Open Thread: Bauhn 8-in-1 Laptop Dock

This post is an open thread and contains affiliate links.

By day, I work in a job where much of my day consists of software technical support. I’m troubleshooting devices and trying to get them functioning, when at all possible. In practice, it means I’m restarting and resetting a lot of devices, with some configuration thrown in for good measure.

Hardware is less my responsibility, although I try to chip in there when I can. One problem I sometimes run into is the infamous “how can I connect X to Y?” dilemma. A user comes to me trying to input or output between devices but can’t figure out how. Sometimes the solution is simply a matter of me digging out a specific cable and handing it off. Other times I have to improvise more complicated solutions, which may or may not work.

Laptops are notorious for these challenges compared to desktops, as many laptops only have a few ports, and newer laptops may not have certain connections that older ones did. For that reason, it’s nice to have something that can bridge tough connection gaps, which is what docks do. I actually have a couple on hand myself.

Imagine my surprise, then, to see no less than Aldi selling a multifunctional dock. I really shouldn’t be surprised — the grocer seemingly sells everything, after all — but this feels niche even for Aldi.

What We Know:

The Bauhn 8-in-1 Laptop Dock is (Product Code: 711664) an Aldi Find, meaning stores get a single shipment. Once that shipment is depleted, stores won’t get any more until they come back, which might be next year or not at all. If you can’t find them in stores, you’re out of luck for now.

At the time of this post, the dock goes for $19.99. This is on the lower end of prices for laptop docks online.

This dock is designed to work best with laptops with a USB-C charging port. If you have a different kind of charging port, like a round plug that goes into your laptop, this port isn’t ideal for you. You might still be able to use some of the features through the USB-A connection, but there will be limits. One of the best features of a dock like this is that it can also charge a laptop, but that happens through the USB-C connection. Something to keep in mind.

Here’s the official information on the dock from Aldi:

• Connects USB-C, USB-A, ethernet, and HDMI devices plus memory card reader/writer
• USB-C port supports up to 100W power delivery 3.0 pass-through charging*
• Universal SD/MicroSD/TF card compatibility
• Gigabit ethernet up to 1000 Mbps
• HDMI port supports 4K at 30Hz video resolutions backwards compatible to 1080P, 1080i, 720P resolutions
• USB 3.0 port supports data transfer speeds up to 5 Gbps, backwards compatible with USB 2.0 at 480 Mbps
• Ethernet port supports up to 1 Gigabit ethernet, backwards compatible with 100 Mbps/10 Mbps ethernet
• SD/TF slot compatible with SD, SDHC, SDXC, MicroSD, and TF memory cards. Supports SuperSpeed reading/writing
• Compatible with Thunderbolt 3 or DisplayPort Alt Mode over USB[1]C port

From the Aldi information and the box, the primary connections are USB-C, USB-A (3 of them), ethernet, HDMI, and two different memory card readers (SD and TF).

There are some ports of interest that I don’t see listed. There is no VGA port, for instance, which some older monitors and projectors still use. I also don’t see a 3.5 mm port or any other dedicated audio outside of the HDMI.

What We Don’t Know:

We haven’t tried out this specific dock, so we don’t know how well things connect or how durable it is. We’ve created this open thread for users to share their experiences.

Have you tried out this dock? Let us know about it in the comments.