- 3.0 docking station features dual video ports (1x DVI-I, 1x HDMI) and includes 1x DVI to VGA adapter, 1 HDMI to DVI adapter, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 4 USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, audio In/Out ports and security lock slot
- Also a 6A AC adapter and 3ft USB 3.0 cable making it easy to connect
- PC/Netbook compatible
- Unit Dimensions: 1.46 inch H x 2.83 inch W x 10.63 inch L
Unboxed one, plugged GigE, some USB2.0 peripherals, and two 1920x1080 displays into the device, powered it up, and plugged it into the USB3.0 port on my Asus G74SX. The laptop detected the hub, but had very few of the components working. After inserting the driver CD that came with the unit and installing the drivers, the GigE port lit up and ran at 1Gbps, the USB2.0 fired up, everything worked but the dual external monitors. However, I waited about five minutes and the monitors suddenly engaged at the full 1920x1080 FullHD resolution.
Subsequent plug-ins to either of the docks worked flawlessly. A software update popped up with Windows Update a week later, with many updates for the dock; one of the biggest was for the DisplayPort software, which is software that extends video through the USB port. Technically, my NVidia GPU on the Asus doesn't see these monitors as external displays, so theoretically I could run with more than three screens. I tested and was able to run the GigE port to transfer files, while I was watching a 1080p video on one external display through the dock and another external display running YouTube, all while running apps on the laptop's main screen.
In short, This device was about as plug-and-play as can be, and that's saying something I've been in the industry for 15+ years, and rarely had anything be so stunningly transparent, easy to use, and functional. I run with three displays (two external plus the laptop's own screen), GigE, and other peripherals all with a single USB cable.
My advice for others who might have problems check your drivers, both on the software for the dock and for your own USB3.0 controller. I would wager that 90% of the issues are related to the laptop's own USB drivers, or perhaps running a set of screens at non-standard resolutions (though my work external screens are 1920x1080, which is standard, and my home screens are 1920x1200, and the docks have no issues switching between the resolutions, even when resuming from sleep), or running with outdated software. Maybe the 64-bit drivers are better than their 32-bit cousins. I dunno.
Bottom line? If there is some form of incompatibility, then you'll probably hate it. And let's be real, folks, it's been out a whole three or so months. But for those of us who need a docking solution that is easy to use and ubiquitous across manufacturers, and the drivers work, this is an EXCELLENT device.Purchased this with my new Dell laptop. I have spent the last 3 days trying to get it work and it is completely dead. Seems very cheaply made. A new one is on the way. Just FYI, this docking station does not charge your laptop. You would need item number (ACP7171USZ).So i got this and for 2 months it worked great. then the video stopped working it happens. Customer services solution was to update the drivers on my machine. Not the drivers for the device but for the video card and other devices on my machine. 2 weeks have passed since i told them that the video ports are not working and all they keep saying is that the drivers are out of date. Nothing changed for 2 months and the video stopped working and I told them that I plugged it into another machine and the same behavior could be observed. used display links software and it could not find the video port yet they still tell me that the drivers on my machine are to blame. Bad service! Bough a Toshiba port replicator, never buying Targus again. They should have software that can verify that the hardware works and replace it if it fails period. This is not a software issue.
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In spite of the negative reviews, I decided to buy this because of the sleek design, great feature set, and reasonable price. A few people gave it great reviews and seemed that those that didn't have much luck were probably getting driver issues. I already had one other DisplayLink device that worked great.Unfortunately this never worked for me. Here are a list of issues I had
Hardware not being detected (solved with updating USB controller driver)
Computer would not boot past memory check with dock connected (never solved)
Computer would crash if it went into sleep mode with dock connected (never solved)
DisplayLink Manager service froze and Display Link UI wouldn't load (never solved, but worked fine with IOGear product)
Only USB hub ports worked (never solved).
The Targus website is actually pretty good for troubleshooting information and I found this reference article really helpful.
I firmly believe that you should give a company fair opportunity to solve issues before you complain. I tried working with their tech support that only operates on West Coast banking hours. I would say e-mail response times are average around 1-2 days to get a response. But in the end, the only thing they had to offer was trying a beta driver.
My configuration as follows:
USB 3.0 controller ASMedia XHCI Controller
driver:1.14.8.0
Windows 7 Premium x64
Tested against Display Link software 6.2.37544 and 6.3 Beta (provided by Targus support). Both behaved the same.
I should mention that the computer wouldn't detect anything except the USB hub until I flashed the laptop USB controller firmware and manually forced the system to use the 1.18.8 driver. For some odd reason Windows 7 kept loading the older driver (1.14.1.0)
In the end, I believe the device to be broken since DisplayLink software worked with another device and computer wouldn't load the OS with dock attached. I hope others find this useful. Perhaps I was unlucky and got a rare bad unit, but the headache isn't worth the effort. I'm going to buy something else.
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