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Plugable’s new USB-C docking station delivers 100 watts of power

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Plugable TBT3-UDZ Docking Station
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Plugable introduced three new devices during CES 2020 in Las Vegas. At the forefront is the company’s TBT3-UDZ docking station, supporting two additional displays and a 100-watt power delivery. Plugable also revealed a USB-C adapter packing two HDMI ports, and a USB-based Ethernet adapter supporting data speeds up to 2.5Gbps.

First, Plugable’s new TBT3-UDZ dock is based on Intel’s “Titan Ridge” Thunderbolt 3 controllers launched in 2018. Titan Ridge introduced support for two DisplayPort 1.4 streams across a single Thunderbolt 3 connection. It’s an upgrade from the two DisplayPort 1.2 streams provided through the older “Alpine Ridge” controllers.

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Intel’s Titan Ridge platform is one of the big selling points with Plugable’s new dock. With a single Thunderbolt 3 connection to your laptop, you can add two external displays up to 4K at 60Hz each. If you’re connecting the dock to a USB-C port, you can attach two external displays up to 4K at 30Hz each. Either way, that’s good news for creatives and gamers wanting to expand their laptop’s virtual space.

Overall, Plugable’s new dock offers 16 physical connections. Two USB-A ports supporting 10Gbps reside on the front, one of which charges phones and similar devices. You’ll also find one MicroSD card slot, one standard SD card slot, and an audio combo jack.

The rear panel includes one Thunderbolt 3 port providing 100 watts of power. That means you can charge a laptop like the new 16-inch MacBook Pro which ships with a 96-watt power adapter. The rear panel also features two DisplayPort 1.4 ports, two HDMI 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, and five USB-A ports supporting 5Gbps.

Plugable’s new TBT3-UDZ dock arrives this Spring for $300.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Next, Plugable’s USB-C to HDMI adapter arrives in the second quarter for $40. It features a male USB-C connector on one end and two female HDMI 2.0 ports at the other end. It supports multi-stream transport (MST) via DisplayPort 1.4 to transmit data up to 25.9Gbps. That means you can connect two displays running 4K resolutions at 60Hz.

“Thanks to this specific combination of DisplayPort and HDMI technologies, users can extend their laptops or phones to two 4K displays at resolution and refresh rates that were previously unattainable thanks to its DisplayPort 1.4 capabilities,” the company said in a press release.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Finally, the company’s USB-based Ethernet adapter relies on Realtek’s RTL8156 chipset to deliver data transfers up to 2.5Gbps. It sports a native USB-C connection and an attached USB-A adapter. This adapter arrives in the second quarter for $50.

Follow our live blog for more CES news and announcements.

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