When browsing the marketing and reviews of docking stations, we often see discussions about their productivity benefits. However, docking stations can do much more than that, especially for gaming enthusiasts. While gaming may not be as prominent in docking station marketing, docking stations can bring similar benefits to gaming laptops as they do to work laptops.
Docking Stations: The Key to Unlocking Your Device’s Potential
Docking stations are great companions for PCs and laptops, helping users to fully utilize the full potential of their chosen devices and greatly expand the capabilities within their computing space. While docking stations may not be everyone’s first choice when designing their ideal setup, users will be much less capable without them.
For those who are not familiar with docking stations, understanding their features and benefits can be a little difficult. But after researching dozens of docking stations, we can clearly see that there are both pros and cons to adding a docking station to your device. Next, we will explore these pros and cons in detail and give some selection suggestions.
What is a docking station and what it does
A docking station is first and foremost a hardware port expansion tool, but it can do much more than that. It also powers the laptop, expands external display options, and improves cable management for a tidier desktop. Some advanced docking stations also have built-in speakers that can act as a miniature soundbar or laptop stand for improved ergonomics.
Advantages of Docking Stations in Gaming Setups
1. Port Expansion and I/O Diversity: Docking stations can significantly increase the number of available ports, bringing more input/output (I/O) diversity to gaming setups. This ensures that users have enough space to connect accessories such as keyboards, mice, microphones, game controllers, etc.
2. For laptop users: As gaming laptops become thinner and lighter, the number and selection of ports generally decreases. Docking stations provide both traditional (Type-A) and modern (Type-C/Thunderbolt) ports, as well as audio combo jacks and wired Ethernet connections to meet user needs.
3. Additional video outputs: For laptop users, docking stations can provide additional video outputs, greatly improving the gaming experience. While desktop users can connect external monitors directly to the graphics card, laptop users can do this through docking stations.
4. Multi-screen support: Some gaming laptops are equipped with DisplayPort (DP) or HDMI ports, but they are usually not enough to support multiple monitors. Docking stations can solve this problem, allowing users to play games on multiple screens and multitask more easily.
Disadvantages of adding docking stations to gaming devices
1. Charging power limit: Although the docking station can power the host, the output power of most docking stations is only 100W or less, which is the limitation of Thunderbolt 3/4 and USB Type-C connections. Most gaming laptops require at least 150W of charging power, which means that users cannot rely entirely on the docking station to charge the machine for a long time.
2. High price: Docking stations are expensive, mainly because they contain a large number of chips inside and need to handle multiple charging, data, video and even audio streams at the same time. In addition, the power supply of the docking station is also one of the main reasons for its high price.
In summary, docking stations have significant advantages in improving productivity and gaming experience, but there are also some disadvantages. Users should weigh their needs and budget when choosing a docking station. For game enthusiasts, a suitable docking station can greatly improve the gaming experience and make the game smoother and more convenient.
