Make sure the device or dongle is connected to the USB-C port on your PC that supports the features of the device or dongle. For example, if you're connecting a Thunderbolt device, make sure it’s connected to the USB-C port on your PC that supports Thunderbolt.

The pass-through charging is impressive at 92W, and you have the option of using the laptop’s bus power if you don’t have a wall charger to hand or access to an outlet.

ROG Gaming Charger Dock

It even comes with its own neat, short travel USB-C cable stored for protection, and ships with a 1m USB-C cable for normal desktop use. Dust or dirt inside the USB port on your device prevented the charger from being inserted correctly. Hard drive retention: Hard drive retention is not available on models with a soldered hard drive, including XPS 9315 2in1, Chromebooks or Venue tablets, except the Venue 11 Pro. USB-C comes in several flavours, based on speed and bandwidth: from Gen1 5Gbps standard to 10GBps Gen2. The device or dongle you connected to has new features for USB-C that your PC (or phone) doesn’t support.

It matches well on ports and power, although the Twelve South StayGo has one more USB-A port, and its SD and microSD cards can be read simultaneously while the PNY can read one card at a time – which will rarely be a problem for most users. The DisplayPort Alternate Mode lets you project video and play audio on an external display that supports DisplayPort. It uses a combination of USB-C DisplayPort Alternate Mode (“Alt Mode”) for the HDMI port and DisplayLink USB graphics for its two DisplayPorts. Laptops with Thunderbolt/USB4 or USB-C hosts that support DP 1.4 Alternate Mode can run three 4K displays at 60Hz via either DisplayPort or HDMI. On hosts that support DP 1.2 Alternate Mode, two displays at 60Hz are possible and one at 30Hz. This comes with some major caveats. You'll need a charger that matches your laptop's wattage, and as mentioned you may be able to charge the battery a little when the laptop's powered off but not get enough power to use the computer if the battery's empty. Still, many if not most USB-C power sources are interchangeable. In fact, built-in power regulation is part of the USB-C spec, which makes mixing and matching power adapters that much easier. The specific supported wattage of each USB-C cable, charger, and supporting device, varies. You’ll need to look at their specifications before buying to confirm, but depending on the connection in question, they should fall within these ranges.It also comes with both DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 ports for flexibility when adding an external display to your laptop.

Chargers that don't have a standard USB Type-C connector might use a proprietary, nonstandard connector that your PC (or phone) doesn’t support. Looking for other home-office gizmos and gadgets? We've got a number of guides that can help, like our Best Work-From-Home Gear, Best USB Flash Drive, and Best Portable External Storage Drives roundups.

Make sure the device or dongle is connected to the USB-C port on your PC that supports the correct Alternate Mode. For example, if you're connecting a Thunderbolt Alternate Mode device, make sure you connect to the USB-C port that supports Thunderbolt™. Features:Having this many ports accessible, especially for someone with many devices or drives, is incredibly helpful. Not needing to pull out a separate adapter or reader to grab data from a storage drive or SD card is wildly beneficial.

Some USB-C hubs can pass power to your laptop or other device for battery charging. (Credit: Molly Flores)Those sleek oval USB-C ports seem to be everywhere these days—they're now ubiquitous on smartphones and tablets, and they often appear on laptop and desktop PCs as well. But if you're in the market for a new laptop, you might be surprised to see them being used not only for connecting peripherals but for charging, in place of the familiar dedicated power port. Nearly all of the best laptops we recommend nowadays feature USB-C charging, and even those that come with a different AC adapter often support USB-C power. The main exceptions are gaming laptops and mobile workstations, which usually have beefier power adapters to handle the higher wattage those systems require. There’s no card reader for adding inexpensive portable storage, but there are two dedicated video ports—both at top-end DisplayPort 1.4. It’s easy to connect two 4K displays at 60Hz but you need to install DisplayLink software to achieve this.