have at least one USB 3.0 port, some older computers, like mine have 1 USB 3.0 and 2 USB 2.0. I recommend using the USB 3.0 rather than the 2.0. The basic difference is in the speed of data transfer, but either should work according to the box. (I did not try using the USB 2.0 since I have a USB 3.0 available on both computers.) b. Does/do your monitor(s) have any of the following ports on the back – HDMI, DVI, D-SUB (also sometimes called VGA)? I don’t recommend using the D-SUB (VGA) port, it doesn’t support very good resolution and you may end up with a really grainy image on your screen, but in a pinch it functions exactly as it is designed to with an adapter to connect it to the docking station (the unit comes with a VGA to DVI adapter if you didn’t notice in the product description). You’ll need a DVI to DVI cable if you are going to use the adapter. c. IF YOU HAVE HDMI PORTS ON BOTH YOUR MONITORS - here are the cables you should buy: i. 1 HDMI to HDMI, spend a couple extra dollars and get a decent cable, my experience with cheap cables is they are well, cheap. The connection can be flaky and they just give up the ghost randomly leading to the purchase of, you guessed it, another cable. ii. 1 HDMI to DVI, again spend a couple extra dollars and get a good cable. d. You need to have at least one monitor with an available HDMI port for this docking station to work for TWO MONITORS. (Why, because of the type of connections available on the docking station and the way display data is designed to stream through the available connections on your devices – there’s a way more technological answer, but simply put 1 connection out on the docking station gets you 1 connection in for each monitor.) e. What direction should the cables be connected??? This relates specifically to the HDMI to DVI cable. The DVI side of the cable is the signal out; plug it into the docking station. The HDMI side of the cable is signal in; plug it into the monitor. You are moving the image from your computer/docking station (out) to the monitor (in). 4. Duplicating a desktop vs extending a desktop: a. Duplicate means just that, whatever is on my desktop will be on my monitor(s), if I move my mouse on my desk top it moves on my monitor(s). Think meeting in a conference room where someone puts their computer screen up on the conference room monitor for everyone to see – duplicated. b. Extend means take my desktop and stretch it out across all three monitors. (Tricky, now you see where resolution problems can come into play.) For my set up my laptop is on the far right, monitor 2 is in the middle and monitor 3 is on the far left. This means that if my mouse starts on my laptop (far right) and I move to the left border my mouse will “exit” my laptop screen and “enter” my monitor 2 screen on the far right. The same will happen when I move from monitor 2 to monitor 3, and the reverse will happen when I move back towards my laptop screen. c. There a literally hundreds of YouTube videos on how to duplicate or extend your screen, simply look up “extend my computer screen” on YouTube to learn more. 5. Resolution – tricky stuff if your equipment is all different like mine a. Ever notice how when you go to arrange your screens in the order you want and some are pictured big and some are pictured small? This is because of the resolution that is set for each screen. This also means that you have to remember how you set up the order of your screens - where the borders touch in picture in the settings is the ONLY PLACE THE CURSOR CAN MOVE FROM SCREEN TO SCREEN. b. Normally the “recommended” resolution is sufficient. If you have a variety of equipment you may need to tinker with these settings. I don’t have a good step by step option because everyone’s equipment is different, all I can say is experiment; you can always change it back later. YouTube is another good resource for where settings are located and how to change them. c. If you want all of your screens to be the “same size” in the settings so your mouse can move from one screen to another at any point along the border you’ll want to set the resolution for each screen in the settings to the same thing. This might mess with how things look on your monitors and on your computer, again, tinker with it, you can always change it later if you don’t like it. Again, this is not meant as an official “how to guide”; I wanted to share some of the things I learned and clarify some terminology for those who are not super tech savvy. Hopefully this helps someone who is trying to decide if this product is the best option for their setup. Happy Computing!

I’ve been using the Plugable Universal Laptop Docking Station (UD-3900) for a couple of weeks now, and it’s honestly a great device. Setup was quick and easy after installing the driver, and everything worked right out of the box. It’s nice having my monitors, keyboard, mic and headphone all connected through one hub — makes my workspace way cleaner. The only reason I’m giving it 5 stars instead of 4 is because I need more HDMI ports. At first, I thought one would be plenty, but my setup grew faster than expected. Dock quality is amazing but it was my mistake, not the dock.. I’ll probably return this one and get another Plugable model with more ports since I’ve been impressed with the brand overall.

Great item. Performs exactly as described. I hooked everything up from my desktop; monitors, external hard-drive, camera, speakers, internet gateway, and I still have 4 USB connections available! Had to download a driver, but it was plug and play after that. I don't normally give much a 5 star review, especially after just a short time using it, but this one delivered with zero problems. My desktop has Windows 10 and won't support Windows 11 so it was either use my laptop or replace my desktop. This docking station allowed me to use my laptop saving me hundreds of $. Definitely recommend it.

First, hat's off to Amazon for delivering the item on Sun after I ordered in on Sat afternoon! Just WOW! I researched the heck out of this purchase, (as I usually do...) and decided on this item after considerable internal debate. The quick review is that I really do like it! I downloaded and installed the software before the device even shipped (Thanks for the link via e-mail, Plugable Tech!) Unboxing and connecting all my cables, etc. (8 of them!) took about 15 minutes, including rearranging my workstation several times. Upon connecting the device to my Dell i7348 2-in-1, all devices were installed within a minute and I was prompted to reboot. After that, it took me another 15 minutes to "argue" with Win 10 regarding which monitor I wanted where on my desktop and other various settings to get things just the way I want them. There was nothing wrong with the defaults, but I tweaked things a bit, as much because I could, as any other reason. All great! I noticed only the slightest increase in cpu usage with the two monitors and other peripherals connected via the dock instead of connecting one monitor via hdmi connection plus a usb hub for all the other things, before I got this dock. Really, it's so slight that I wouldn't argue against anyone that said otherwise if they were watching my cpu usage in the two instances, as it could have easily been something else in the background causing the difference. (On a side note, I noticed a marked reduction in CPU usage with the dock, compared to when I would connect one monitor via hdmi and another via a MS Wireless Adapter. The wireless adapter is great for some usages, such as projecting presentation onto a screen or wall, or watching movies on the big screen, but not really for "full time" usage...) I did downgrade the device one star for a few reasons. While I knew about them all before I purchased the device, they nonetheless are enough to keep me from considering it the "perfect" device, or close enough to warrant that coveted 5-star rating. The first is that the USB cable provided is somewhat short at 3 ft. This is a typical cable length for devices like this, so I didn't give it much weight in terms of stars, but it does limit where you can place the device relative to the item it's being attached to. I had to go to my third choice in terms of placement and it isn't ideal, but isn't a big enough deal to worry about it. I have a USB extension cord I could use, but I like to keep that in my travel bag, just in case. I could buy another, or even a longer Type A/Type B cable, but it isn't a big enough deal to worry about it. The next issue is that the device isn't HDCP compliant. I read a reply from one of the company reps to a question about that and the response was that not enough customers care about it for them to use the pricier chip necessary. Fair enough, as most other docks in this price range (or higher!) don't have this either, but I think the issue is more related to a lot of people not knowing about it, so not asking for it. Again, not the end of the world for me currently as I intend to use this in my office to enable me to use my laptop with the two large monitors and other peripherals I already have after my desktop cpu failed. I don't often watch HD movies or anything like it in my office. The third issue is that the device doesn't have bluetooth capabilities. While most laptops and desktops now come with bluetooth already, many don't, especially if they're lower to mid-range devices, or they're more than a few years old. You can plug a small dongle into the laptop, but those can lead to damaged ports when transporting. Like the other things mentioned, this isn't a big deal and there are relatively easy solutions to each issue. To be fair to Plugable, they've provided a device that seems to work very well and does what it's intended to do quite nicely. Adding a longer cord, upgrading the chipset for HDCP compliance and adding bluetooth all could be accomplished, but then the cost of the device would likely miss the intended target. I bought it after a great deal of research and consideration, so obviously I'm in that target group! Again, I really do like this device (so far as I've only had it setup for a couple of hours...) I don't envision anything that will change that and really do like the convenience it brings in quickly connecting my laptop with just a single usb connection.

Excelente producto, solo es conectar y usar. Ya tenia anteriormente el modelo con VGA pero solo tenia un puerto HDMI por lo cual cambie a este con dos puertos HDMI. El resto continúa igual a excepción del cable de corriente y el cable a la computadora/laptop que ha mejorado bastante en su calidad y han agregado un adaptador a C pero este no carga la laptop así que un punto negativo para laptops qué solo cuentan con uno para carga.

Works wells. However, after spending so much on it again had to purchase AU adopter to use it.

LANの有線接続、1920×1200のモニタ2台接続など、やりたいことはすべてできました。 耐久性はこれからですが、今のところ特に不具合などなく満足です。 唯一、USB type-C接続のものと比べると価格が高めです。もう少し安くなるとありがたいです。

Works well with my ASUS K401U Notebook through a single cable to one of its USB 3.0 port.

Good. Pretty much plug and play!