Docking station please come soon!

[suprafly]

SP3 docking does anyone know if 3 monitors, can be display simultaneously? I know you can display 2.

 

[Knuck]

Wrong. Both USB and DP port on theSP3 will stay usable after docking, meaning that the extra (and missing) lines in the power connector carry the USB and DP signals.

I hope you are correct but I doubt it. Because there is only one USB port on the motherboard then there will be a limited number of USB devices that will be able to be connected at one time. Once you exceed this limitation you will receive a USB resources exceeded error message. I highly doubt that these so called extra lines on the new docking station will make any difference in this regard. This is a motherboard limitation to which no changes to the SP3 has been made. This is why many reviewers have criticized Microsoft for not incorporating additional USB ports in this new generation SP.The only solution to this issue is to incorporate separate USB ports on the motherboard which was not done.

 

[Kif]

I hope you are correct but I doubt it. Because there is only one USB port on the motherboard then there will be a limited number of USB devices that will be able to be connected at one time. Once you exceed this limitation you will receive a USB resources exceeded error message. I highly doubt that these so called extra lines on the new docking station will make any difference in this regard. This is a motherboard limitation to which no changes to the SP3 has been made. This is why many reviewers have criticized Microsoft for not incorporating additional USB ports in this new generation SP.The only solution to this issue is to incorporate separate USB ports on the motherboard which was not done.

I'm going to reserve judgement until the SP3 dock is actually out in the wild and people can start providing feedback. It doesn't look like a rehash of the original docking so it's premature to say it will/won't have certain issues. Even so I'm not worried about the limitation, I'm only planning to plug in a keyboard, mouse, speakers, external monitor and USB PIV token.

If someone from Microsoft wanted to loan me an evaluation dock I would be glad to provide everyone detailed honest feedback.

 

[dstrauss]

SP3 docking does anyone know if 3 monitors, can be display simultaneously? I know you can display 2.

If you count the SPro 3 itself, yes, if you are thinking three 2560x1440 display port monitors, I don't believe so, because I understand the HD4400 graphics can only support 2 x WQHD or one 4K monitor.

 

[jnjroach]

Of course you could go down the path and start dangling DisplayLink USB Video Cards off all of those USB Ports and run 3-10+ additional monitors but each one will have some impact on CPU Utilization....

 

[suprafly]

That's what I figured as the resources, would be taxing in driving 3 HD display.

Only way to find out is do some load balancing on screen resolution.

 

[kundas1]

Btw I've seen docks for sale on ebay and $320 price tag seems outlandish! Are you really going to pay that much for a Dock when all you have to do is plug a powered USB hub and connect a monitor via whatever is cheaper?!!

 

[jbowden]

Its on sale for $179.00 at Microsoft Store.

 

[Kif]

Its on sale for $179.00 at Microsoft Store.

It's showing up $199 for me. Did you possibly log into the educational store?

I pre-ordered my SP3 dock today. Now it's just a waiting game.

 

[Kif]

The original dock dropped to $99 today. What a deal. http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Docking-Station/productID.286866900

 

[Kif]

Early preview with pictures. I'm jealous.
http://m.winsupersite.com/mobile-devices/surface-pro-3-docking-station-first-impressions

 

[hughlle]

Btw I've seen docks for sale on ebay and $320 price tag seems outlandish! Are you really going to pay that much for a Dock when all you have to do is plug a powered USB hub and connect a monitor via whatever is cheaper?!!

But if we start thinking like that, then we could question why pay so much for an sp3 in the first place when you could compromise for cheaper. For the same reason people are spending more on an sp3 instead of a cheap laptop and a cheap tablet, is the convenience it affords. I'm happy to pay a premium for the convenience, however small it might be. Even as a cash strapped soon to be student.