Nowhere near getting my laptop yet… however I’m looking for options around docking stations now.
I’m looking for a one wire setup. In other words, I drop my laptop on my desk and plug a single cord in. That cord should power the laptop, drive my monitor(s), USB devices, etc.
The Framework 16 uses a 180W power adapter over a USB-C port. So I’m wondering if there is a docking station that can handle the 180W power supply and deliver the features of a USB/display hub?
Thanks
The only one that apparently works with the FW13 providing 180W would be the Dell Dock → WD19TB - as I own that one already for work, I’ll check it out first before getting a new one.
That is very unlikely to provide those 180W over a single port in a way the framework 16 can use since it came out before the new PD standard the 16 uses even came out let alone devices using it.
Dell hp and lenovo all had their custom workarounds for the 100W pd limit but none of those is compatible(as in working at over 100W) wit non manufacturer devices.
Keep in mind a couple of things :
You´re right. The Power adapter can be 180W, but the provided power would be limited to 130W … And max 90W for non Dell systems … bugger
What I’ll do then is probably take a cheap Dock and let the computer power it. Should do it somehow.
Or just use 2 cables for a while till actual >100W pd capable docks actually come out, afaik there are none at this point.
PD 2.1 is really new, framework is making afaik the first power adabter and device using it.
I may be misreading the specs, but it looks like USB-PD on the WD19TB only does 130W output (thats still some of the best you can find right now). I’m not aware of any dock that can do 180W PD output. If you are looking for driving the dGPU as hard as it can go for any period of time you might need two connections.
It has a 180W Power Supply … (at least, that’s what it states under y desk).
But dell limits the power output depending on the connected device.
Yeah, that’s why I linked the specs; the power deliver section says 130W for connected dell systems and 90W for non-dell systems. The input to the dock is 180W (supplying that much power distributed across all devices connected to the dock), but the maximum output of that dock to the laptop is going to be lower than that (and based on the the documentation I wouldn’t expect to even get 100W to the laptop).
Based on the docs, non Dell devices receive 90W max power.
The USB-C ports on the dock typically require 15W of reserved power, and 5-10W for the USB-A ports. Those plus the power consumption of the dock must be budgeted at 50W and comes out of the 180W, leaving 130W for a compatible Dell laptop on their proprietary standard, and less for machines that stick to 20V PD.
It’s the same with most of these docks. The Lenovo one I have is 170W in, about 90W out via USB-C PD.
Hopefully Framework can bring out a dock :}
I have been eyeing the Lenovo Legion Y34wz-30 34 inch monitor. It’s $1200, but has gone on sale for $600.
For the monitor itself, it’s a 180Hz mini-LED ultra-wide (3440x1440), 10-bit.
95% DCI-P3, 99% sRGB, 104% DCI-P3, 131% sRGB
Via USB-C it provides 140W, 4 x USB-A, 1 x USB-C (15W), 1 x 2.5Gbps Ethernet, and 1 x 3.5mm audio out. It has other video ports and a USB-B port to enable a KVM feature as well.
I know more than 140W would be better, but perhaps 140W is enough.
possibly, I suspect that it would, but looking forward to seeing review units in the hands of groups who will be looking at exactly that sort of thing.
It is new enough that it could use PD2.1 but it also is lenovo so it may just allow some proprietary >5A mode with some lenovo laptops that support it.
Love the Lenovo monitor idea… I don’t like my existing one, and putting the dock in the monitor means one less power cable and box that I have to hang under my desk neatly. That said, the only dock I’ve found better than the Dell at 90W is USB-C Universal DV4K Docking Station with 100W Power Delivery | Targus which will deliver 100W.
I’d want hard evidence that it’ll supply 140W to a non-Lenovo laptop before buying.
There’s nothing I can find on the spec sheet or in the manual that details the power output. Which is poor from Lenovo.
Yeah. That’s true. Lenovo does have some >100W USB-C adapters that are 20V/6.75A for their laptops, and the manual doesn’t give the power output details.
Some other details from the manual:
140W when other USB ports are not “loaded”.
The included USB-C to USB-C cable is rated at 240W.
That does kinda point in the direction the monitor may mean something like that with the very descriptive “up to” 140W
That doesn’t mean much
Assuming it’s a 240W PD2.1 cable that would be an indicator in a good direction
Just want to also chime in…FW16 doesn’t actually require 180W, especially if you don’t have the graphics modules and running flat out. I’d bet 90-100W is more than enough for a heavily loaded no dGPU installed.
If, however, you have a dGPU installed, as per Framework | Framework Laptop 16 Deep Dive - 180W Power Adapter, it does sound like you might need that 180W for sure. So if you don’t plan on having the dGPU installed ever, or at least don’t use it loaded up, you’ll be fine with any of the 90-100W docks.
If you do plan to game/load up the dGPU, that’s a different story. You might just need to compromise and still have 2 wires.
Hmmm…that’s an interesting question, can the Framework pull power off of 2 USB-PD devices plugged into separate ports? I wouldn’t think so, but I wonder.