New home office setup to support 2 laptops?

GSXRMovistar

GSXRMovistar

GSXRMovistar

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Not posted in this section in a VERY long while but need some guidance please. In my home office I currently have a 27” iMac that I use for personal stuff and connecting to work via a remote session. However my work have made to decision to drag us back to the dark ages by migrating everyone from remote VDI sessions to dedicated laptops.

With this decision rendering my iMac useless for work I need to think about alternative options. I have a secondary MacBook for personal use so considering selling the iMac to fund some new kit.

Are there any recommended hubs that would allow me to connect either my personal MacBook or Work laptop via an all in one USB cable that would give the laptops power, connectivity to a wireless keyboard/mouse, a couple of external SSD drives, and ability to display to either 1 or 2 monitors?

Thanks
 
I'd usually look at Anker for stuff like this, and it looks like their 14-in-1 model meets your requirements. It's kinda pricey though, so I wonder whether you wouldn't be better with living with having a couple of usb cables to swap over each time? Also: I've not used it, or any other of their products, with a Mac so you might want to look into Mac specific reviews.
 
I've mentioned it in the past but unsure if your situation would work with a Mac as I've never used 1.

I have my laptop and desktop on the same desk and a USB hub.

The USB hub is connected (Via USB) to my laptop and desktop and then my keyboard and mouse connect to this.

The hub detects which 1 is on and allows you to use the same keyboard and mouse without changing any cables, if both are on there is a button I can press to switch it over.

On my laptop I have an HDMI cable connected to my monitor and on my desktop I have an DP cable connected to the same monitor. Again, the monitor detects which 1 is on and displays either of the 2 or I can use the monitor display settings to change to HDMI or DP if both are on.

Link below to the USB hub I use, its currently unavailable as I bought it back in 2021 for when I started working from home but may give you an idea of what I use.

USB 3.0 Switch, CZHOON 2 In 4 Output USB Sharing KM Switch 2 PC Superspeed Adapter Hub Switcher Box One Button Swapping with 2 USB A to A Male/1 Charging Cable for Mouse, Keyboard, Scanner, Printer: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy USB 3.0 Switch, CZHOON 2 In 4 Output USB Sharing KM Switch 2 PC Superspeed Adapter Hub Switcher Box One Button Swapping with 2 USB A to A Male/1 Charging Cable for Mouse, Keyboard, Scanner, Printer at Amazon UK.
www.amazon.co.uk

This is only for keyboard and mouse really, the above hub can also supply power for USB sticks etc (but not charging a laptop) but for just a keyboard and mouse its fine without it

The above 1 maybe a good idea but comes at a cost. Mine was the cheapest way possible as I only needed a keyboard and mouse to save me moving cables all the time.
 
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You could also look at higher spec monitors which have a USB-C hub built-in.

For the instance the Dell P2725DE can provide 90w of power to a laptop, you can daisy-chain two monitors together over DP and has multiple USB ports for devices.
  • 1 HDMI port (HDCP 1.4) (Supports up to QHD 2560 x 1440 100Hz TMDS as per specified in HDMI 2.1)
  • 1 Display Port 1.4 (HDCP1.4)(Support up to 2560 x 1440 100Hz)
  • 1 DisplayPort (out) port with MST (HDCP 1.4)
  • 1 USB-C 5Gbps upstream port (DisplayPort 1.4 Alternate mode, Power Delivery up to 90W)
  • 1 USB-C 5Gbps downstream port
  • 3 USB 5Gbps Type-A downstream ports
  • 1 RJ45 ethernet port, 1 GbE
 
ED209 said:
I've mentioned it in the past but unsure if your situation would work with a Mac as I've never used 1.

I have my laptop and desktop on the same desk and a USB hub.

The USB hub is connected (Via USB) to my laptop and desktop and then my keyboard and mouse connect to this.

The hub detects which 1 is on and allows you to use the same keyboard and mouse without changing any cables, if both are on there is a button I can press to switch it over.

On my laptop I have an HDMI cable connected to my monitor and on my desktop I have an DP cable connected to the same monitor. Again, the monitor detects which 1 is on and displays either of the 2 or I can use the monitor display settings to change to HDMI or DP if both are on.

Link below to the USB hub I use, its currently unavailable as I bought it back in 2021 for when I started working from home but may give you an idea of what I use.

USB 3.0 Switch, CZHOON 2 In 4 Output USB Sharing KM Switch 2 PC Superspeed Adapter Hub Switcher Box One Button Swapping with 2 USB A to A Male/1 Charging Cable for Mouse, Keyboard, Scanner, Printer: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy USB 3.0 Switch, CZHOON 2 In 4 Output USB Sharing KM Switch 2 PC Superspeed Adapter Hub Switcher Box One Button Swapping with 2 USB A to A Male/1 Charging Cable for Mouse, Keyboard, Scanner, Printer at Amazon UK.
www.amazon.co.uk

This is only for keyboard and mouse really, the above hub can also supply power for USB sticks etc (but not charging a laptop) but for just a keyboard and mouse its fine without it

The above 1 maybe a good idea but comes at a cost. Mine was the cheapest way possible as I only needed a keyboard and mouse to save me moving cables all the time.
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I do with my gaming PC and work laptop.
 
ED209 said:
I used to move cables but that got very annoying very quickly! lol
Click to expand...

I feel there's a happy median. I used a USB hub to have mouse/keyboard on a single plug and ran a couple of outputs to both monitors, more cables than the ideal setup, but cheap to set up. I guess it depends how often you are moving the laptops and switching between them.
 
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