StarTech.com Thunderbolt 3 Dock, Dual Monitor 4K 60Hz TB3 Laptop Docking Station, DisplayPort, 85W PD, 3x USB, GbE - REPLACED BY TB3CDK2DH

I purchased the Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station - with Power Delivery (USB PD) - 85W Charging - Windows / MacBook Pro - Dual-4K - USB C Dock - Laptop Dock to use with my new Apple MacBook Pro 15.4 Inch 256GB with Touch Bar and Magic-Mouse-2 (2.6GHz i7, 16GB RAM, AMD Radeon Pro 450) Space Gray, Late 2016 (w/touch bar-late 2016) and couldn’t be happier…finally! At $329.99 it is pricey but worth it. I originally went with a cheaper docking station (for $179) which I had to send back because the USB failed to work within 24 hours of getting it set up.Take a look at my setup in the pictures below. I’m using a ASUS PB328Q 32" WQHD 2560x1440 4ms DisplayPort HDMI DVI Eye Care Monitor as my main monitor, connected via the USB-C to DisplayPort cable that came with the docking station. I’m getting 2560 x 1440 resolution in landscape mode. I’ve also got an Asus LCD VP228H Gaming, 21,5'' LED,1ms,DC 100mil.,HDMI,DVI,1920x1080, speakers display as a secondary monitor connected using an gofanco ACTIVE DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (Black) - Up to Ultra HD 4K @ 60Hz, Eyefinity Compatible, MULTIPLE SCREENS Supported for Gaming. I’m getting 1080 x 1920 resolution in portrait mode.I purchased a Belkin Thunderbolt 3 Cable (6.5 Feet / 2 Meters) - F2CD085bt2M-BLK (which I got at a ridiculous price of $25 because BestBuy marked it down to the wrong price-these will normally cost you between $50-$90 depending on the brand) in order to place my laptop off to the side of my desk. The cable that came with this dock (and the previous one I purchased) were both one foot in length. If you have limited desk space, it’s worth investing in a longer cable. But make sure you’ve purchased the “right” cable. Not any USB-C to USB-C cable will work. You need to check with the manufacturer of your docking station. This one specifically required the Thunderbolt 3 cable which offers 40 Gbps speed and power delivery up to 60W (which keeps my MacBook charged just fine).To the rear USB 3.0 port, I attached an Anker 7-Port USB 3.0 Aluminum Data Hub with 20W Power Adapter and 3 3ft Cables for Mac, PC, USB Flash Drives and Other Devices which I’m using to connect my Logitech HD Laptop Webcam C615 with Fold-and-Go Design, 360-Degree Swivel, 1080p Camera, Logitech Headset 981-000337 Wireless H800, Apple Wired Keyboard with Numeric Keypad Compatible with Mac OS X v.10.6.8 & later Versions (MB110LL/B), iPhone 6s Plus and keeping my Apple Watch Series 1 Smartwatch 38mm, Space Gray Aluminum Case/ Black Sport Band (Newest Model) (Certified Refurbished) charged while sitting at the desk. I will also be plugging in my Seagate Backup Plus Hub 6TB External Desktop Hard Drive Storage STEL6000100 to the hub for my media and backup. I was originally considering a high speed (7200 RPM) Thunderbolt 3 drive, but they are really pricey (picked up the Seagate at Costco for $120) and I decided that I really didn’t need the high-speed interface. I’ve also got a pair of cheap Logitech speakers connected to the headphone jack on the back. They work great as well. No hum whatsoever. Just remember that you’ll need to select the “USB audio CODEC” as yourI also have a CONMDEX USB C to Lightning Cable,Nylon Braided Typ C 3.1 Male to Lightning Data Sync&Charge Cord for New MacBook/ Chromebook Pixel/ iPhone 7/7 Plus/Samsung Galaxy S8/8 Plus (Silver,3.3ft) that I can use for media data transfer to my iPhone or Apple iPad Pro 10.5-inch (256GB, Wi-Fi, Space Gray) 2017 Model. The front USB-C port on this unit makes it convenient to do that sort of thing, or plug in my Guamar USB-C Super Drive Aluminum External Slot-in DVD/CD RW DVD Rom Drive Writer Burner for the latest Macbook/MacBook Pro/ASUS U306UA/ASUS/DELL Latitude (Silver) for ripping movies from my library or burning backups quickly. BTW, while I agree that you shouldn’t put anything on top of this unit (as the manufacturer recommends due to heat concerns) I have not found the unit to heat up much at all.Because it is in the picture, I'll also mention the HP OfficeJet Pro 8720 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer with Mobile Printing, Instant Ink that I just purchased. It's worked solidly so far. It's a great combination of high speed and high-quality printing. I've got it connected via WiFi.The tech support from StarTech was great. They are available 24 hours a day and they are quick to respond. I assume these guys are outsourcing the support folks, but whomever they have answering questions has access to their knowledge-base and makes getting questions answer far easier than trying to find the answer yourself.All in all, this has been one of the better items I’ve purchased in a while, so far. It’s only been a few days. If anything happens I’ll be sure to update the post.

Update after about a week: I gave 2 stars in my original review but I have to drop it to 1 star. The flicker with the DisplayPort is unbearable. I have to jiggle the connection 20+ times throughout the day to make it stop.Original Review:It works fine with my 2018 MacBook Pro. I can extend two monitors, one is 4k, other is 1080p. I use DisplayPort for 4k. Here're some issues:- With DisplayPort, monitor flickers every now end then, and even goes dark for a second or two, and comes back (maybe 3-4 times a day). Very annoying. I tried 4 different cables with the same result. Connecting the monitors to my MacBook directly doesn't cause flickers. So, I'm sure this has something to do with the dock itself.- It doesn't support HDMI to USB-C cable. I have to use my HDMI cable with an additional adapter to connect to this dock.- MacBook's original power cable doesn't work with this dock. It only works for charging. This is very unfortunate because the cable that comes with the dock is very very short. I tried 2 other original Apple cables with the same result. So, if this cable goes bad, I don't even know what to order. A very big issue.- USB-C port in front doesn't work with monitors. I can only use the one at the back.One good thing is you don't need to install any software to make this work. It works out of the box.

I had lots of trouble trying to make this work for a Lenovo and for HP monitors. I went back to a Lenovo dock

I recently purchased a 2017 15" MacBook Pro with Touchbar. I previously had an Elgato Thunderbolt 2 dock with my old Late 2013 15" Retina MacBook Pro so I wanted to try another brand. I also wanted Power Delivery for the new Mac as well. This seemed to fit the bill just fine. Has just about all of the ports you could need for a dock. I wish it had more USB ports, but I have a Pluggable USB 3.0 7 port hub to take care of any legacy devices I have (external drives, Snowball Blue Mic, Flash drives etc.)I connected my Dell 4K monitor to the dock with my existing Displayport to MiniDisplay port cable. Went from the Mini Displayport on back of my Dell monitor to the Displayport on the dock. On my old MacBook, I connected it the opposite way. (Displayport on the monitor to Mini Displayport on the MacBook). Upon connection to the dock, my monitor started flickering constantly. I did some digging on their website and found out my monitor (Dell P2715Q 4K) isn't compatible with 4K @ 60hz. Only 30hz. They mention it towards the bottom of their product page at Startech.--Certain monitors may be limited to 4K at 30Hz when connecting through DisplayPort. These monitors include the following models: Dell P2715Q, Viewsonic VX2475Smhl-4K, Philips 288P6LJEB, LG 31MU97C-B, Asus PB287Q (these models will need to be set to 4K at 30Hz).So at the moment, I am using the provided Displayport to USB-C cable they had in the box. Otherwise, I would need to order one outside of this. Power Delivery works awesome. Getting full 85W charging just like the original. Very nice to have only one cord now plugged in. I may consider going with another monitor going forward, but for now, everything works. It seems like similar models from Belkin and a few others have similar results with this particular Dell Monitor.