By: Charlie Burket, Techkit Specialist

The USB Dock is an often overlooked but extremely important part of your techkit equipment. You’ll find it packaged with your computer accessories as part of your first techkit shipment. Let’s look at 5 ways to use the USB Dock.

USE #1: SD CARD READER
An essential step in the production process is media transfer. As you start recording video and audio clips, you’ll need to transfer the media files to your computer. Your techkit camera and audio recorder each use SD Cards which hold footage while you are shooting. When you are done recording, connect your USB Dock and use the SD card reader to transfer the media to your computer. This will allow you to backup and verify what you have shot.

USE #2: WIRED ETHERNET PORT
We live in a wireless world, but when it comes to internet, its best to have options. The USB Dock adds an ethernet port for you to connect to a traditional wired network when needed. This can be a life saver when wifi traffic is high, connections are spotty or internet speed is slow.

USE #3: ADDITIONAL USB 3.0 TYPE A PORTS
The dock has two USB 3.0 type A ports for connecting legacy devices like printers, web cameras, or USB stick media. You may have noticed that your MacBookPro computer has four small USB C ports, but could use additional connectivity. The USB Dock is the answer—adapting larger USB A ports to the USB C type found on your computer. You can use one or both USB A ports at the same time, effectively adding more ways to connect to your computer setup.

USE #4: POWER DELIVERY PORT
THE USB Dock also features a power delivery port for connecting your computer’s power supply to the dock directly. This saves you from having to use an additional USB C port on the computer to power your device. To use this feature, simply connect the computer’s power supply to the wall outlet and the extension cable to the USB Dock’s Power Delivery Port.

USE #5: CONNECT AN HDMI DISPLAY
If you have a TV, or additional monitor with an HDMI port, you can use the USB Dock to add a second computer display. To do this, simply connect an HDMI cable between the USB Dock’s HDMI port and your secondary monitor source. Then on your computer, navigate to SYSTEM PREFERENCES and choose DISPLAYS. Here you can set options to mirror your connected computer desktop OR set it as a secondary monitor. This is a really useful feature when needing more space to display programs on your computer.

Well there you have it, 5 of our favorite uses for the USB Dock. Keep it with you whether you are in the studio or on location. Once you realize the capabilities of this device, it’s pretty indispensable.