[SOLVED] Docking station for laptop

[Shelley Iverson]

My desktop is almost perfect for my business needs, except that it is getting older, and I need 4 monitors instead of 1 and it's not mobile.
Problem 1:
I travel a lot most of the year.
That isn't my complete problem. When I travel, I bring my surface pro 6 with me, which has a small screen and not enough memory to run my applications to run my business.
I like my desktop because it lets me run 3 monitors, my older Bose surround sound (optical connection), and all the other things at my office. However, I need to have 4, but when I connected a splitter to my current system, my computer went into a system repair loop.
I figure I didn't have the power to run the 4th monitor I bought ( HP FHD IPS Monitor - 32 Inch) - still looking for a solution for this- but if I replace the desktop with a laptop, I will find a different solution.
Ideally, I would like to set up a docking station at my office, where I can plug a laptop into it and have it perform like my desktop or better, while at the same time, bring with me on my travels and use.
Problem 2: I can't find a laptop that has all the specs I want.
Problem 3: I can't find a docking station that has all the hookups I want
My Desktop Specs:
1 TB SSD, 12 G RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 video
Hewlett-Packard 700-230qe
Circuit board:
Board: Hewlett-Packard 2AF3 1.0
Bus Clock: 100 megahertz
Processor:
3.40 gigahertz Intel Core i7-4770
256 kilobyte primary memory cache
1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache
8192 kilobyte tertiary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (4 total)
Hyper-threaded (8 total)
Monitors:
HP FHD IPS Monitor - 32 Inch - HDMI
ViewSonic - DVI/VGA
Samsung - HDMI
Samsung - VGA

Conclusion: my overall goal is to have a laptop that I can use when I travel. I usually travel in an RV, so I would have 2 or 3 monitors with me in the RV as well, but I am not going to disassemble my entire office, so I will have them mounted in the RV where I can just hook them up to my laptop. I have that figured out already.
What I need to figure out is what laptop to use and what docking setup to use in my office and how to set it up where I can get all my monitors and my Bose surround sound to work.
Any ideas, would be welcome.

 

[geofelt]

I am no expert on docking stations.
But, I think your solution to problem #1 is a good one.

Here are some thoughts:

Do you have a budget?

Why so many monitors?
Perhaps a single, larger 4k monitor could display all of the windows you need?

I like the lenovo thinkpad laptop products.
With current gen intel processors, you would not need top of the line to exceed the processing capabilities of the 4770K.
I think any current lenovo laptop will have a thunderbolt connector that can be plugged into a docking station like this:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/acce...bolt-docks-(universal-cable-docks)/40b00135us

You need to read the specs and capabilities.

A call to lenovo might zero in on a solution faster than independent research.

 

[Shelley Iverson]

I am no expert on docking stations.
But, I think your solution to problem #1 is a good one.

Here are some thoughts:

Do you have a budget?

Why so many monitors?
Perhaps a single, larger 4k monitor could display all of the windows you need?

I like the lenovo thinkpad laptop products.
With current gen intel processors, you would not need top of the line to exceed the processing capabilities of the 4770K.
I think any current lenovo laptop will have a thunderbolt connector that can be plugged into a docking station like this:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/acce...bolt-docks-(universal-cable-docks)/40b00135us

You need to read the specs and capabilities.

A call to lenovo might zero in on a solution faster than independent research.

Yea my budget is $2k
I own a digital marketing company. I need a lot of monitors. The 4th monitor is one that is on an upper level on my workstation so I can stand up when I need to. Sitting all the time has become a problem for me, especially when I sometimes work 10 - 12 hours.
I tried the single-layer 4k monitor option and that did not work well.
When I am on the road, I have 2 external monitors that I would hook up to my Surface pro, It worked okay, but the surface 6 wasn't robust enough and would freeze up.
I like Lenovo also.

 

[geofelt]

On the processor capability, look at the passmark performance ratings.
Your I7-4770 has 8 processing threads and a performance rating of 7027.
That is when each thread is 100% occupied. Of more importance to the quickness of response is the single thread performance. That rating is 2167.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-4770+@+3.40GHz&id=1907

A quick hit on a modern thinkpad workstation gives me this thinkpad 16":
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadp/thinkpad-p1-gen-4/wmd00000463
The processor is a I7-11800H with a passmark rating of 21587/3159.
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-11800H+@+2.30GHz&id=4358

Lenovo offers some customization options such as ram amount, drive size, and monitor resolution.
The ram and drive upgrades are usually overpriced.
If you are comfortable changing out hardware, it is usually cheaper to buy the minimum drive and ram configuration, planning on upgrading yourself.
The thinkpad units do not normally have soldered ram.

I do not know what outputs the docking stations offer or if they would be compatible with your monitors.
Adapters may be required.