I would like to know if the Plugable DL-3900 charges the Surface Pro 3 while it is plugged into the Dock. The battery Icon on the Surface Pro is always displayed, is this the way the Dock is expected to work or do I need to correct an install issue?
Hi LaZonnia,
Thanks for contacting us! I’d be happy to answer your question (I’m sending this information to your direct email support inquiry as well)
Our UD-3900 docking station has no functionality for recharging tablets or smartphones via its USB hub ports, and your Surface cannot be charged over USB as it has a proprietary charging port to be used in conjunction with it’s included power adapter. The only docking station on the market that I know of that can charge the Surface is Microsoft’s own docking station. A simple workaround would be to attach the standalone Surface charger while connected to the dock.
We try to make sure both our product pages on Plugable.com and our product listings on Amazon indicate this limitation. If you have any suggestions for improving our product listings we would appreciate the feedback. If having a dock that can also charge the Surface is a requirement in your case, we certainly do not want you stuck with a product that doesn’t meet your needs. All of our products have a 30 day no-hassle return policy and the quickest way to return the dock for a full refund would be via the automated system at amazon.com/returns.
Let us know if you have any further questions.
Thank you,
Bob
Plugable Technologies
www.plugable.com/support
Guys, this is (for me, anyway) a serious oversight on Plugable’s part. The port replicator won’t charge the Surface / Surface Pro while it’s plugged in? I understand there is a proprietary charging slot, but there has to be some solution that an engineer can come up with. Even if it’s providing another [short] cable to run from the Surface charging slot back to one of the Plugable USB ports to get the power.
For those of us using the tablet / Surface as a laptop replacement, having to hook up yet another wire is a bit counterproductive. Surely, there must be a simple solution to have the docking station provide power to the device it’s meant to service…
Hi Tom,
Thanks for posting!
Modifying the design to provide power to the Surface via its proprietary connector would be very costly and would in turn raise the cost of the dock itself. As the Surface is just one of the many potential systems to be used with our dock, doing so would only benefit a small portion of our customers while raising the cost for every customer.
As technology advances with both USB Type-C and Thunderbolt 3 systems that can ingest power over an industry wide standard there is opportunity to provide products that also allow for both docking and charging over a single cable and we are planning to take advantage in the future.
Thank you,
Bob