Question HP Omen Dock Recommendations

[GrodS]

Hi all, I've done some searching through the forums and came up empty. For several reasons, I'm going laptop only for a couple of years. I enjoy gaming in my spare time, so earlier in the week, I bought an HP Omen Max 16 with AMD AI 9 HX and a 5080 GPU.

I have a triple monitor set up, so today I went with what my local Best Buy had in stock for a dock, it's a J5 product, not the highest end, but at almost $200, I didn't think I cheaped out either.

I've tried to do some research on docks both before and after buying, but never could find anything that said yes one product will work or no another one won't. Therefore, I assumed it would work, but on hooking everything up, HDMI x2 and DVI x1, it only shows a picture on one of the HDMI connections, the DVI connection looks like it's there in the Windows display settings, but the actual monitor says there isn't a connection.

Did I make a bad assumption, and not all docks will work with a given laptop? How do I know what will and what won't work? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give.

 

[COLGeek]

As you have discovered, not all docks are created equally. Do you have a link for the specific model you purchased?

This might be a better choice: https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-usb-c-dock-g5-p-26d32aa-abl-1#techSpecs

Searching about recommended docking stations for that laptop certainly results in a bag of mixed results

 

[GrodS]

Thank you for your reply. I can't actually create a link (I get a spam message when I try, had to remove https) but here's the address of the model I purchased, en.j5create.com/products/jcd554 Any additional help would be appreciated.

 

[COLGeek]

I suspect the issue is related to lack of Thunderbolt on your laptop.

 

[GrodS]

Yep, I guess that was my first bad assumption. I assumed, thunderbolt had become the universal protocol and that a new higher end laptop would have it. It appears the HP g4 docks have universal capability for both thunderbolt and non-thunderbolt usb-c, am I reading that right?

 

[COLGeek]

The G4 I saw was a Thunderbolt device. What device did you look at?

 

[GrodS]

Here is the one I looked at hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-thunderbolt-dock-280w-g4-dock-w-combo-cable In re-reading the description with a more critical eye, I was probably just being too optimistic the first time. With statements like, "...a dock that works seamlessly with most notebooks and operating systems." and "expanded compatibility" I was sucked in by the marketing speak.

 

[COLGeek]

Same one I looked at. Thunderbolt.

 

[GrodS]

I'm learning... Thank you for your time, help, and recommendation! I'll be ordering the one you found.

 

[COLGeek]

Hope it does the trick. Seems you aren't the only user of that laptop series seeking a docking station solution.

 

[GrodS]

I'll report back here when I get it to hopefully help others.

 

[COLGeek]

Sounds good. Good luck.