One of life’s certainties is that you’ll laptops never have enough ports and sockets for connecting to peripherals like mice, keyboards, storage and monitors. To address this fact, Plugable makes some great docking stations enabling laptop users to extend the connectivity of their machines.
Plugable’s latest docking station is the UD-3900C and it’s been designed especially for hot-desking and hybrid workers and comes with all the connections necessary for increasing the number of USB ports, HDMI outputs as well as Gigabit Ethernet and audio connectivity.
According to Bernie Thompson, Plugable’s genial founder and CEO: “The days of the traditional office environment are over. Smart, forward-thinking companies are adapting to open office concepts with systems that allow employees to filter in and out and work efficiently from anywhere. Plugable’s UD-3900C docking station is designed for a variety of work scenarios, whether it be at home or work, featuring every port necessary to support an efficient workplace with a simple setup and configuration.”
So many companies are now downsizing their office spaces because the pandemic has changed the way we work. Some employers are introducing part-time office policies which means there’s a need for more efficient and effective use of the open office concept, including hot-desking and hoteling. Companies need to prioritize productivity and make hot desks easier and more uniform to use.
Hot-desking is a system that uses unassigned desks furnished with identical monitors, a keyboard, a mouse, and docking station to connect to the office network. With this work system in place, workers turn up at the office and find a desk where they can plug in their laptop and start work. Hoteling is like hot-desking but involves a reservation system where workers must reserve their preferred working space in advance.
Normally, when hybrid workers arrive at their office, they need to manually plug in peripherals to their laptop, including monitors, mice, headsets, etc. With a docking station like the UD-3900C on every desk, all the peripherals and monitors stay permanently connected to the station and built-in tools like Display Layout Provisioning provide further customization. The UD-3900C is supplied with a hybrid 2-in-1 cable that most USB-A or USB-C laptops can plug straight into so they are ready to start working immediately.
With features designed for IT administrators and office managers looking to create the most productive workspace for employees, the UD-3900C is a one-plug solution with two HDMI ports supporting resolutions up to 1,920 × 1,080, a Gigabit Ethernet port for wired connectivity, two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, four USB 2.0 Type-A ports, one audio input jack, and one audio output jack. The included hybrid 2-in-1 USB-A and USB-C cable provides a simple single cable for connecting to a laptop.
The UD-3900C supports Windows and USB-C connectivity right out of the box. Mac users can also get full functionality by installing a driver that includes dual-monitor support for Apple M1 Macs.
Pricing & Availability: The Plugable UD-3900C docking station is available from Amazon and priced at $119 (with a $15 launch coupon). The docking station is also available from Walmart, Newegg, Ingram, Synnex, and Insight.
More info: plugable.com
