Today, we’ll be taking a quick look at the Targus Dock 110 – Universal USB (3.0) Travel Docking Station. It’s one of the few portable USB docking stations that support 2K HD resolution (2560 x 1440) and Gigabit ethernet.
Let’s take it apart and see what it can do for us …
Description
Taken from Targus’s website …
Targus USB 3.0 Travel Dock is the perfect mobile accessory for your tech. Throw away all the cables and adapters you carry to connect your laptop, tablet or smartphone to projectors, screens and desk accessories and replace with the Travel Dock. Plug-in the USB 3.0 cable to your device and instantly extend your device ports to include HDMI, VGA, Gigabit Ethernet and additional USB 3.0 and micro USB ports. Create content more comfortably and connect your device up to 2 screens using HDMI and VGA connections or plug-in your tablet to a TV and enjoy 2k HD resolution over HDMI. The Travel Dock is USB powered so requires no external power source – the perfect travel accessory.
Features
| Powerful and compact docking station |
| HDMI video port for 2k viewing (2560 x 1440 x 50 resolution) |
| VGA video port (2048 x 1152 x 60 resolution) |
| Gigabit Ethernet port |
| USB 3.0 ports x2 |
Specificiactions
| Colour | Black |
| Warranty | Limited 2-Year Warranty |
| System Requirments | Windows® 10, Windows® 8.1, Windows® 8, Windows® 7 / Mac OS® X v10.8, v10.9, v10.10 / Android v5 or later USB Port (USB 3.0 recommended) |
| Material | Plastic |
| Exterior Dimensions | 12 x 6.5 x 2 cm |
| Weight | 0.15 kg |
| Country of Origin | Taiwan |
| EAN Barcode | 5051794017854 |
First impressions
The Targus Dock110 does look compact and small, but it does feel a little heavy for my tastes. It meant to be portable and light-weight, and the last thing you want is something that will add extra weight to your already heavy laptop bag.
As far connectivity goes, you get 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 x Gigabit ethernet, 1 x HDMI, 1 x VGA … which is plenty for most user’s needs. However, I would have liked to see a mini-Displayport as well. One of its selling points is the ability to support 2K resolution (that’s 2560 x 1440). I’m not sure if anyone actually uses 2K displays anymore … especially when you already have 4K monitors and TVs on the market. Still, I suppose it’s a nice feature to have,
Photo Gallery
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Quick Video
Conclusion and Verdict
A few years ago in 2012, we had a chance to check out some USB docking, or what you would call port replicators at that time. And one of the brands we looked at was Targus. At first, we were impressed by the fact that Targus was one of the first manufacturers to come out with such a versatile accessory. It had plenty of ports and can be used with any PC laptop including Apple Macbooks. Sadly, there were a lot of issues with the early models, and we had tons of users complaining about perfomance and connectivity issues … both LAN and display. The build quality just wasn’t there.
Fast forward 3 years, and the story is quite different let me tell you. You see, Displaylink the company behind the chipset found on most USB docking, has improved on both they their drivers, as well as their display technology. Thus vastly improving on the performance of the graphics display. There’s now less lag and graphics are much smoother.
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We were able to display the PC’s extended desktop at full HD 1080p via the HDMI on to our 42″ widescreen TV, while at the same time the laptop screen was running at the maximum resolution. With both screens playing HD video via YouTube, the video and graphics were smooth and fluid, and we didn’t have any performance issues with the Gigabit ethernet or adding extra USB devices.
Costing between USD $75-$85, the Targus Dock 110 is perfectly afffordable for any traveller who’s always on the move. I would certainly get one for myself.
Pros:
- Powered by Displaylink’s latest chipset
- Compact and condsiderably light-weight
- Supports 2K display
- Gigabit ethernet
- HDMI and VGA outputs
- 2 extra USB 3.0 ports
Cons:
- None I can think of
Final Words:
If you’re after a compact and portable universal USB docking station for your travels, then the Targus Dock 110 is a great piece of kit. If offers upto 2K display resolution with decent graphics performance.
