Laptop - Docking Station compatibility

[Vladimir1990]

I have the following questions about HP Thunderbolt Dock G4 280W Combo Cable.
I have two laptops that I want to connect to the same docking station (not at the same time, of course):
HP Elitebook 650 G9 (power 65W) with Thunderbolt 3
HP Zbook 15 G3 (power 150W) with Thunderbolt 3

Is the HP Thunderbolt Dock G4 280W Combo Cable compatible with both laptops?
If not, please advise me what type of docking station will support these two laptops.

[Jupitero]

Hello.

The TB Dock G4 280W is specifically compatible with the Elitebook 650 G9, as stated by the Elitebook's Quickspecs document.

While the older Zbook is not officially compatible with the 280W dock, it should work just fine provided you are running at least Windows 10 or some other supported OS mentioned in the dock's Quickspecs doc.

Thunderbolt 4 is backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 3, and the power barrel plug is of the correct size (4.5mm) so the Zbook should work with the dock.

HP has released Thunderbolt firmware upgrades as well as BIOS upgrades with Thunderbolt related fixes for Zbook 15 G3 during its life. You may want to install both of these. (latest versions only, updates are cumulative)

The Zbook may have problems with additional dock functionality such as Wake-On-Lan, PXE boot or MAC address passthru through the dock LAN port. Most users never have any need for these features.

Also, the power button functionality on the dock lid may or may not work with the Zbook, which may be a bit of a hindrance if you want to keep your laptop closed all the time.

In any case, I don't have a G3 laptop with G4 dock to play with, so I can't guarantee compatibility.

[Vladimir19901]

Hello Jupitero,
thanks a lot for your prompt reply, I really appreciate it.
I am late to express my gratitude because after purchasing "HP Thunderbolt Dock G4 280W Combo Cable", I spent several days trying to get it work with HP Zbook 15 G3. I have updated possible drivers and BIOS, but without success. All devices on my laptop worked fine, but my laptop could not detect the docking station. Suddenly after some manipulations the docking station was recognized and everything worked as it should, but then it stopped working again, and I was not able to find out what forced the docking station to be detected and what caused the detection to stop.
The reason for the problem I have described, was discovered just accidentally.
I use an external wireless keyboard, that is connected to the laptop via a dongle plugged into one of laptop's USB ports. When I turned on my laptop in the early morning, which was already connected to the docking station, I noticed that it was recognized. I was happy and I did not want to manipulate anything, I just wanted to start working (I am in home office). So I turned on my external keyboard, which had been turned off overnight, and immediately noticed, that my laptop no longer recognized the docking station. As soon as I moved the dongle from the laptop's USB port to the docking station's USB port, everything started working properly, and since then, I have been enjoying working with "HP Thunderbolt Dock G4 280W Combo Cable".
Hopefully my story will save some time and trouble for someone, who is experiencing similar docking station misbehavior.