Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock – Dual 4K Monitors for M4 MacBook Air/Pro, 100W Charging, 2X HDMI, 2X DisplayPort, 2.5G Ethernet, 7X USB, MicroSD/SD Card Reader, Audio, Windows & USB4 Compatible

I had a rocky start with this dock, but it turned out to be user error -- all of my Thunderbolt 4 cables are now labeled as such, as is the ONE TB4 port on my WIndows computer (chronic Mac user here), and it's a whole new game. This beast now pushes two of my 4 external monitors while still giving me a slew of USB ports from which to choose AND a reliable 1GHz NIC for my backup network connection (I bond two wired networks using Speedify). It keeps my clients in the room happy by not making any noise at all, and because of the workload it's taking off my laptop, it keeps that cool and quiet, too. The power supply is a bit bulky, so it takes a minute to set up or pack away, but it's worth every bit of extra energy to do so.

Before I begin, this in an honest review, and I am receiving no compensation for it.So I found myself in need of a work-from-home setup. My employer issues laptops as a way to work remote using a VPN, but a laptop is not an ideal solution for someone that works with large spreadsheets, and I do. I wanted a dock that offers several display connections, ethernet, and USB. This dock also happens to have a card reader, but it's 2024 and the cloud is a thing. This dock delivers on all those things.If you don't have Thunderbolt 4 on your laptop, this dock probably isn't worth it. I would buy something that uses DisplayLink (Plugable makes every kind of dock, and they have a tool on their website that helps you decide which model to buy). Thunderbolt 3 doesn't support as many displays as T4, and I don't see any reason to spend $300 on a dock unless you need the displays to connect directly to the internal graphics card.I already had a gaming computer at home, so I needed this plus a KVM to be able to use the same desk space and peripherals.I connected a Lenovo ThinkPad T16 Gen 2 to this thing. The product specs says it supports four displays, three external and the native laptop screen. I was able to close the lid and use four external.This computer doesn't belong to me and I don't have administrative privileges. This usually doesn't matter because Plugable offers drivers through windows update (no admin rights required). In my situation, our IT department uses WSUS / SCCM windows update. This kept the laptop from installing the Thunderbolt - Ethernet driver, so I had to get IT to install it while the computer was connected to the dock. Plugable doesn’t have the Ethernet driver easily accessible from their website. I get it…..almost nobody needs it there. Easiest way to find it online is to search the hardware id from device manager. I didn’t see anyone else with this issue in the Amazon reviews or any reviews from external sources.Let me address some of the issues I read in other Amazon reviews.Yes....this thing is expensive. I managed to pick it up at a discount during the Amazon spring sale. It is definitely on the pricier side of Thunderbolt / USB C docks, but I would argue that it is better quality for your money compared to the docks offered by the big computer retailers (Lenovo, Dell, HP). More connectivity and better reviews, for around the same price.Two reviewers complained this dock would not support four displays. One of them was more specific and said that the DisplayPort connections was the issue. I plugged in my VGA to DP adapter, and it worked. I then plugged in an HDMI to DP adapter (StarTech brand, I think). It did not work. After further research, I discovered that I needed an active adapter to go to HDMI. Plugable makes one. If you intend on using the DisplayPorts and your monitor only has HDMI……go to the Plugable website and find the DP to HDMI active adapter. There is a link there to buy on Amazon (15ish dollars, and worth every penny). I am now running four displays (with the laptop lid closed).In conclusion, this is a high end dock that does exactly what the product description says. I highly recommend it for those looking for a work-from-home solution. I currently have four displays, mouse, keyboard, Ethernet, printer, and the Thunderbolt 4 cable connected without issue. I can’t speak for those who do high end video stuff, but it’s a gem for any accountant in the market for a laptop dock.

I was replacing a Plugable TBT3-UDZ with this newer TBT4-UDZ. The TBT3 was always hot and would shut off. This model runs much cooler and working great. I had a problem initially where the ethernet connection would drop. Worked for a few minutes but then went offline. Figured out I needed to install the driver from the Plugable website. It's supposed to automatically do it but guessing it failed because of the ethernet issue or it thought the TBT3 driver was correct. Once I installed that, it's working great now. One minor gripe is the connection to the laptop is on the front of the dock. I would prefer it to be in the back like the TBT3 model. However this model has a power button which was missing on the older model.

On this model, there are 4 video ports, (2) HDMI and (2) DisplayPorts. I initially found it odd that they are labeled as "Group 1" and "Group 2", asserting that you can only have 2 monitors, with the option of HDMI or DisplayPort, despite that documentation states you can run 4 monitors on Windows. Well, this turned out to be moot anyway, as I found that NONE of the video ports are actually compatible with HDMI or DisplayPort, respectively. Wow! I tried multiple HDMI cables of various versions as well as different DisplayPort cables, as well as across two completely different model Dell laptops.I also tried plugging a flash drive into USB. I tried all the USB ports, and not a single one of them worked. I also tried different Thunderbolt cables between the laptops and the docking station, and the outcome for the monitors as well as the USB port was the same.I have been a big fan of pluggable for a long time, but they blew it on this docking station. I was skeptical that the dock had an adequate power supply for a three of my monitors and any combination of HDMI or DisplayPort connection scenarios, but discovered that this docking station could not deliver HDMI power to ONE 32" 4K monitor, let alone 3, on top of being one of the most expensive docking stations out there at the time of this review.I have plenty of laptop charges, and some that can fast charge two laptops at the same time, and do so for much cheaper, so I don't have a use for a what I found to essentially be a $300 laptop charger. Pluggable needs to go back to the drawing board on this one, or just stop making docking stations with false advertising on its capabilities.This was both surprising and a huge dissapointment. I put the brick back in the box, and sent back to Amazon. Very frustrating for the money and my own personal time spent troubleshooting this PoS. Back to square one and looking for a working and reliable docking station and power supply that is capable of driving (3) 32" 4K Asus monitors either through HDMI or DisplayPort. Unfortunately, this model from pluggable is not a solution. It could not deliver HDMI signal to one 32" 4K monitor, let alone 3. Save yourself some time, money, and frustration, look for something else. Best to avoid this docking station.