Docking station for HP laptop

[andy206apt08]

Hello,

I own a 14" laptop HP 14-df0023cl.    I would like to get a docking station or one of those docking strips for it.

1.  Does HP sell a docking station for it?

2. Can I use the docking station that i bought for my lenovo thinkpad 13 ?  It's a Thinkpad USB-C Dock type 40A9.

Can I somehow damage the HP laptop by plugging it into the dock?

Thanks,

Andy

[Huffer]

I've actually used that exact Lenovo USB-C dock with Lenovo and HP laptops. The problem you will have is that your specific HP laptop has a data only usb-c port. So the Lenovo dock may only work partially. The usb ports and probably the network port will work but its not likely the video ports on the dock would work for you. The dock will not charge the laptop. You will not harm the HP laptop by plugging in the Lenovo dock but as stated it may not fully function. So you have nothing to lose by trying it and if everything works so much the better.

If you want video you will have to find a usb-C dock that uses "DisplayLink" technology where a standard USB attachment (not Thunderbolt or alt-DP) will drive video. Its a much lower powered video solution but OK for internet and spreadsheets, etc. 

https://www.amazon.com/HP-Y0K80AA-ABA-DisplayPort-Ethernet/dp/B01MTOCLUQ/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keyword...

This HP dock is essentially the same thing as the Lenovo dock and I believe this one uses DisplayLink technology

[andy206apt08]

Thanks for the quick reply.   

I've connected my dock to the hp laptop and thankfully nothing has gone wrong.

I've plugged my cat5 network cable to the docking station and that seems to work - yay!    

Unfortunately a thumbdrive plugged into the dock is not being recognized so that's unfortunate.

I have a 2nd monitor connected to the laptop with an HDMI cable and it was very annoying having the both the hdmi cable and cat5 cable plugged in at the same time because they are very tight and made disconnecting the laptop very frustrating ... now, effectively, the network cable is gone because it's only working indirectly through the dock which plugs into the laptop on the other side of the laptop ... and that makes for much easier access for the hdmi cable disconnects/reconnects !    A big plus.

The dock has the lenovo displayports (is that what the proprietary lenovo monitor ports/cables are called?) as does the monitor ... do you think connecting the monitor to the dock via the displayport will work?   Then I would not need the hdmi cable.

Thanks,l

Andy

[Huffer]

Displayport is just an alternate type of video connection and actually is superior to HDMI in many ways. If the HDMI displayed a signal it is likely but not certain DP will work. Some USB-C carry a DP (not HDMI) signal so if the HDMI is operated by DisplayLink then the DP ports may not also be. Again, other than having to buy a DP cable you have nothing to lose by trying it. Do none of the USB ports on the dock work? Does a mouse or keyboard work through the dock usb ports? Try them all. 

[andy206apt08]

Thank you so much.    Here's the latest:

1) as you predicted the dock does not provide power to the laptop

2) headphone jack on dock does not work

3) i put my mouse usb in the dock station usb port that's got the mouse image (black port) and it worked!   It also works in the blue USB 3 ports.

4) the other 'non-blue' USB 2 port has a keyboard indicator and my samsung external hard drive, and 3 thumbdrives all work - 2 of them have RED inserts and one has a BLUE insert.   I'm guessing this means something.   Anyway, I could read/write to all.

5) the dock also has 3 BLUE usb 3 ports with the ss indicators (2 in the back and one in the front).   the back of the dock has 2 blue USB 3 ports, both with the ss indicators.  The thumbdrives that have RED inserts work (32 and 64 gb) but the 16gb (blue) does not.   Not sure what's up with that.

So this is all very good news.   You telling me what "can be expected to work" gave me the strength to try out all these combinations.   Plugging and unplugging was getting very frustrating when i was just trying things willy nilly.

Somewhere I have some displayport cables that i was using before so I'll find them and see how it goes.   Even if it doesn't work, I've still been able to reduce tons of clutter.

Oh, a final strange thing is that when i pull the thumbdrives out of the usb 3 ports i hear a squeal...

Thanks,

Andy

[Huffer]

With the dock plugged in check device manager...you may just need drivers for the audio and you might have to get that from a Lenovo site. Anyway look and see if any troubled devices show up. Blue USB devices are generally USB 3.0 devices. Seems you are having a hodgepodge of results with usb devices which is kind of hard to explain. You want to eject the usb thumb drives before pulling them out and that will likely prevent the squeal.

Are you powering the dock? The single usb-C port on the laptop likely has trouble powering everything on the dock. Glad its working at least to some extent for you. Not sure the HP USB-C dock would do any better. Let me know how it goes with the video. 

[andy206apt08]

Hi.   I am powering the dock.   The light indicator on the button on top is lit up and it goes dark when i unplug the dock from the wall outlet.

My monitor is a Dell that only accepts VGA and HDMI inputs, and I have a dataport to hdmi cable from before.   Hdmi end goes to the monitor (which has 2 hdmi inputs) and the dataport end goes into one of the 2 dataport ports on the back of the dock.\

Unfortunately the monitors are not being 'detected' by the hp laptop display settings.   I've plugged and unplugged everything and tried different connections but no luck.   "No HDMI1 signal from your device" shows up.   It's a Dell model se2417hg.

Would you expect it to work?    I don't think the cables gone back because it's been here on my desk since the thinkpad went bad.

Thanks

[Huffer]

DP = Displayport. DP to HDMI converter cables are very fickle. I think there is a chance the dock would drive a monitor with a DP input but it can also confirm the original statement in my first port. Your usb-C port does not put out any kind of native video signal and the Lenovo dock is not DisplayLink that can convert USB to HDMI video.