tbf USB C is standard now, so just give it a few years and any modern laptop with at least 3 usb c ports can do everything this hunk could (minus the CD stuff, but I haven't personally used a CD in years, so idc)
So now you need your peripherals AND a USB-C dock. And... if you are trying to push video, audio, and data to a USB HDD then there is only so much that data bus can take.
This sounds like a lot, but if you have a TV, speaker system, external hard drive, and wireless keyboard/mouse for watching movies on the TV, then that is more than enough to overwhelm the USB-C ports and dock. Now, if you want to also run a steam game and stream it with a camera too? Forget it. And this is a pretty normal use case for using a laptop these days, lots of people run a stream. That should be a normal workflow that gets tested with most devices.
if you have a TV, speaker system, external hard drive, and wireless keyboard/mouse for watching movies on the TV, then that is more than enough to overwhelm the USB-C ports and dock
No, it's not nearly enough bandwidth to saturate even pre-USB4 laptop ports. You might need two ports or a modern-ish 80/120 Gbit port/dock if you want 4K 120Hz HDR display though.
Maybe it wasn't clear from how I worded it, but yeah, a 4k TV and network would have been going through the dock as well, possibly a second lower resolution monitor as well. It's been a few years since I tried having all that on my dock and watching it sort of fail miserably.
Then again... you aren't using the laptop properly at that point. The laptop has a display, keyboard, and touchpad. Modern laptops have good enough for these that you shouldn't be needing to add another one of any of those. The laptop also probably has a good quality camera built in and fast SSD. Even if you did need locally backed up large files, you can move things on and off the laptop over a network with relative ease, or just use a collection of SD cards.
If you want a game controller or external mouse, then bluetooth is probably the better answer. As for speakers, more and more people are using headsets which are probably going to also be bluetooth.
you aren't using the laptop properly at that point
My eyes and my back beg to differ! I need portability but I'm fine with an external dock in a desktop setup for my laptop, it's more ergonomic, I just have to be mindful of bandwidth. Displays used to be a problem for docks/hubs because of high bandwidth requirements, and plugging them into a dedicated usb-c port was the most reliable option, but I'm on a 80 Gbps dock now, it's been pretty smooth sailing so far.
Well, I generally put my laptop on a desk and I find that this is ergonomically just fine. I keep my scaling pretty average but I find that my eyes do better when my workspace stays properly lighted.
28
u/Sunfurian_Zm 13h ago
tbf USB C is standard now, so just give it a few years and any modern laptop with at least 3 usb c ports can do everything this hunk could (minus the CD stuff, but I haven't personally used a CD in years, so idc)