I skimped out when buying my Lenovo Yoga laptop. I picked slightly cheaper Lenovo Yoga 710 over Asus Zenbook. I really wanted USB-C on board but I was not willing to spend an extra £100 on it. I ended up with 2 USB-A 3.0 ports instead. The Lenovo Yoga comes with two major design problems in my opinion. A very peculiar keyboard layout and closely spaced USB ports. I fixed the keyboard by swapping the keyboard registry entries, but I had no chance of fixing the spacing between the ports. Something that Dodocool DC50 hub will help me with.
Dongles, dongles and Dodocool DC50 hub
![](https://i0.wp.com/notenoughtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Dodocool-DC50-Hub-12.jpg?w=696)
My first dongle to mitigate the problem was a pretty pricey Kensington solution picked up from a local computer store. While the hub solved the spacing issues, I quickly run out into “I don’t have an Ethernet port to connect my Raspberry Pi” and “the micro HDMI adapter I have prevents me from using one of the USB ports”. If I’m honest I got a little tired of the poor I/O layout of the Yoga and I got a combo:
![](https://i0.wp.com/notenoughtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Dodocool-DC50-Hub-10.jpg?w=696)
Why USB-C if I don’t have the ports for it? Simple, one day it will become the standard for all the devices I own. I want to be ready when the day comes. Plus, I get to use the dongle with my Pixel phone.
Dodocool DC50 hub’s I/O
The nice aluminium case sports:
- 3 USB-A 3.0 ports
- HDMI (full size)
- RJ45 1Gbit connector
- USB-C power delivery
![](https://i0.wp.com/notenoughtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Dodocool-DC50-Hub-2.jpg?w=696)
I’m not able to verify the speed of the USB devices as I have nothing that would max out the USB 3.0 bus, but I can confirm that the system recognises the ports correctly. You can supply extra power via USB-C connector if you find yourself in a situation where all 3 ports are in use, but you are short on power.
HDMI supports up to 4K resolution and won’t work over the USB-A to USB-C adapter. You have to use the USB-C port to take advantage of that. It’s fine, in reality, I don’t find it that useful for now.
![](https://i0.wp.com/notenoughtech.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Untitled-1.jpg?w=696)
The Gigabit Internet is a bliss to have as I have been in a situation where I needed the Ethernet socket to reconfigure a router or play with a Raspberry Pi offline. I verified the speed on my local (1Gigabit network) with iperf3 transfers speeds in excess of 990Mbit/s
USB-C power delivery is a bit tricky with the adapter. I was able to use this to get fast charging, however, the option was strongly dependant on how the devices are recognised by the charger and in what order I connected my phone and the Dodocool DC50 hub to the charger.
Side note
You can use the hub with a USB-C compatible phone. The USB 3.0 sockets will work, but I haven’t been able to use the Ethernet or HDMI.
Dodocool DC50 hub’s biggest flaw
As I’m using the hub over the adapter, I accepted all the limitations apart from one. The cable of the Dodocool DC50 hub is too short. It works ok with standard port placement, but if you have USB-C ports built-in into your screen (Surface alike devices) the cable is way too short to accommodate for that. It’s usable but super awkward.
Conclusion
I know my use case is rare. It works for what I need it for, and I can’t take advantage of all of the functions offered. But at this price point, the Dodocool DC50 hub is a great piece of kit to have, providing you don’t have your ports built-in in the screen. I’m sure I will take better advantage of it once I upgrade to a newer laptop in a couple of years!