Desktop real estate is key to productivity, especially when working on complex topics.  The more you can see without having to scroll means less mental energy goes into adjusting to pages scrolling or tabs switching.  I’ve recently written about how I’ve achieved this with Linux.  For work I’m on a MacBook, and there are ways there also to get plenty of desktop real estate.

For a long time I’ve been using an IOGear hub, but it has finally become undependable.  A quick trip to Best Buy and I’m trying out a j5create USB-C Triple Display Docking Station.  Since I’ve already got multiple displays setup for my Linux workstation, adding in the Mac was just a matter of running a few other cables.

Inexpensive

As of September of ’20, the price is an inexpensive $109.99.  Even though the 40″ LED Monitors are coming down in price, there are some pluses to using smaller inexpensive displays.  Especially when you are doing a demo and want to share one screen.  It makes it easier to have your notes and pastebin on another screen.  Just sharing a single app or web browser window often leads to presenters getting off track.  They forget that only the one app is shared.  By being able to share an entire monitor it is much easier to keep it straight what is visible.  Plus various keyboard and layout tricks can be used to quickly switch between views and tell a story.

Lots of Screen Real Estate

The j5 has the 3 monitors, when for me 2 would normally be enough.  Now I can keep all three at eye level, as opposed to two at eye level with the laptop below the center monitor.  The charging pass through keeps wiring simple when I start my day.  Having a 10base-T connection is also nice, since my mesh network does overheat now and then.  And of course the USB-A ports make up for the lack of them on the MacBook.

Another great feature of the j5 is that it also works with my Dell laptop.  All devices and power through the same USBC cable.  So if I’m working for Fastly or tinkering on a prior work, I can attach the relevant computer and get to work.

If you are attempting to work from home, or are a true remote worker, the j5create Triple Display Docking Station is a lot of bang for the buck!