Do More With USB Type-C With Club3D Roundup Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

At the time of writing, the Club3D USB Type C to HDMI 2.0 Active adapter (CAC-1504) can be yours for $29.99 or £38.95 through Amazon and from €29.59 through Geizhals.

The Club3D USB 3.1 Type-C Cable (CAC-1522) will set you back $19.00 or £29.47 at Amazon and from €19.90 through Geizhals.

At the time of writing, the Club3D Type-C Mini Dock (CSV-1530) was unavailable at Amazon.com, but that’s probably just a matter of stock and should change soon. In the UK it can be found at Amazon for £81.51 and Geizhals has it listed starting at £67.02.

While some might argue that those are quite high prices, they really aren’t when you think of what you get and what it otherwise would cost you to get those connections in your system. For example, the HDMI adapter for $30 is a bargain considering you otherwise might need an extra graphics card just to get the output.

Conclusion

I love USB 3.1 and the Type-C connector for a lot of reasons and Club3D has truly taken advantage of this new protocol and interface with its huge range of adapters, cables, and devices. The time where USB was for peripherals and storage only is gone thanks to the increased powers. There aren’t many limitations with up to 100W power supply and modern 4K/60Hz video signals on top of the 10 Gbps possible data throughput.

Let’s start with the simplest of the three Club3D cables and adapters that I had in the test lab today, the CAC-1522 USB 3.1 Type-C cable. With full specification support, there isn’t anything you can’t do with this cable. May you need it to charge your mobile devices, connect projectors, displays or monitors, or connect peripherals – it will work. The build quality is also great, both on the cable and the connectors and it should last a long time.

Next up is the CAC-1504 Type-C to HDMI 2.0 adapter which only has one single function: to connect a monitor to your system via the Type-C port. Most graphics cards only come with a single HDMI port and a lot of DisplayPorts instead and it can as such be tricky to connect two HDMI monitors to the same system. You could also need an external display on your ultrabook which only features a single Type-C connector and this adapter will work there too. The only requirement is the DP ALT mode and you’ll have that if you have the DP 1.2 features. On top of the ultra high-definition resolution possibilities, it also supports up to 60Hz which makes it suitable for gaming setups.

Last but not least, we have the CSV-1530 USB Type-C to Ethernet, USB 3.0, and USB Type-C charging mini dock. This tiny and universally usable docking station will provide the essential data connections without the display connections that you might not need. The connection cable is fairly short which isn’t optimal for stationary systems, but then again, why would you use it there? You already have all the connections on that system. On the other hand, for portable systems such as ultrabooks that only feature a single USB Type-C connector, it’s the perfect little device to add more functionality. Eliminate downtime in areas with bad or no wifi by using a LAN cable and get full Gigabit speeds and connect normal USB devices while you charge up to 60W to the device at the same time – and all that through a single connection to the device. That’s awesome. Performance wise, we saw no real impact whether the mini dock was used or the native connections. I should be mentioned too that Club3D offers alternate mini docks with other connection combinations, including video signals.

There is no doubt that Club3D deserves an award for these three cables and adapters because they do what they’re supposed to, they do it well, and there is an option for every scenario. So instead of giving them individual ones, they all get a combined Editor’s Choice from me.

Pros

• Full specification support
• Wide range of device options
• Fair price
• Good build quality

Cons

• None

“Club3D created a great line-up of USB 3.1 and Type-C devices, offering a cable, adapter, or device for any usage scenario. Best of all, it’s all plug-and-play.”

Thank You Club3D for providing us with these samples