Laptop connectivity

[Media Man]

I notice that most of the newer Windows laptop offerings have limited connectivity, such as no RJ45 ethernet port, or only Thuderbolt and USB C ports and SD card slots. NO HDMI and Display ports instead.

With the exception of the SD card, are there adapters available for the obvious conversions? I have existing ext. hard drives with USB B ports and I prefer wired ethernet networking over wireless because transfer is twice as fast.

Any thoughts or experience?

[Darryl Ramm]

Likely the answer is "yes" but you need to scratch the surface more.

USB-C, -B and -A etc. are just physical plug formats. I you intend to connect a HDD or SSD or other device you need to make sure what USB format any USB-C physical plug supports (e.g. USB 2.0, USB 3.1/3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps) or USB 3.1/3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps), or Thunderbolt (20 or 40 Gbps)) and check what format your peripherals needs, then if it's supported on the USB-C connector it's a simple USB-C to USB-B cable to do the conversion.

If the USB-C port is Thunderbolt 3 on a PC be more careful of what you actually get, read the PC manufacturer/OEM provided specs, If it's Thunderbolt 4 Intel cleaned up the mess there with PC OEMs and you can be more sure what exactly a Thunderbolt 4 logoed PC delivers.

Likewise an RJ45 is just a physical connector standard, you might commonly have 10Mbps, 100 Mbps Ethernet, 1 Gbps Ethernet or 10 Gbps Ethernet, if that is slower of faster than WiFi depends on what exact Ethernet and WiFi specs you are comparing. If this is for modern NAS that's one thing, but if it's for legacy control surfaces or older Ethernet devices be careful of what exact Ethernet link speed/format they need, you may need to arrange a way to do external conversion. Not all of the latest fastest Ethernet NIC and switches can talk to the much slower old legacy devices--even if they are all use "RJ45".

Many good Windows laptops with USB-C ports will have USB 3.x or Thunderbolt 3/4 and so will support suitable docks which will provide things like 1 or 10 Gbps Ethernet and multiple USB 2/3 etc. ports.

None of this is too specific to Pro Tools, you can find lots of tech articles online explaining this stuff, hopefully you have enough keywords to search for them.

[Media Man]

most of the newer gen of laptops I've been looking at are Tbird 4 and USB 3.2. More curious of the display port which appears to share a Tbird port in the description, but no picture.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Media Man

most of the newer gen of laptops I've been looking at are Tbird 4 and USB 3.2. More curious of the display port which appears to share a Tbird port in the description, but no picture.

USB 3.2 what?... 3.2 Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 2x2. Again the devil is in the details. USB is a confusing naming nightmare thanks to the stupidity of the USB-IF. On any modern Windows laptop I'd try to get at USB 3.2 up to Gen 2x2 support and even better get that as well as Thunderbolt 4 support. (Thunderbolt 4 on a USB-C connector does not guarantee USB Gen 3.2 2x2 support). I'd generally prefer to see stuff on USB-C ports for better power and Thunderbolt support... but one or two USB-A ports with up to USB 3.2 stuff on them might be handy on larger laptops.

If you see a mini-Displayport connector labeled as Thunderbolt then it's Thunderbolt 1, which would be very unusual on any modern PC. But USB-C supports Displayport protocol, and Thunderbolt on USB-C also has a display protocol, and they are somewhat different. Again the devil is in the details.

You need to read up on this stuff. e.g. google

Displayport over USB-C

-and-

Thunderbolt vs USB-C display support

etc. Lots and lots of info out there about all this.

[EGS]

Originally Posted by Media Man

I notice that most of the newer Windows laptop offerings have limited connectivity ... Any thoughts or experience?

Yeah plan on getting a good hub or docking station. Many options # ports etc depending on needs: https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=docking+station&Order=2

[Media Man]

Originally Posted by EGS

Yeah plan on getting a good hub or docking station. Many options # ports etc depending on needs: ]

I notice in your sig you are using a Lenovo i5. Are you using it for Ultimate? If so, any comments?

I'm looking at a Lenovo ThinkPad T series i7, and a Dell XPS i7. The Lenovo has more connectivity, but the Dell seems to price out better when bumping the RAM and SSD up.

Media Man

[EGS]

Originally Posted by Media Man

I notice in your sig you are using a Lenovo i5. Are you using it for Ultimate? If so, any comments?

I'm looking at a Lenovo ThinkPad T series i7, and a Dell XPS i7. The Lenovo has more connectivity, but the Dell seems to price out better when bumping the RAM and SSD up.

Media Man

Pro Tools non-ultimate, but my new Lenovo is working great! See this for details: https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=423679