Help Me, Laptop: I Need More Ports

Reader hellvix needs ports. Lots of ports. Specifically, they asked us if they could get a laptop with three or more DisplayPorts or HDMI ports (or any combination of those). They don't say why, but I assume they're connecting to a whole bunch of monitors.

Price isn't a consideration (don't we all wish we had that luxury?) because hellvix is putting it on the company credit card. We don't know what screen size they're looking for or even what kind of work they do.

So, the answer? Get whatever laptop you want, but make sure it has USB Type-C. Other than that requirement, quite literally, get anything.

Why? Because you can get all of those ports with a good dock. Here at Laptop Mag (and our sister site Tom's Guide), we use laptops as our primary computers. Most of them have only a single HDMI port, but the docks give us extra ports to connect them to monitors (most of us use two).

Hellvix should check out the list of our favorite laptop docking stations, but I would suggest our overall top pick, the Plugable USB-C Triple Display dock. If their computer already has one HDMI port and USB Type-C, they can connect this dock to get an additional two HDMI ports.

The Dell D6000, with its two DisplayPorts and one HDMI output, is also a good choice. While it works with both USB Type-C and USB Type-A, you'll need the former to use all three video outputs.

You might find a few gaming notebooks or workstations with two video ports, but if you're just using it for everyday work on multiple monitors, don't limit your choices. Get what you want, and get a good dock as part of your setup. Besides HDMI and DisplayPort, with a dock, you'll also get a few USB ports for extra peripherals, and you can keep using the dock even when you upgrade your laptop.