Difference between Dongles and Hubs

LOxoni on 29/05/2018 - 18:53

So I recently bought a new laptop so I can game and have something portable to replace my old desktop setup. I still have peripherals that I want to keep using including keyboard, mouse, monitor and speakers. So i found a few things that can help me connect all these with a thunderbolt 3 cable which my laptop has a connection for. But I've seen both portable USB c dongles that retail for $40-$80 that have HDMI and enough USB A ports for all my peripherals like these

https://www.amazon.com.au/UGREEN-Delivery-Charging-Ethernet-…
https://www.amazon.com.au/Thunderbolt-Multi-port-Charging-Et…

and I've also seen these non portable docks that have their own power connections and are much more expensive.

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B076P81HK4/ref=ox_sc_ac…
https://www.amazon.com.au/StarTech-com-Power-Delivery-Triple…

From what I could tell the bigger docks have power delivery to charge your laptop at the same time but does that justify spending up to 2-6 as much or is there something else about them that I'm missing? BTW I'm fine charging the laptop with the proprietary charging cable separately (I dont think my laptop even can charge through USB C).

I will be connecting a single 1080p monitor through HDMI , 2 USB A peripherals, 3.5mm cable from speakers. Any additional devices like portable USB's or hard drives I'll connect straight to the laptop.

Side note: is there going to be any difference if i went with a USB 3.1 type A instead of a thunderbolt 3 type C?

Computing Docking Station Dongle Thunderbolt 3 USB Hub

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 29/05/2018 - 18:59
    +1

    Dongle is usually a single input/output.
    Example is USB to HDMI only.

    Hub is a single connection to PC with multiple input/output.
    USB to HDMI, Ethernet and USB.

    • Oxoni on 29/05/2018 - 19:02

      Okay so they're both hubs. Then is there any difference at all?

      • [Deactivated] on 29/05/2018 - 19:19
        +1

        Well one is made by UGREEN and the other Paxcess… They also look a bit different.

        USB-C has two types of video output, not all dongles/adapters/hubs/docks support both standards.
        If you have a Mac, you're probably safe. But if you have a Dell XPS you might need to be careful, you might not.

        • Oxoni on 29/05/2018 - 23:00

          Ah okay makes sense

  • [Deactivated] on 29/05/2018 - 19:01
    +1

    Birds and the bees.

  • mskeggs on 29/05/2018 - 20:25
    +2

    In the olden days before USB-C, laptops needed to have special proprietary docking stations that used non-standard connectors to input/output power/video/usb etc.
    The first devices to do the same thing with thunderbolt/USB-C used a similar design, because that is what those companies build.
    Then some companies realised they could fit all that into a cheap little dongle/hub, and sell lots of them cheaper, instead of fewer for more expensive.

    If the small devices do what you want, and you are happy plugging in both the power cord and the hub, you might as well get one.

    • Oxoni on 29/05/2018 - 23:03

      Yeah I guess i dont really need the added charing functionality, might as well go with the more portable one then

  • Gronk on 29/05/2018 - 21:49
    +2

    The non-portable ones seem to allow you to put more juice through them as well, so they'll deliver higher current to both the laptop as well as connected devices meaning your stuff will charge quicker.

    • Oxoni on 29/05/2018 - 23:06

      That could help with future proofing when more USB c devices come out

  • nubix on 29/05/2018 - 22:49
    +1

    For your use case, a Type-A hub will do just fine. You'll just have trouble after you go beyond a single 1440p screen. Type-C will give you a single 4k screen and Thunderbolt will give you 2 4k screens. Sound and peripherals don't really matter.

    • Oxoni on 29/05/2018 - 23:00

      Noted, thanks!

  • StickMan on 30/05/2018 - 03:27
    +1

    Traditionally, a dongle was a single-use converter from one thing to another thing. In the age of USB-C, dongles are generally the smaller passively-powered things, while hubs are the bigger desk top type boxes with their own power supply.

    IMPORTANT

    Passively-powered USB-C hubs don't work very well for things drawing high power such as phones/tablets and USB hard drives. If you connect one or more of these, the hub will need to re-negotiate the power requirement from the computer, and in the process will disconnect everything else for a split second.

    Read: if you're using USB HDD's, either buy the $0.10 adaptors and connect to individual USB-C port, or buy a powered hub.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join