Searching for dockingstation for 2 laptops

[ajfriesen]

Hi folks,

 

I have a desktop gaming PC with 2 of Samsung C27HG70 Monitors.

Each monitor has 1 Displayport, 2 HDMI and 2 USB 3 ports.

My desktop pc is connected via Displayport.

I have all my periphals connected to on of the monitors (webcam, headset, keyboard and mouse)

The usb3 extensions from each monitor go into one usb3 hub which then will get plug into the desktop pc front panel.

I can easily take it off and plug it into one of my laptops.

 

Now to my question.

I have 2 Laptops

• Latitude 5480/5488 with Ubuntu 18.04 for work
• X1 Yoga (2018) with Fedora 30 for private stuff

 

Since I occasionally work from home I bought myself an hdmi adapter to connect my dell laptop to my screens.

The adapter is the i-tec USB-C 3.1 Dual 4K HDMI Video Adapter (https://i-tec.cz/en/produkt/u3dual4khdmi-2/)

I had to install the DisplayLink driver on my work laptop to get it working. It seems my dell laptop does not have thunderbold. (At least I think it does not have).

That works okaish.

I have to plug in ethernet, i-tec adapter, my usb hub cable and power. Then I have to close the lit and place the laptop with the bottom facing up.

Why?

Because Displaylink is eating a hell a lot of my cpu and the laptop gets hot and works hard all the time.

 

I tried to connect the i-tec adapter with my x1 yoga but it says there is no thunderbolt device detected. But on the side it says it is possible.

I would prefer thunderbolt if it will not run that hot like displaylink.

 

 

Main Goal

 

One Dock where I have my 2 display cables, ethernet and usb peripherals attached.

I am thinking of replacing that i-tect adapter and cable mess with a single cable solution (2 would also be fine).

Would a dock like the HP Thunderbolt Dockingstation, 120W G2 work for both my laptop?

I do not fully understand when the dock is usb-c, thunderbolt and displaylink.

 

Edit:

Update link to my i-tec adapter. Did provide the wrong one.

[AngryBeaver]

For the laptops I would get something like a Displaylink docking station which has a charge plug and a single usb 3.1 or 3.0 for handling the data to the monitors. It can support up to 4 4k monitors.

 

Now that would mean you would need to plug in the laptop you wanted to currently use. Now if you want to use both monitors easily between your laptops and desktop then you could invest in a KVM to handle the switching of your monitors and peripherals from one machine to the other.

 

A docking station example -

https://us.targus.com/products/universal-usb-3-0-dv4k-docking-station-dock160usz

 

A KVM example - 

https://www.trendnet.com/products/product-detail?prod=250_TK-240DP

[ajfriesen]

The problem with displaylink, especially on linux, is the crazy amount of cpu usage.

It is almost constantly at 80 to 100 % which will my laptop fan go crazy.

 

Also Displaylink does not have ready made packages for fedora 30.

 

The KVM switch though seems like a good solution when I can find a descent one. Then I could also get rid off that usb 3 hub and connect devices directly to the kvm switch.

Is there a kvm switch which can drive also 120 frame rate monitor with wqhd resolution?