As notebooks get smaller something had to go, the easiest to lose was the optical drive, other things were harder possibly the Ethernet connection and then the flood gates opened as some devices have just a single USB ‘C’ and sometimes little else.
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So the market for third parties to produce the ability to let your notebook have all the connectivity when in the office and still be as small and light when out of the office.
So from Brando those clever people in Hong Kong comes the ‘USB-C Multifunctional Converter’ which gives everything you used to have but no longer do with the exception of the optical drive.
It is 28cm long 7.5cm wide and a minimum of 1cm and maximum of 2cm thick, it weighs just 258 grams.
It is made of Aluminium and extremely strong.
It can work face up or face down which is important as desk space is limited and dependant on where the USB ‘C’ port is on your notebook and your connection space makes this small feature vital.
The hard wired 20cm strong USB ‘C’ cable emerges from one end.
It also can sit under the back of your Notebook to firstly give a little slope to the keyboard and secondly hold securely all the items you attach to it.
So the connections are USB ‘C’, VGA, Display Port, Mini Display Port, Ethernet, SD Card and Micro SD one above the other and then three USB3 ports. Finally on the other end a 3.5mm audio socket.
I tested this on a small Windows 10 notebook and the initial recognition took a while to add all the ports but after that all the connections were immediately available upon reconnection of the multifunction converter.
I mentioned the one thing not in the eleven ports above the optical drive but there is nothing to stop you connection a USB CD or DVD drive to one of the USB ports so your small and light unit you take with you can have everything attached and ready to go as soon as you come back to your office desk.
Perhaps the cleverest part is the fact it sits under the back of the notebook so it not only helps your fingers on the keyboard by giving a bit of a rake but also does not take up any extra valuable desk space.
So whatever restrictions placed on Wi-Fi in your office can be overcome by using the Ethernet connection and you no longer have to disconnect devices with the three USB3 ports not to mention the SD and micro SD and even the most legacy panels can be connected as there is even VGA.
The Brando USB-C Multifunctional Converter is available from the link below for $89 (US) around £72 at time of writing and they offer free worldwide shipping.
https://usb.brando.com/11-in-1-hub-type-c-docking-stand_p21715c1870d015.html
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