Belkin USB 3.0 Dual Video Docking Stand for Windows 8 Tablets
As I type this, Microsoft has just announced the third installment of their Surface Pro tablet. At 12”, sporting 8 GB of Ram, up to 512 GB of HDD and up to full-featured latest Intel i7 processor, this tablet is as fully featured computer as almost any ultrabook laptop out there. Attach a keyboard to it, and your experience will not be much different than the one you would have with a “traditional” tablet. This device seems to be the logical end product of the recent trends in the world of computing: users have been increasingly ditching desktops for laptops, and now they are on the verge of ditching laptops for tablets. Aside from the most demanding professional applications (such as movie editing and powerful simulations), the high-end tablets have pretty much all the computing power that any one of us might need for our everyday tasks. However, there are still many situations where certain aspects of traditional computers do come in handy – larger screens, multiple peripherals, larger and more responsive keyboard, etc. Those seem to be exactly the kinds of features that this Belkin docking station aims to address. It is a pretty good attempt in that direction, but it is not without shortcomings.
I hooked up my Windows tablet to this monitor, and for the most part it worked fine. Unfortunately, my tablet only has a USB 2.0 port, so some of the more appealing features (like adding external monitors) were not exactly supported. I was able, however, to connect a wired USB keyboard and mouse to it, and both of them worked like a charm.
The stand looks and feels very sturdy, and my tablet set securely in it. However, I can see how some of the larger tablet, especially the 12” kinds, could be wobbly when put in the stand. If you have a larger Windows tablet, I would definitely want to test this stand before committing to a purchase.
One issue that I have with this stand, and it’s sort of inevitable considering its function, is that it adds to the cable clutter on my desk. When you have a desktop hub such as this one then you will necessary have to deal with many more unsightly cables than you would have otherwise preferred. This is not an ideal situation by any measure, and you will have to decide for yourself how much of an issue it is for you.
As the USB 3 standard becomes more ubiquitous with the tablet computers as well, stands and docking stations like this one will become increasingly useful. In principle you could be connecting up to three monitors to your tablet, and this could really improve the productivity value of such devices. However, for now a stand like this one is of rather limited value for most USB 2 tablets out there beyond providing them with a very sturdy USB hub.
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