I have an old Macbook Pro. I was hoping to use the Plugable DC-125 USB 2.0 Docking Client to run a VGA monitor, for word processing, while I use the DVI port on the Macbook Pro to run a media center setup. I would like to keep the of the Macbook Pro closed and operate the computer with a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. It seemed from an answer to another post about your UGA-2K-A USB 2.0 adapter that this would work, but I wanted to double check since this product is slightly different.
Thank you!
Hi Sam,
Thanks for checking with us! Actually, that’s much easier to do in Windows than it is in Mac. So definitely a few things to think about:
* Mac only has one default behavior and no options for lid close behavior. This Apple KB article describes how it works in general: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3131
* But, Mac doesn’t recognize USB displays for this feature, so if you only have a USB display attached, it doesn’t appear to work: the mac wakes when you hit some keys, but then goes back to sleep again. That might not be a problem for you, if you already have a secondary display attached (on your DVI port).
* If it is a problem, there’s a utility called InsomniaX (http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/2221…) which can keep the Mac from sleeping with lid closed. It will solve the problem for USB displays, but it has tradeoffs.
* Lastly, DisplayLink’s current Mac drivers are not compatible yet with the upcoming Mac OS 10.7 Lion release. They’ll probably make it in time, but there’s a chance you’ll have to hold off on Lion+DisplayLink until after updated DisplayLink drivers are out.
So that’s what we’d think about. But the DC-125 is otherwise a good match - the screen resolution limit of 1440x900 will actually mean more consistent performance on Mac (higher res gets laggier on Mac than it does on Windows). And it has the extra ports for the external keyboard, mouse, etc. that you’re wanting to use with it.
Hope that helps. Thanks again for asking ahead!
Bernie
Thank you very much for the prompt reply. I have one more slightly related question.
Am I right in thinking that the Plugable USB2-HDMI-165 USB to HDMI Video and Audio Adapter would *not* work well with my set up (1.83 Ghz Intel Core Duo) if I wanted to send audio and video out through that USB to HDMI device? In this scenario, I would connect the laptop to the TV at 720p via your USB to HDMI device and then use the DVI port to connect to the monitor. The advantage to this would be the chance of getting 5.1 audio out from Plex to my TV, but I worry that either 720p over USB would be too much for my computer over or that the audio isn’t working with OS X.
Thanks for the help. I think that’s the last question.
Hi Sam,
Thanks for asking about this option! The audio portion is actually no problem, it would work great with our http://plugable.com/products/usb-hdmi… So this solution will allow you to get both graphics and audio to the TV over a single cable.
But on the product listing, you might have noticed that we don’t recommend this product on Mac. That’s because it’s focused on PC to TV, and that usually means a focus on motion video.
On the motion video portion, if it were Windows @ 720p, I would give an unreserved recommendation to run with it. On Mac, however, it’s a little bit of a tougher call. Things have gotten better with the latest DisplayLink 1.6b3 driver (Sept 2010) to where I’d say for “normal” users you’d be very happy with the overall motion video performance at 720p. But for a videophile who might notice dropped frames and or an occasional stutter, I think the limitations of the Mac driver may be noticeable, especially on a slightly older laptop.
Hope this characterization helps, even if it is subjective. Thanks for doing this research ahead - the answers help everyone understand the pros and cons.
Thanks!
Bernie
Thanks!
I realized I left a bad link to our HDMI product above. It’s actually http://plugable.com/products/usb2-hdm… Sorry. 