UD-3900

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.

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!

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.

Plug and play indeed. With very little trouble I connected two monitors, keyboard, mouse, USB 2 scanner and two USB printers to my Asus Win 11 laptop and it works perfectly with very little trouble hooking up and loading misc. software and drivers. Works well enough that I abandoned a desktop Win11 computer project I was preparing for. No problem with network using CAT5 and wifi (either one). My laptop lid is closed all the time.

I recently had opportunity to appreciate exactly how good this dock is compared to a couple of competing solutions, but first a little background: I purchased this dock in May 2014 to use with a Lenovo Yoga (13"), which now runs Windows 8.1 Update 1. The dock is VERY reasonably priced compared to some competing products. Once I downloaded uploaded DisplayLink drivers, the dock has performed without issue. USB 2 and 3 devices work well, the screens (both DVI, one connected with a DVI to HDMI adapter) have very satisfactory lack of lag or tearing, and do not flicker, blank, or give me issues. In short - it just works very well, with minimal fuss for me. So much so I pretty much just do not think about it. When my Yoga goes somewhere, upon return I only have to connect a power cord and the USB 3 cord from the dock and I'm in business. Enter competing product #1: At my last job, we were provided Targus USB 3 docks and my experience with their solutions when using my Lenovo Yoga was much worse. I had video issues, disconnection issues with devices, and just generally found the dock flaky (This was a ACP70USZ model for reference). I could never get the happy nirvana I had at home with my dock at work, despite trying a combination of new drivers and despite calling support. Bear with me - the next paragraph sets up another comparison: I was laid off at the end of August 2014, and started a new position as a contractor for Microsoft in October. At the new position, I no longer needed the Lenovo Yoga, which now remains at home on the Plugable dock. I was provided a very nice ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptop, with a ThinkPad OneLink Pro Dock, which connects using a proprietary connector, and also provides power to the laptop. To say the docking and video experience was a letdown for that product is a severe understatement. Updating BIOS, video drivers, dock firmware, and DisplayLink drivers made no difference in solving my issues. Almost all my co-workers experience some issues with this Lenovo Dock. Mine will graphically "freeze" my laptop (remedied by unplugging then re-plugging the dock cable to the laptop) about 2 out of 3 lock/unlock cycles. One or the other monitor will "blank" for about 2-5 seconds at least once per hour. Video feels slow and unresponsive, and the laptop just performs less reliably with more slowdowns and occasional blue-screens when connected to this dock. I hate the Lenovo Dock. So much so that I decided to take my Plugable UD-3900 to work and try it for a few days to see if my problems went away. What a surprise - all of my issues seem to have dissappeared. With the exception of having to plug in one more cable to power the X1 Carbon, the Plugable Dock is a far superior solution. The once a day blue-screens are gone. The "freezes" are gone. The slowness is gone. It works just as well, or better, than it did at home on my Yoga laptop. Lenovo should recall the OneLink Pro docks, but that is a separate conversation. I can't say many other good things, other than to say after trying two other competing products over an extended period of time, I'm really pleased, again, with this dock. I don't often write reviews, but I felt others might want to know how well this dock has performed for me. Now if I can only convince the powers that be to reimburse me for a second one of these for work. I might note that both of the competing products I reference are priced significantly higher than this Dock.

Easy to setup and displays work flawlessly.

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。

I used chatGPT to find a model that works with my hardware. This is a perfect choice. works flawless

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