Kensington’s SD5500T TB3/USB-C Hybrid Docking Station: Titan Ridge Inside
by Anton Shilov on December 18, 2019 2:00 PM EST
Kensington has introduced its new Thunderbolt 3 dock that is guaranteed to work with all USB Type-C hosts. The SD5500T docking station has nine popular ports, which woukd be sufficient for most home and office users who do not use exotic hardware.
Most of Thunderbolt 3 docks released to date are based on Intel’s Alpine Ridge controller that may not work with all USB Type-C hosts. By contrast, the SD5500T TB3/USB-C hybrid docking station (and some other docks) is powered by Intel’s Titan Ridge controller that was designed to work both with all Thunderbolt 3, and all USB Type-C hosts (albeit at respective data transfer rates). In addition, Kensington’s SD5500T is compatible both with Apple macOS 10.14 (and higher) and Microsoft Windows 10 PCs.
Kensington’s SD5500T Thunderbolt 3/USB-C hybrid dock has three USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A ports, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C connectors (in addition to the main TB3/USB-C connector), a GbE adapter, two DisplayPort outputs (supporting two 4Kp60 monitors), and a 3.5-mm audio jack for headsets. Meanwhile, the main connector can deliver up to 60 W to the host, which is enough for 13.3-inch notebooks.
Kensington’s SD5500T TB3/USB-C hybrid docking station is now available directly from the company for $259.99. The price is on the high side, however considering the fact that the manufacturer guarantees broad compatibility with a wide range of PCs, it makes sense for companies with large fleets of PCs as well as individuals who want to ensure seamless operation with various PCs.
Related Reading:
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- OWC Announces 14-in-1 Thunderbolt 3 Dock: Now with microSD, 85 W Power Delivery
- Corsair Launches Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock
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Source: Kensington
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kpb321 - Wednesday, December 18, 2019 - link
The only problem is it isn't actually universal for USB-C ports as it require Display port alt mode when used with USB-C instead of Thunderbolt and at that point it's 1080p @ 30Hz for dual monitor, a single 4k @ 30Hz or I'd expect a single 1080p @60Hz but it doesn't actually list that in the specs. The Dual 4k @60Hz is only over thunderbolt. There's also a note (dual monitors are for devices that support MST) which I don't believe Apple supports for multiple monitors and only supports MST for large single monitors so this might only support a single monitor on a Mac.extide - Wednesday, December 18, 2019 - link
If DP Alt Mode isn't available it probably falls back to DisplayLink which encapsulates the data over USB with lossless compression.kpb321 - Wednesday, December 18, 2019 - link
I doubt it. The page specifically says Display port alt mode is required several different times. Also Displaylink over USB should support dual 1080p @60hz pretty easily since the displaylink controller is what is actually generating the video signal. I'm literally typing this on a dual 1080p monitor setup using a displaylink controller on a generic USB 3 dock something this dock makes quite clear it can't accomplish on USB.kpb321 - Wednesday, December 18, 2019 - link
I'm literally typing this on a dual 1080p @60Hz monitor setup using a displaylink controller on a generic USB 3 dock something this dock makes quite clear it can't accomplish on USB.edzieba - Thursday, December 19, 2019 - link
Going by every single experience I have coming into contact with anything using DisplayLink; lacking it is a feature, not a bug.jeremyshaw - Thursday, December 19, 2019 - link
It is strange, since Titan Ridge supports DP1.4, which would allow for dual 1080p60 + full USB 3.2 gen2 speeds. If it was really smart, it would support triple 1080p60 HDR displays with the ~12.x Gbps bandwidth afforded to a dual lane DP1.4 connection.It's basically what the Dell WD19 USB-C dock allows for, though one would need something actually decent, like an Nvidia GPU, AMD APU/GPU, or a rare Intel 10nm CPU to drive DP1.4. The run of the mill Intel 14nm rehash won't do it with it's DP1.2 connection, and any Atom derivative with DP1.4 is very unlikely to have actually implemented the redrivers for 1.4, otherwise, they would more likely spend the extra cost on an AMD APU or an Intel Core CPU.
danielfranklin - Thursday, December 19, 2019 - link
There seems to be a version of DP1.4 MST or something that can do 2 x 1440p @ 60hz.Check the Lenovo Type-C dock Gen2 specs, ive tested it myself.
There are also other small devices with USB2.0 ports that can do it.
In my research i suspected it uses extra pins and therefore can only do USB2.0 in this mode, then the Thinkpad dock came out. Maybe it uses some sort of MUX or hub, but it does technically work, though has its own set of firmware issues aside from that...
TheUnhandledException - Wednesday, December 18, 2019 - link
Dual DP plus dual usb-c output? Plus another three type a 10 Gbps ports. Oh that is a nice dock. Any word on how much power it can send to the laptop by PD?BloodyBunnySlippers - Wednesday, December 18, 2019 - link
The article states 60WTheUnhandledException - Wednesday, December 18, 2019 - link
Reading fail on my part. Ok that is one small downside. I wish all docks would just support 100W. 100W is the max the spec allows 100W would cover all laptops which can be powered by PD.