Using a dock to switch between a gaming PC and work laptop

Sypel

Sypel

Sypel

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19 Jan 2011
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78
Hey, wasn't sure where this best fit really but the situation is that my wife works from home and would like to be able to use my desk/monitors/peripherals with her work laptop. Currently my keyboard, mouse and monitors are all connected to my gaming PC. I have from a previous employer a Dell branded laptop dock that has multiple HDMI/DP connections plus the usual USB etc.

How viable would it be to connect the monitors and peripherals to this dock and then connect using the USB 3 connection for the dock between her laptop and my PC as needs require?

I'd rather not unplug everything to try if it's defo a no go, I'm not sure if it'll affect performance not having the monitors directly into the graphics card and will I see latency issues in game if everything is fed by this USB 3 connection instead?
 
Am I understanding your intention correctly?
Laptop via usb c to dell dock to screen/kb/mouse
Swap out usb c cable to desktop when using pc...

Might be worth giving the model number on the dell dock too.

Personally I wouldn't be doing that as it would definitely hit latency and potentially screen refresh rates (not all docks go above 60hz)...

You don't mention your screen(s)... do they have a usb c input which can accept video and supply power, plus maybe a kvm built in? - this would make your life much easier (not to mention cleaner).

If not I would do something like this, plug the dell dock into 1 or more displays using an alternative port to your pc (it should auto detect in most cases) and then buying a cheap wireless keyboard/mouse for the laptop to use. You don't say about your kb/mouse but if you're using logitech you can potentially just grab another dongle (I know my mx master 3 mouse can do this), plug it into the dock and then register it a different 'id' on the mouse and just switch over with a button press (bluetooth is another option too but last I tried that it felt sluggish)

If you wanted to keep your existing keyboard/mouse you can get usb keyboard/mouse switchers (one to dock/one to pc) but the last time I used them they were hit and miss.


EDIT: not sure how easy these are to find but there are now 'hybrid' dock kvm's with a usb c input, so you could plug your laptop into usb and the desktop into the normal displayport socket
www.iogear.com

3-Port 4K USB-C and DisplayPort KVMP Switch with Power Delivery

www.iogear.com www.iogear.com
 
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FWIW, I use Ugreen USB 3.0 4-Port Switch With 2 Pack USB Male Cable
I have the laptop using HDMI to my monitor and my pc uses DP, manually switching between the 2 on the monitor controls.

Works well for my setup.
 
CaNsA said:
FWIW, I use Ugreen USB 3.0 4-Port Switch With 2 Pack USB Male Cable
I have the laptop using HDMI to my monitor and my pc uses DP, manually switching between the 2 on the monitor controls.

Works well for my setup.
Click to expand...
Not a bad plan, currently have two monitors but I'm unsure if my wife wants to make use of both or could make do with just the ultrawide but that could work possibly. Thanks for your input.
 
lsg1r said:
Make sure you check the display output specs if you do go for a full kvm, some limit 4K output to 30hz for example
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Currently using a 1440p monitor as the primary, haven't jumped to 4K but worth considering for future, thanks!
 
Sypel said:
Not a bad plan, currently have two monitors but I'm unsure if my wife wants to make use of both or could make do with just the ultrawide but that could work possibly. Thanks for your input.
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I suggested it in my original post (maybe not as clearly as I could though) but you could plug your screens into your existing dell dock (which you say had more than one video output) and then plug the keyboard/mouse switch into your pc and the dock usb sockets. Your wife's laptop would just get plugged into the hub via usb c/thunderbolt as and when needed..... you could even cable manage lol
 
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