StarTech.com Dual-Laptop USB-C KVM Docking Station, Dual Monitor 4K 60Hz DisplayPort Dock, 5-Port USB Hub, GbE, 90W/45W Power Delivery to Two Laptops, Windows/Mac, 2-Host KVM Dock, TAA

Amazing find, after a month researching, buying and returning equipment, I found this unit. I'm able to connect a MacBook Air M3 and a DELL Vostro 14 5410, drive two 4K displays flawlessly, all ports work really well, and power distribution works for both laptops simultaneously. You do need to install a set of display app/drivers for MacOS for the MacBook to be able to extend two 4K screens.

Of the 4 different dual-display KVM's that I tried , this is the easiest and most dependable. BEST SOLUTION FOR MAC. . #1 Support DIsplayLink on Mac. This is required on mac for extended desktop support. #2 ONE BUTTON PUSH to switch between computers. My setup is a 14" Macbook Pro M1 and PC Tower Ryzen 5950X/AsRock-Taichi MB/GIgabyte Titan-Ridge TB3 PCI card/RTX 3080/etc #3 Supports Huion 24" HDMI (w DVI adaptor) and its USB Pen Display input. #4 Quick recovery of display when MacBook is disconnected and then reconnected. Or when the KVM is switched off. Comparing the StarTech to the others, aside from VisionTech, all come in plain brown boxes with minimal packaging. Ordered lowest to highest price: A: VisionTek VT2900 - Nearly half the price of the others. Light weight and cheaply made feeling, Thin plastic. No support of DIsplaylink on Mac. Extended display only on PC, Mac is mirroring only. Has slower USB ports only, 1x DP 1x HDMI. B: Startech 129N-USBC-KVM-Dock - Lacking the extra HDMI port, but switching takes only 1 button push vs 2 on the others. Glowing front light is not overly bright. Plastic case, that feels solid, comparable to Targus, much better than VisionTech. Most reliable display recovery from disconnects.2x DP All other ports same between B,C,D. BEST SOLUTION FOR MAC. C: IOGEAR GUD3CDHTAA - Full metal housing, feels study and heavy weight. Has HDMI port for 3 monitor support. Macbook disconnect recovery was slower and not as reliable as the Startech, often needing to be reset. 2 button pushes (due to the HDMI port) made it confusing what PC was active. Glowing front blue LED is way too bright, and I needed to cover it. 2xDP 1xHDMI All other ports same between B,C,D. D: Targus DOCK750UsZ - Plastic case, that feels slightly more solid than Startech.. Has LED indicators on the mode switch that help reduce the confusion on 2 button presses to switch. Includes usb cables that have screws to secure them to the device. Manual provides some trouble shooting tips, something the others all lack. 2xDP 1xHDMI All other ports same between B,C,D. These are much more pricey than other KVM solutions but use far fewer cables, and offer better hub support

Had high hopes. Item DOA. Connects to both macbooks but one wont charge at all. Select button that switches the host does NOTHING despite tapping it, holding it down for 5 seconds to reset, power cycling the unit, reseating host cables on both ends, etc. Way. too expensive to be a hunk of junk like this. Glorified dock and the whole KVM aspect is garbage.

I’ve been using this docking station with no issues for about 6 months. I had tried other setups hoping for the ability move between my home and work laptops without a lot of shuffling and re-plugging, but this was the one that worked. It’s easy to use and reliable, and the one time I was caught off-guard by a surprise switch as another reviewer reported, the person I was speaking with on Teams didn’t know anything had happened. It only took the push of a button to get me back where I’d been. I’d absolutely buy it again.

My original configuration consisted of an HP Laptop connected to an HP docking station (USB-C G5) and a Lenovo laptop connected to a Lenovo docking station (40AF0135US). Both docking stations had dual Display Ports and both docking stations connected to a Startech.com KVM (SV231DPDDUA2) Connected the KVM was a pair of LG Ultrawide Monitors, Logi Webcam (C922x Pro) , Logi Unifying receiver for a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a Jabra 410 Speaker. I will also note that since the KVM did not have an ethernet port, I had cat5 cables running to both docs. My objective in purchasing the Startech 129N-USBC-KVM-DOCK 129N was to replace both docking stations with a single device greatly cutting down on the amount of cables I had to use. PRO’s: Where the 129N shines is in its style, singe USB-C connectivity to both laptops, dual display ports and keyboard switching (shift shift quickly). Both monitors ran at a clean 2569x1080. A single Ethernet cable was also nice. This device will also charge the active laptop at 90w and the inactive laptop at 45w and I never had a laptop go dead. CON’s: When I first connected the 129N to the laptops, both laptops displayed a CDROM drive. Startech tech support which is amazing did not know why this was happening and said I needed to send in some logs which I did not have time to do so I just hid the CDROM in device manager. The next issues was my logi webcam was sporadically fuzzy on calls using either the USB 2.0 or USB-A ports. Startech said some Logi webcams were buggy with their products and in absence of a Hardware Compatibility List (HAL) I purchased a Microsoft LifeCam Studio and had the same issue. The next issue I faced was with the Logi Craft Keyboard I purchased in 2019. If the Keyboard was withing 24 inches of the unifying receiver which had line of site the keyboard would work fine. If I moved it 27 inches out sometimes the keyboard would not respond and the signal light on the keyboard would flash. Its worth mentioning that the ethernet port on the 129N works great but it only supplies connectivity to the active computer so the offline computer will lose wired connectivity. Occasionally the 192N would not wake up one of the laptops and I would have to open the lid and close it. This never happened in my original configuration noted above. Conclusion: This a great device if you have two laptop, two monitors, and display port technology. I’m not sure how this would work with a desktop computer utilizing a high end graphics card because the video ports on the GPU would not be used.

Intel Mac says the usb device is drawing too much power. Newer silicon Macs works perfect. Remember you have to install display link. There is no way to change double Shift key combination hotkey which switches computers to some other key combination. There is a bright white LED pointing at your face so I hid it with a tape.

My setup is two laptops, dual screen via DP, mouse, keyboard and other USB peripherals via USB 3.0 hub. So far it works fine for me. No issues during setup and with switching. Used an Avocent KVM switch and two Dell docking stations before which resulted in a clutter of cables and extra chargers. One of my laptops has no USB Type C but I connected this one with and C to A adapter. Only drawback that it does not charge via this connection and requires its own charger. The box is compact. There are USB connectors on the back; only in the front panel. Note some USB cameras may not work via the switch (or hub) but this is usually clearly stated in the respective manuals. I was not so pleased with the packaging and stuffing inside the Amazon box. There was hardly any protection (stuffing) inside to prevent the StarTech box from moving. Ideally the front panel should have a 1️⃣ - 2️⃣ indication LED to indicate which of the two laptops is active. Notability it almost took two months after ordering before the switch was shipped. Luckily I was not in a hurry.

Bought it to easily change between Macbook Air and work laptop (Windows), connected to two monitors, keyboard, and a mouse. Pros: - It works! Both monitors are picked up by macOS, which is fantastic - One cable connection to laptops for both peripherals and power delivery is very convenient - Having some extra USB-A and USB-C, as well as headphone jack, is neat Cons: - Switching between PC/Mac is not instant, takes 10-15 seconds to fully switch - When switching to Mac, monitors are offline until you press any key on the keyboard. I got used to it, but it's still annoying - On Mac, there are often minor display artifacts, specially in the parts of UI that involve some sort of semi-transparency (for example, when hovering over icons in the dock). Occasionally, the monitors flicker, i.e. go dark for a second. These are minor annoyances though, nothing serious - A few times dock just randomly stopped working for no apparent reason - every connected peripheral went offline, power delivery stopped. Unplugging dock's power chord and plugging it back helps, but having everything shut down in the middle of work or game session is VERY frustrating - On several occasions, keyboard/mouse straight up refused to connect to Mac (while monitors surprisingly worked), but connect without issues to Windows laptop - Also, often switching between PC/Mac just doesn't work. Turning off/on the dock usually helps, but sometimes you need to let it cool off for a while. I have this dock for about 3 months, and as the time goes, the number of issues keeps increasing, and now it's almost daily. At this point it feels like it'll just give up on me, which is certainly not I'd expect from a $400+ (CAD) product. If you're looking for a dual-monitor KVM solution for your Mac - this thing will give you ample amounts of frustration in everyday use, so I suggest looking elsewhere. On the other hand, if you have two Windows machines, it might work just fine, but for this price you can find better and more reliable alternatives anyway.