Recommended docking station for Lenovo Flex 5

#1

I’m considering purchasing a Lenovo Flex 5 for my wife to primarily use in her home office. Which docking station do you recommend that would allow dual monitors, external keyboard, and ideally provide charging capability (although that’s not necessarily a deal breaker)? The external monitor she uses connects to her current laptop via HDMI and we’ve not yet purchased a second monitor so we’re flexible in terms of which connectivity it offers.

The Lenovo Flex 5 model is 81X20001US and the specs are at https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/IdeaPad/IdeaPad_Flex_5_14ARE05?M=81X20001US

My understanding is that the USB-C port does not support external video.

Thanks!

#2

Hello Jeff,

Thank you for reaching out to Plugable support and providing a clear description of the goals you’re looking to meet. I’d be happy to help!

Our UD-3900H dual display docking station is a perfect match for your Lenovo Flex 5 laptop.

This dock features built-in HDMI and DVI outputs, each supporting 1920x1200 resolution @ 60Hz refresh rate. (Includes a DVI to HDMI adapter.)

Additionally, this dock can connect up to 2 monitors, add an Ethernet connection, add 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks, and add multiple USB ports.

This dock would not support charging of your laptop. The original Lenovo power adapter is recommend to keep connected to the system during use.

This adapter would allow you to drive up to two displays via a single USB-C connection to your Lenovo Flex 5 laptop and function great for general office or productivity use.

Please feel free to reach out with any additional questions or concerns.

Thank you for considering Plugable,

#3

Thanks for the quick reply! Assuming we buy a second HDMI monitor, I assume we’d need to connect it to the DVI port on the UD-3900H via the provided adapter. Is there any downside to this as opposed to choosing a docking station that provides two HDMI ports?

Is there another model up that would provide an additional HDMI port or any other additional ports that would be worth considering? I’d obviously prefer not to spend money on features the laptop doesn’t offer such as 4K video, but also want to future proof the docking station as much as possible.

Also, is it safe to assume that the UD-3900H also supports 1920x1080 (in addition to 1920x1200 that you mentioned)?

Thanks!

#4

Hello Jeff,

Thank you for reaching back out to Plugable!

I’d be happy to answer your questions.

I assume we’d need to connect it to the DVI port on the UD-3900H via the provided adapter. Is there any downside to this as opposed to choosing a docking station that provides two HDMI ports?

This is correct! The included DVI to HDMI adapter would have no issues driving your monitor. Using a device with two HDMI ports would not change the way the monitors are displayed.

Is there another model up that would provide an additional HDMI port or any other additional ports that would be worth considering?

Our UD-6950H is another good option for your system. This dock offers dual monitor inputs via HDMI or DP.

Using this docking station over the UD-3900H would provide a simpler way to connect your monitors and 4K support.

Also, is it safe to assume that the UD-3900H also supports 1920x1080 (in addition to 1920x1200 that you mentioned)?

This is correct! This docking station will support up to 1920x1200 and all the resolutions in between, including 1920X1080 resolution via the DVI port and up to 2560X1080 @ 60Hz via the HDMI port.

I hope I was able to answer your questions!

Please feel free to reach out with any additional questions!

Thank you for considering Plugable!