Kensington Docking Station Gets DisplayLink

Kensington's new sd200v Notebook Docking Station lets users connect 5 USB devices, speakers, and - using DisplayLink tech - a VGA display to a notebook PC.

Notebook users have always lauded the virtues of portability, while desktop users have laused the advantages of expandability and more substantial video options. Especially those of use who have been improving our productivity through multiple monitor setups since (ahem) before the Clinton presidency.

That’s where notebook docking stations come in: enabling notebook users to plug into a host of desktop-like expandability and display options and, when they’re done, unplug and go on their merry way to coffeehouses or Wi-Fi hotspots or wherever it is those notebook people go. We wouldn’t know.

Kensington’s new sd200v Notebook Docking Station with Video enables users to convert a single USB 2.0 port on a notebook computer into an expansion powerhouse, supporting up to 5 USB peripherals, speakers, and a VGA display. Moreover, technology in the sd200v means the display option can offer a DualView feature: users can toggle between a “clone” mode, in which an external display mirrors the image shown on a notebook’s built-in display, and an “extend” mode which enables users to treat the two displays as a single, combined desktop.

“Many professionals today often work as much or more at home as they do in their office, and the Kensington sd200v dock makes it easy to set up a comfortable and powerful command center for maximum productivity,” said Kensington’s Frederic Frappereau, in a statement. “Building DisplayLink technology into the sd200v allows us to offer crystal clear graphics and high performance computing in an affordable multi-monitor environment.”

The sd200v carries a suggested price of $139.99, is available for pre-order now via Kensington and Amazon.com. It should hit U.S. retailers in late September, with European retailers seeing it in October at prices of €129/£89. The sd200v requires Windows XP or Vista.