You Can Add USB And HDMI Ports To Your Laptop With This Cheap Gadget

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Modern laptops have become as powerful as ever. You don't need to spend a fortune to find a laptop that's good enough for mundane tasks like writing, studying, browsing the web, and watching content. Even with a budget of less than $1,000, you can find something from both the Windows and macOS camps. While laptops continue to get powerful, one of the most backward trends we've seen for the past few years is the removal of ports. Just look at the M4 MacBook Air, for example. It only includes four ports: a MagSafe port for charging, two USB-C ports, and a single 3.5 mm headphone jack. The same can be said for some of the best laptops on the market.

While a handful of ports can be more than enough in certain cases, there are still a lot of devices that you may need to connect to your laptop that don't use the increasingly ubiquitous USB-C port. The solution? You may want to get an appropriate adapter. Sure, while adapters are useful, you may have to purchase multiple ones for connecting USB drives, external monitors, etc. Not only is that inconvenient, but also expensive. So, the best option is to purchase a cheap dock, like Lionwei's Laptop Docking Station, which gives you a range of ports — allowing you to connect virtually any gadget to your laptop.

While the Lionwei docking station retails for less than $60 without any discount, don't mistake the low price for poor quality or outdated functionality. It includes a total of 13 ports: two USB-A 2.0, a USB-A 3.1, two USB-C 3.1, and a single USB-C port with power delivery up to 100W fast charging. That adds a total of six USB ports at your disposal, allowing you to connect a variety of essential USB gadgets, especially for remote workers. Aside from the USB ports, this docking station also has a VGA connector, a gigabit Ethernet port, two HDMI ports, an SD card slot, and a microSD card slot. If you want to connect your USB-C-only laptop to a monitor, you can use either of the two HDMI ports available, as they support up to 4K resolution. 

For those who have an 8K monitor, there's a DisplayPort 1.4 connector capable of supporting an 8K monitor at a 30Hz refresh rate. You can connect up to four external displays using this docking station, although it also depends on your computer's compatibility. If you have an M-series MacBook Air, for example, you may only be able to connect one or two monitors due to inherent hardware limitations.

As far as specs are concerned, the Lionwei docking station is packed with ports — especially for the price. However, specs alone don't tell the whole story — user reviews can be a more reliable metric. On Amazon, Lionwei's Laptop Docking Station has earned an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 from over 12,000 reviews.  Several users love the docking station for its functionality and wide variety of ports. Users mention that the docking station works great for their work-from-home setup.

Another user says they were able to replace their broken $300 docking station with the Lionwei one, indicating how powerful this cheap gadget really is. Lionwei's Laptop Docking Station typically retails at $55.99, but the device is currently on sale as part of the brand's Black Friday deal on Amazon — for just $45. If you want to add more ports to your laptop, you'd better hurry and lock in this deal before prices bounce back to MSRP.