Kensington SD4000 Docking Station

[kltk1]

Anyone using the Kensington SD4000 docking station with their Surface? Or any non Microsoft docking station for that matter? I'm looking at the Kensington because of it's smaller footprint (I have limited desk space) and would like to know what folks are using other than the Microsoft Docking station and how the Surface is behaving with it. I currently have a Surface 3 (Atom).

Thanks!

 

[hughlle]

I bought the sd3500v and it works just great. Other than for gaming. I recently had to use the dock for Ethernet and a usb hard drive, and the house was just lagging all over the place while playing an fps. I was having to aim via strafing as the mouse was unusable. Just too much of a strain on the usb bandwidth I guess

 

[GreyFox7]

I currently use a Targus USB 3.0 docking station, like the one you mention it's low profile but it's not 4k (older 2k unit). I previously had a Pluggable USB 2.0 model (much older unit) and have used both of these USB docks for years with a variety of laptops and the Surface(s) with little to no problems. While the Targus was more expensive than the Pluggable USB 3.0 model I liked the low profile because sometimes the upright style would fall over, not really a big deal but that was my reasoning. If you want the lowest cost go with a Pluggable. The others are still cheaper than the Microsoft docks which only work with a Surface so they don't meet my needs to support other systems. 4k models are fairly recent and as such currently demand a premium price but over time these prices should drop.

 

[kltk1]

Thanks folks. This is great information

 

[surfdock]

I've compared a few dock options here: Multi-monitor docking with Surface Pro 3/4 and Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro - danchar - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

 

[kltk1]

Thank you for that. It's my understanding that any docking station but the Microsoft dock will not charge the Surface. Can anyone speak to the accuracy of that statement?

 

[GreyFox7]

AFAIK its true. There aren't many vendors making accessories specifically for the Surface line.

 

[kltk1]

Thank you. I've been watching the Microsoft Surface docks available on ebay. I'm OK paying $80 for a Surface dock.

 

[jrioux]

Thank you for that. It's my understanding that any docking station but the Microsoft dock will not charge the Surface. Can anyone speak to the accuracy of that statement?

It depends on your definition of docking station. The eTauro dock (www.etauro.com) will charge the Surface.

 

[kltk1]

The Etauro looks like a good option. Looks like it only supports the Surface Pro 3.