Many people will find that a notebook is not able to fully replace a good old desktop, giving as arguments a small screen diagonal, inconvenient keyboard and touchpad or even a small number of ports. Accessory manufacturers looking for a solution to this problem have proposed docking stations for laptop users, which are a counter-argument to PC fans.
What is a docking station and who will need it?
The first docking stations were designed for business notebook series such as Latitude from Dell and Thinkpad from Lenovo. They were equipped with a special docking port that allowed you to connect more devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, monitor, but also a printer or scanner. In addition to additional ports (because we still have those in our notebooks), we gain much greater convenience and time that we would spend on each and every workstation preparation. By quickly connecting one of the station’s connectors located on your desk, you can quickly turn your mobile notebook into a comfortable “desktop”.
An alternative to ultrabooks
The manufacturers have taken care of users who are not interested in buying business series, which usually do not have such attractive appearance, low weight or relatively small dimensions. Last year Green Cell presented a solution – HUB USB-C 7IN1, which very quickly became the most popular device of this type in Poland.
It is worth noting that the device not only extends the number of USB ports by additional 3 slots (including 2 in 3.0 standard). The docking station allows to connect a laptop to a TV or monitor via HDMI in 4K and 30Hz resolution. An additional advantage are memory card slots: microSD and SD, which are less and less common in flat, modern laptops.
Using these connectors we will connect your laptop with a more comfortable, larger screen, mouse and keyboard in a convenient way, turning your mobile ultrabook into a comfortable office computer. It is an ideal solution for people involved in computer graphics and photo processing, who do not have to sacrifice functionality when choosing Macbook PRO for their work.
Another problem in many new laptops is the need to use WiFi due to the lack of Ethernet port. For those who want a truly high-speed Internet connection, Green Cell has another proposal – Green Cell GC HUB2. Like its first version, it is equipped with a 4K HDMI connection, while all 3 USB ports support the 3.0 standard. In order to keep the size of the HUB2, the manufacturer has abandoned the memory card reader. What’s important is that both docking stations allow you to charge your notebook/ultrabook during operation thanks to the presence of a C-port on both devices.
Docking station not only for ultrabooks or notebooks
The USB-C type connector is primarily associated with smartphones and in this case the USB-C Green Cell adapters will also be used. With the help of these adapters we will connect not only an external memory, such as a flash drive or disk, but also a monitor, which will allow you to display the contents of your desktop on a larger screen. What’s more, both Green Cell devices support Samsung DEX, about which you can read more information on our blog – link. In short, when connected to an external screen, power supply and pointing devices, we can turn our smartphone into a PC. This applies not only to Samsung, but also to Huawei and other smartphones with desktop mode.
Versatility above all
Thanks to the described possibilities, Green Cella docking stations are much more universal than models dedicated to specific series of laptops. We won’t have to reckon with the necessity of another purchase in case of changing a notebook, because the universal port type-C has practically every new laptop. Moreover, we will also use it in combination with our smartphone. So the question remains: who is it for? For everyone. I think most smartphone and notebook users would find at least one situation in their lives where they could use a docking station. However, it is certainly necessary for people who have a business ultrabook, which they often use at meetings.
Author: Arkadiusz Olejnik
