StarTech USB3DOCKH2DP Triple Video Docking Station Review

TweakTown's Rating: 85%

The Bottom Line

Startech's USB3DOCKH2DP is a great solution if you're in the market for a triple display capable docking station, however it isn't the most budget friendly solution.

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Many times I have stated how popular docking stations have become. Over the last four or five months, I have seen an increase in the amount of these units coming through the lab, and today's solution, the latest from StarTech, is said to support up to three displays.

The USB3DOCKH2DP if we go by model number is one of the latest solutions to come from StarTech. This solution is one of the first docks, going by specifications that supports triple displays. Within this triple display functionality, you can utilize a single 4K display at 30Hz paired with dual 1080p displays. Additional functionality includes four USB 3.0 ports along with a separate port that allows for fast charging of smart devices while on the networking side of things this dock sports a single gigabit LAN port.

With all of those specifications out of the way, compatibility includes both Windows and Mac support with 7 through 10 support along with OS X 10.8 and later.

MSRP of the StarTech USB3DOCKH2DP is listed at $263.99 with a two-year warranty.

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Packaging for the USB3DOCKH2DP follows the lines of previous solutions seen from StarTech. At the bottom right there is an image of the dock while to the left the features are listed.

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The scope of delivery includes the power adapter, USB cable, and the dock itself.

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On the end of the docking station, we have both the headset port and the fast charge USB 3.0 port.

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Switching over to the backside, you can see the StarTech solution is packed with connectivity options. These include four USB 3.0 ports to the left while over to the right we have dual display ports and a single HDMI.

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In the image above, we have the components of the PCB listed out and as noted this docking station utilizes dual DisplayLink controllers each having its own DRAM and HDMI/DVI converter.

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In testing the StarTech docking station, we began with USB 3.0 with our Intel 730 SSD. AS you can see above, this docking station was capable of 371 MB/s read and 348 MB/s write.

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Network throughput testing showed the StarTech docking station was able to reach 843Mbps.

The StarTech USB3DOCKH2DP is one of the top docking stations I have tested, not by numbers necessarily but by features. The build quality of this unit is solid as a rock as far as the chassis goes and even looking internally I was quite happy with the layout and soldering of all components.

The performance of this solution was quite good with USB 3.0. Here we reached 371 MB/s read which is top notch for a docking station while write performance hovered around 350 MB/s. On the networking side of things, the Gigabit Ethernet peaked at 843Mbps. On the display side, I was able to test this solution with both my 1080p and 1440p display without issue both via HDMI.

Overall, the StarTech is solid but pricey solution for those needing a dock. With this price, you do get one of the only triple-display capable docks, but it could use a bit more performance over USB 3.0 and Gigabit Ethernet.

Tyler's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS Z97-A - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• CPU: Intel Core i7 4770K - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Memory: Patriot Viper 3 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1600 - Buy from Amazon
• Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Storage: Intel 730 480GB - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Case: Corsair Obsidian 750D - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower 750W - Buy from Amazon / Read our review
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 - Buy from Amazon