USB Display Adapters

[JeremyCT]

I wasn't sure what subforum to put this in as it's not GPU related exactly. If I guessed wrong, my apologies.

My girlfriend works as a visiting nurse and her employer just "upgraded" her laptop to a Windows 10 tablet. The Lenovo X1 Tablet. Problem is, the screen on the tablet is much smaller than her previous laptop and she does a ton of charting at home. I'm thinking of making her a "home workstation" where she plugs a hub into her one available full sized USB port (the USB-C is used for charging) and gets a real keyboard, mouse, and a larger monitor.

This requires a USB-to-DVI/monitor connector that will work with Windows 10 built-in drivers (work computer, no admin access for installing stuff) and will also work with a USB hub. I haven't found any info on whether these adapters play nice in hubs or not. I'll be looking for all USB3 caliber gear as based on my research thus far USB2 adapters are laggy.

My knowledge here is weak. Anybody have any experiences to share? Is there another/better route to take for a task like this?

 

[petteyg359]

I wasn't sure what subforum to put this in as it's not GPU related exactly. If I guessed wrong, my apologies.

My girlfriend works as a visiting nurse and her employer just "upgraded" her laptop to a Windows 10 tablet. The Lenovo X1 Tablet. Problem is, the screen on the tablet is much smaller than her previous laptop and she does a ton of charting at home. I'm thinking of making her a "home workstation" where she plugs a hub into her one available full sized USB port (the USB-C is used for charging) and gets a real keyboard, mouse, and a larger monitor.

This requires a USB-to-DVI/monitor connector that will work with Windows 10 built-in drivers (work computer, no admin access for installing stuff) and will also work with a USB hub. I haven't found any info on whether these adapters play nice in hubs or not. I'll be looking for all USB3 caliber gear as based on my research thus far USB2 adapters are laggy.

My knowledge here is weak. Anybody have any experiences to share? Is there another/better route to take for a task like this?

There are only so many chipsets floating around for Video-over-USB, and Windows has had much better automatic driver support in the last decade. I'd tend to trust brand names for reliability, but USB docking stations all tend to be expensive. Dell makes one Amazon sells for $100.

 

[JeremyCT]

Yea, that's why I'm thinking generic hub with things plugged into it rather than a full-on docking station. It's all very new to me though and solid info is proving harder to come by than I anticipated. Course, the she wants a solution yesterday, so that doesn't help things.

 

[petteyg359]

Yea, that's why I'm thinking generic hub with things plugged into it rather than a full-on docking station. It's all very new to me though and solid info is proving harder to come by than I anticipated. Course, the she wants a solution yesterday, so that doesn't help things.

What makes you think a standard hub won't work? The ports on a standard motherboard are operating off a hub from the chipset, too. There's no external box and power supply, but it's still a hub.

 

[NiHaoMike]

You'll have to find a "USB-C docking station". Complicating matters is that there are several standards for HDMI over USB-C, but I think most PCs use the standard based on Displayport.

 

[EarthDog]

Doesn't the laptop have a video out for a monitor and USB ports for full size peripheral connections? I had to miss something here...

 

[petteyg359]

Doesn't the laptop have a video out for a monitor and USB ports for full size peripheral connections? I had to miss something here...

Lenovo X1 Tablet

According to Lenovo.com, the complete set of ports for that device is:

2 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C / Intel Thunderbolt 3 (Power Delivery, DisplayPort, Data transfer)

Though, if you think about it, 20 Gbps (80 for TB3) of external bandwidth on a tablet is pretty impressive I have doubts that it can actually saturate them.

 

[NiHaoMike]

Then just get a USB-C to HDMI converter. Read the reviews to make sure you get one that supports Displayport signaling.

I have seen a new Dell laptop that has the option of adding an external GPU box connected via USB-C. It's not a particularly impressive GPU - some mid range mobile GPU, but it does work a lot better than what Intel calls an integrated GPU.

 

[Alaric]

This? https://www.amazon.com/USB-C-DVI-Ca...pID=41mPTib0IWL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Or something here? https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...c+dvi\c+hdmi\c+mini+displayport+video+adapter

 

[JeremyCT]

Thing is, with a straight USB-C to video converter we'd lose the ability to charge while she works, which is important.

I think I've found a solution, but I haven't had the chance to test it as of yet.

 

[NiHaoMike]

Doesn't it have two USB-C ports? Anyways, here's an adapter that allows charging and HDMI output at the same time:
https://smile.amazon.com/Multiport-Tuwejia-Thumderbolt-Converter-Projection/dp/B07G44M4S3

 

[habbajabba]

AnyDesk will work over LAN. https://anydesk.com/remote-desktop

 

[JeremyCT]

Doesn't it have two USB-C ports? Anyways, here's an adapter that allows charging and HDMI output at the same time:
https://smile.amazon.com/Multiport-Tuwejia-Thumderbolt-Converter-Projection/dp/B07G44M4S3

It's the 2017 X1 Tablet, so it has one USB-A port and one USB-C. When I started looking at it, I was all "Hey, cool, it uses USB-C for charging!! Lemme plug it into my Pixel's charger!" It didn't work. It needs 20V, which is part of the USB-PD standard, but not widely implemented apparently.

AnyDesk will work over LAN. https://anydesk.com/remote-desktop

That requires installing software. Strike 1. It's not cheap ($79/year). Strike 2. It would require me to hand over my gaming rig so she can chart. Nuh-uh. I'll find another way, lol.

 

[JeremyCT]

I went with this bad boy: https://plugable.com/products/ud-3900/

$90 online.

Works a treat so far. Plugged it in and Windows found the driver and installed it without asking for admin rights. Monitor mirroring works as expected and all USB ports work very well. We even noted less latency with one peripheral that'd been rather troublesome and laggy previously. It uses USB-A 3.0, so the USB-C port remains free for charging. I could've gotten a dock with DisplayLink and USB-PD via USB-C to leave one USB port open, but 1) I didn't need that particularly and 2) docking stations with the USB-PD charging feature start at roughly twice the price. So this'll do I think.

 

[habbajabba]

Anydesk is non-gratis as in free. Sounds like she just needed a secondary monitor/kb/mouse. Anydesk is wireless but would require 2 pc's. I like the hub bub.