this post was submitted on 02 Jan 2026
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I'm not sure what this is. DDG shows me things that look like port hubs ? but for displays ? I haven't kept up with the times
Okay PCWorld helped me somewhat. https://www.pcworld.com/article/801587/best-displaylink-docks.html
I'm not sure what this brings compared to connecting your monitor directly to your laptop ?
It's a USB connected video adapter. Not USB C DP alt mode. USB USB.
At the best of times it's solidly OK. At the worst of times it's absolutely horrendous.
If you mainly do work tasks it is perfectly ok. My main monitor is a 4k 60Hz, the second is a 2k 144hz. Both runs very fluid with almost no hiccups. My few colleagues adopted the same layout and are happy with it.
It is not ok for gaming though, especially FPS or other games with fast changing scenes.
I have 2 computers connected to an USB switch (not a port replicator but one that let switch the host of your USB switch) and the dock attached to this USB switch. This allows me to quickly switch all of my desk devices (multiple monitors, webcam, microphone, gigabit network, etc...) with one click. Also both computer just require 2 cables for everything: USB and power cord. It took some time to put it all together but it is now my definitive battle station.
Unfortunately the dock does not work well with Linux and I am not able to find a non displaylink dock that enables me to achieve all of this. It is just a driver problem, but still...
If your laptop doesn't have enough ports built in.