Customer reviews from startech.com
StarTech.com - USB 3.0 Docking Station - DK30A2DH
Average customer rating
3.2
(20 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 20 reviews
5 Stars
4
4 Stars
5
3 Stars
3
2 Stars
6
1 Star
2
Customer Reviews for StarTech.com - USB 3.0 Docking Station - DK30A2DH
Customer Rating
4
Universal Dock that Never Lags
on May 18, 2018
Posted by: NickD_CA47
I have tested this dock using several laptops both with the USB-A and USB-C connections. Each time it took a while to install but performed great afterwards.
The dock comes in a box about half the size of a breakfast cereal box lengthwise. The dock is made out of plastic but looks very premium and could be mistaken for metal before touching it. The dock has 6 USB ports, 2 HDMI, 2 DVI, 1 Network and Mic/Speaker ports for audio. To use the dock you need to plug it in using the supplied AC adaptor and have the power switch turned on. The port to connect to a computer is a USB-C port and it comes with both a USB-C to USB-A cable and a USB-C to USB-C cable.
When I fist connected this dock to a new computer using USB-C nothing seemed to happen. I waited a bit for installations to occur but none went. After trying a few things, I found that I needed to have my laptop already connected to the internet, then on next connection it downloaded all necessary drivers and was working within minutes. On a different older computer using USB-A cable, I got a message "USB device not recognized". After waiting a couple minutes for the computer to download and install all drivers, it was working without any issues. The displays are very fast through the dock and during my testing I never noticed any lag or choppiness from the displays. Connecting the dock after everything was setup was quick and simple, although I still get the USB error when it's connected but everything seems to work without any issues. This dock is not a Thunderbolt dock so it will not charge your laptop and will install a new USB video card for display output. The computer will need to be connected to power for charging with a separate cable.
Little rocky installation but once it got going it works really great. It has lots of ports and performs quickly. I received this product in exchange for an unbiased review.
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
4
Lots of ports and just works!
on June 11, 2018
Posted by: Nick_107
Small, lots of ports, sturdy, and worked without me doing anything on both my Dell (Windows), and Macbook. If it worked with Linux, had an extra USB-C port, and delivered power over USB-C, it would be the perfect dock for me!
C'mon guys... I need to add an extra USB-C adapter to get power to the Macbook using this dock? Add a second, power-delivering port, and call it a day!
Other than power, my only complaint is that the USB-C port that it does have, for connecting a laptop, is on the back. Since I have to switch cables to connect my laptops, and I "mount" my docks towards the back of the desk with other devices in a stack, having to reach behind and swap cables is annoying. If I had this dock on a shared desk, I'd hear about it from the users!
Anyway, on to the positive.... Small, sturdy, LOTS of ports (compared to my other USB3 and TB3 docks!), and fast throughput. Connected three different laptops in total, and no driver pause or installs for me (maybe I already have the DisplayLink drivers from before?). Video is flawless at full resolution, I've played games, done some Blender and Photoshop stuff....
So now this dock is part of the mounted stack on my desk! If it delivered power, I'd probably take my TB3 dock out since this works just fine with my Macbook now, and HAS MORE PORTS!!! :)
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
2
Good, but NO charging?...
on May 23, 2020
Posted by: mike12345678
IT bought me one of these for my WFH set up.. Works great, but how do you not have charging on it. I'll get the adapter, but seems like a massive oversight. I'll be stuck on my laptop only for part of the day while it charges in the meantime..
Overall startech products are quality. This is just annoying, and seemingly avoidable.
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
4
Great features, and well built
on May 13, 2018
Posted by: Macphoto1970_5
This is a great docking station for people who want simple and easy connection. This dock is well built and has just enough weight to it to sit firmly on the desk with cables as to not move around too much. I have tried similar docks from other manufactures and this one tends to stay in one place better. I like the simplicity of a simple connection of usb-c or usb 3.0.
I had no issues with hookup to my windows based laptop and found everything worked as planned. The monitor resolution and image was great when used and I could see no artifacting at all. I appreciate the ethernet port as so many laptops are dropping this feature but in the office having a solid hard wired connection is always a nice addition.
I had no issues with hookup to my windows based laptop and found everything worked as planned. The monitor resolution and image was great when used and I could see no artifacting at all. I appreciate the ethernet port as so many laptops are dropping this feature but in the office having a solid hard wired connection is always a nice addition.
Overall the quality is excellent.
I received this product in exchange for an unbiased review
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
3
Good, but fragile poweradapter
on March 17, 2020
Posted by: Timmie
I bought this docking station last week and connected it today. Its working perfectly with 2 additional screens and the available usb ports are enough.
The only disappointing part is the power adapter supplied with it. As it is a universal version you have to apply the EU, JP, UK or ANZ part yourself. The EU adapter doesn´t connect perfectly and because of this the power is failing several times in a power-strip. It would be beter to deliver a regular EU power adapter as I now have to fix it with additional tape/tie-rip to keep it on its place. Because of this it would not recommend the docking to others.
The only disappointing part is the power adapter supplied with it. As it is a universal version you have to apply the EU, JP, UK or ANZ part yourself. The EU adapter doesn´t connect perfectly and because of this the power is failing several times in a power-strip. It would be beter to deliver a regular EU power adapter as I now have to fix it with additional tape/tie-rip to keep it on its place. Because of this it would not recommend the docking to others.
Response from startech.comBy Matt, Customer Support, March 19, 2020
Hello Timmie,
Thank you for sharing your review of our DK30A2DH. The power adapter that comes with this dock is a universal power adapter but the heads for each county should install properly and without issue. The DK30A2DH comes with a 3-year warranty and lifetime technical support and this also covers the power adapter. Please contact us at www.startech.com/eu/support so that we can help fix this for you. Our Technical Advisors are available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week to provide assistance.
Thank you for sharing your review of our DK30A2DH. The power adapter that comes with this dock is a universal power adapter but the heads for each county should install properly and without issue. The DK30A2DH comes with a 3-year warranty and lifetime technical support and this also covers the power adapter. Please contact us at www.startech.com/eu/support so that we can help fix this for you. Our Technical Advisors are available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week to provide assistance.
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
2
Connection lost constantely.
on April 8, 2020
Posted by: bas83
I have 5 of those dockingstation, hooked up to HP zbook 16G, but the docking stations will lose connection all the time, No network no monitors.
When disconnecting the dockingstation and connecting again it works again.
Updated the USB c drivers, Video drivers, laptop bios. But nothing solves the issus. Maybe StarTech need to update the firmware of the dockingstation.
When disconnecting the dockingstation and connecting again it works again.
Updated the USB c drivers, Video drivers, laptop bios. But nothing solves the issus. Maybe StarTech need to update the firmware of the dockingstation.
Response from startech.comBy Matt, Customer Support, April 8, 2020
We always try to ensure our customers have exceptional experiences with our products and we apologize for the difficulties you've had using our DK30A2DH. This dock should not be disconnecting from your computers and we'd like to help fix the problem for you. The first thing we recommend is downloading and installing the latest drivers for the dock from our website. If that doesn't help the issue, or if you require assistance installing the drivers for the dock, please do not hesitate to contact us at www.startech.com/support. Our Technical Advisors are available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week to provide support.
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
2
Works well WHEN it works
on October 1, 2019
Posted by: Brandon
I've had this docking station for a while now and I can't seem to get through a full day (even a few hours) of work without it disconnecting the video. About a third of the time when I plug it into my computer (2018 MBP) it doesn't recognize the USB keyboard. I have to either disconnect and reconnect, or turn the docking station off and on again. I've tried updating firmware and DisplayLink drivers on my Mac but nothing has helped. My (much less expensive) docking station in my home office does not have these issues, so I know it's not my computer. It's frustrating that I can't get this to just work the way it's advertised...
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com
Customer Rating
2
Outstanding product, poor driver.
on August 18, 2020
Posted by: Marach
First off, this is an excellent product that supported all the non-display accessories I use. The shortcoming is with the DisplayLink driver. Turns out that the driver for Mac does not support clamshell mode. I could work around that. The show stopper for me is that HDCP will not play thru the dock with the current driver, no iTunes purchase video will play thru to the monitors.
Response from startech.comBy Malcolm, Customer Support, August 19, 2020
Drivers are developed by DisplayLink, the maker of the chip used in this docking station. Certain limitations are as result of OS constraints, and some may be resolved through a future OS or driver update. We apologize certain features aren't currently available in our dock, but please check our latest driver downloads in case this changes with a future driver release by DisplayLink.
Written by a customer while visiting startech.com