MacBook Pro – How to Share Docking Station Setup with a PC

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I currently have an HP Elitebook laptop which I plugin into an HP proprietary docking station. When the HP is "plugged in", I have instant access to;

  • 2 monitors connected through various display adapters (at the moment; 1 display port, and 1 vga port, but other options are available)
  • Several usb ports for peripherals, including a bluetooth keyboard and bluetooth mouse dongle
  • Power for the HP laptop
  • Ethernet Adapter

I just acquired a MacBookPro 14,3. I would love to be able to plug my MBP into this docking station and have instant access to all of the above. Obviously thats not possible (nor would the power supply be correct).

What is my next best option if;

  • At a minimum, I want to be able to quickly and easily switch between using the monitors, mouse and keyboard, between the PC and MBP

I've tried screen sharing from the MBP, but its laggy, and I dont see a way to do dual screen (I'm using VNC viewer). I would prefer to avoid using a switch, given all the additional wires, but I'm guessing thats my next best option?

Best Answer

At a minimum, I want to be able to quickly and easily switch between using the monitors, mouse and keyboard, between the PC and MBP

You can't if your peripherals/accessories are plugged into this docking station.

The dock connects to the HP notebook via a proprietary connector. There's no way to connect anything but the supported notebooks to this dock.

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The key here is to understand that the HP dock is not an "independent device." It's designed for convenience when wanting to use desktop peripherals (mouse,monitor,keyboard, LAN, etc.) with your notebook; consider it part of your HP notebook when docked.

To share devices, you need "something" that interfaces with the peripherals that can be connected to both machines.

Your only options are to:

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