Cool Yule Rating: 4 stars
Price: $129.99
Description: Docking stations and port replicators have been around for years, of course, but the virtual docking station, which provides several physical ports via USB, is a relatively new idea.
This compact unit adds four USB 2.0 ports, speaker and microphone jacks, a 10/100 Ethernet port (no Gigabit Ethernet may be a problem for some), and – here’s the real innovation – a VGA port. While every PC has a display port, of course, the real value here is in being able to add a second display (and all that additional screen real estate) to your PC using the multi-monitor capabilities of Windows. Apart from a little driver clunkiness, this feature works just fine, producing a sharp image, and it’s easy to use. But what I would like is just the second (or even third) monitor capability without all of the other ports, and ideally without the requirement for an AC adapter. Anyway, this is a solid, functional product and may be just what you need.
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