Lenovo ThinkPad USB-C Dock Gen 2 $130 + FS

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11-24-2020 at 06:54 PM #2

I do love my ThinkPads, but at this price I'd prefer to spend a bit more for a Thunderbolt dock that does 2x 4K displays. USB C doesn't have the required bandwidth.

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11-26-2020 at 08:17 AM #3

what is the difference between a "dock" and a "hub"? There are a lot of "hubs" with similar feature sets for about a 10th of the price

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Last edited by helloha1 November 26, 2020 at 09:42 AM.

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11-26-2020 at 11:36 AM #4

Quote from helloha1 :

what is the difference between a "dock" and a "hub"? There are a lot of "hubs" with similar feature sets for about a 10th of the price

Not much. The big advantage to this over the cheaper ones, is that it will do 4k at 60fps, and it has way more ports than the cheaper versions. The ports are also faster than the cheaper versions, like the dual usb c ports this has. Wont find that on a cheaper version. That being said, if you don't need 4k 60fps or all the ports, then its not worth getting this.

I have this dock at my work desk that i still use almost every day, and a cheap $20 dock at my home desk, and they both work very well.

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11-26-2020 at 12:52 PM #5

Quote from joseaa :

Not much. The big advantage to this over the cheaper ones, is that it will do 4k at 60fps, and it has way more ports than the cheaper versions. The ports are also faster than the cheaper versions, like the dual usb c ports this has. Wont find that on a cheaper version. That being said, if you don't need 4k 60fps or all the ports, then its not worth getting this.

I have this dock at my work desk that i still use almost every day, and a cheap $20 dock at my home desk, and they both work very well.

Super helpful, thanks so much!

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11-26-2020 at 01:45 PM #6

might be cheaper to buy the monitor with the usb C hub.

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11-26-2020 at 02:05 PM #7

The new Ryzen Thinkpads are multicore CPU beasts, but they do not have Thunderbolt. For ones with DP 1.4, such as the T14 AMD, this is a good dock [reddit.com].

To understands hubs vs docks +/- MST, see this [reddit.com].

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Last edited by meehawl201809071324 November 26, 2020 at 02:09 PM. Reason: Details

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11-26-2020 at 04:39 PM #8

Quote from helloha1 :

what is the difference between a "dock" and a "hub"? There are a lot of "hubs" with similar feature sets for about a 10th of the price

hubs一般没有chips没有电源，docks一般有芯片有自己的电源。区别就是，hubs可以pass information，USB入USB出，HDMI入HDMI出，等等。Docks可以处理信号一个USB3/USB-C入，可以接几个不同的显示器（具体分辨率和频率取决于芯片的牛逼程度）。它还可以反向供电外接音频等等。所以你发现hubs的门槛很低也就便宜很多。

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11-28-2020 at 12:00 PM #9

Quote from Todd.Z :

hubs一般没有chips没有电源，docks一般有芯片有自己的电源。区别就是，hubs可以pass information，USB入USB出，HDMI入HDMI出，等等。Docks可以处理信号一个USB3/USB-C入，可以接几个不同的显示器（具体分辨率和频率取决于芯片的牛逼程度）。它还可以反向供电外接音频等等。所以你发现hubs的门槛很低也就便宜很多。

google translate is awesome: "Generally, hubs have no chips and no power, while docks generally have chips with their own power. The difference is that hubs can pass information, USB in and USB out, HDMI in and HDMI out, and so on. Docks can process signals with one USB3/USB-C input, and can connect to several different displays (the specific resolution and frequency depend on the chip's awesomeness). It can also reverse power external audio and so on. So you find that the threshold of hubs is very low and it is much cheaper."

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11-28-2020 at 01:12 PM #10

Quote from Todd.Z :

hubs一般没有chips没有电源，docks一般有芯片有自己的电源。区别就是，hubs可以pass information，USB入USB出，HDMI入HDMI出，等等。Docks可以处理信号一个USB3/USB-C入，可以接几个不同的显示器（具体分辨率和频率取决于芯片的牛逼程度）。它还可以反向供电外接音频等等。所以你发现hubs的门槛很低也就便宜很多。

Thanks. This is a much better explanation.

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12-10-2020 at 05:39 PM #11

Does this work with non thinkpad brand laptop...Dell/HP?

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12-10-2020 at 08:02 PM #12

Quote from blonde8686 :

Does this work with non thinkpad brand laptop...Dell/HP?

Yeah it's USB-C, I'm using with HP. I really hate the bandwidth limitation issues. I found out today when I couldn't run my three monitors 24" monitors at 1920 x 1200. Very annoying. It worked fine with two but when I setup 3 the third one was running 640x480. Make sure you look into that before buying (i.e. how many monitors you are planning on using). I could only get one DisplayPort and one HDMI port to work at the same time.

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12-10-2020 at 08:07 PM #13

No USB-C. Not a deal killer, but the HP dock posted in the forum might be a better value and more future-proof.

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12-28-2020 at 10:44 AM #14

I have one of these at work to use with my thinkpad P1 gen 2. You really need to have a charger plugged into the dock as well as a charger for your laptop. Otherwise you lose your display connection for a second every so many minutes. I also had issues with ethernet dropping out. All of this quit when I started using two chargers, but that means you really need to have 3 chargers if you do field work and don't want to have to route your charger through your desk every day. It works well with two chargers.

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01-05-2021 at 09:38 PM #15

Quote from natefansler :

I have one of these at work to use with my thinkpad P1 gen 2. You really need to have a charger plugged into the dock as well as a charger for your laptop. Otherwise you lose your display connection for a second every so many minutes. I also had issues with ethernet dropping out. All of this quit when I started using two chargers, but that means you really need to have 3 chargers if you do field work and don't want to have to route your charger through your desk every day. It works well with two chargers.

I do not have this issue with usb-c gen2 dock and e480. Did you try updating bios/fw? I have only usb-c connected to the laptop from the dock. Charging is working as well as 2 fullhd screens and ethernet.

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