Kensington SD7000 Surface Pro Dock Review

The Kensington SD7000 dock for Surface Pro 4, Surface Pro 2017 and Surface Pro 6 makes your tablet look like a mini Surface Studio. It connects to the Surface Connect port and adds myriad ports while also supporting the Surface Pro at a variety of heights and angles using two articulating hinges and chrome arms. It has USB-A, USB-C, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.2, Gigabit Ethernet and 3.5mm audio ports and a Kensington lock slot. It’s due out at the end of Dec. 2018.

[@disco_bard]

really appreciate how quickly you went over things.

[@colepascua]

Lisa just places all the right information on the table and clearly describes it one by one. All facts, no drama, and the humour omg LISA YOURE THE BEST 💓💓💓

[@drew2c659]

Lisa, you're videos make me happy. Between your tshirts and personality, I need no other tech reviewer to educate me on the latest and greatest.

[@salasart]

Lisa you are THE BEST!.For example, you are one of the few reviewers, if not the only one, that actually knows and cares about the difference between n-trig, wacom aes and wacom emr. you review everything tech-art related, and can appreciate the little details. I Always recommend you to my students!, Love from Chile!

[@EneRec]

Luis Salas Lastra I agree with you, love to both of us from Spain!

[@tasty_sand]

Can't believe you have been doing this reviews since 2008. Hope you get 1M subs Q1 2019

[@LXIVGOLD]

I've been wishing for something like this for my Surface Pro 5, the Surface dock just didn't make sense to me, not being a dock like past efforts, the guys seem to have hit the spot! Thanks for this awesome quick review.

[@lorcro2000]

FWIW the surface dock is great, once you get all the firmware patches off Windows Update. It's a single zero insertion force bespoke connector, just plug it in and you get both docking and power. Need to go? Just grab the tablet and unplug as you go. No muss no fuss.

[@skippey26]

Hi Lisa keep up the amazing videos

[@gumbo3063]

Thanks for the effort. Lisa, just so you know Kensington is charging 399 on their site. I have to say though, Kensington makes very reliable products for the most part. I have a Masterpiece Home Office, which after what seems forever is still working like a charm. By the way I have the MS dock and outside of an occasional "USB not connected," messages has performed without issue.

[@mikecoshan3752]

Superb review as always Lisa

[@3212seis]

WOW! that looks amazing. Thanks for the video

[@RayRay-lo2wn]

What an awesome dock! I love it!

[@POLONDO]

I loveI love the reviews of this channel!

[@aelaan12]

Ouch, I like the hardware but that price, I will try to find a Surface Dock. I was actually just thinking that there should be something for my beloved tablet but I will keep it on my desk for now. Thanks for all the great reviews Lisa, I just love coming to your channel when my notification tells me there is something new.

[@christophriess5274]

That's super cool! Really nice.

[@GabrielSimon]

Hello, I've enjoyed a lot of your videos but noticed that very few of the reviews are of Speakers. Could you include some speaker reviews in the future please? I'm mainly interested in clearer sounding speakers, for listening to these wonderful KZbin videos, so mainly a clear voice through the speaker is the no.1 most important thing for me; and no.2 if the speakers you review and suggest could have little to no hum/buzzing noise. Thank you and Happy Holidays!

[@christianseehausen9264]

Seems like the best use of this would be for artists, illustrators, graphic designers, and so forth, as an all-in-one easel and docking solution. That way you could, for example, put reference material on an external monitor while you draw on the Surface Pro itself. Neat product!

[@aelaan12]

How neat would this be as a kiosk... expensive but neat.... :-)

[@litjellyfish]

Al van der Laan well that is exactly what the target group is. This is very similar to the Cintiq stand that has been around for years. So good this comes. Nice to see similar for iPad Pro as well. There have been a lot of DIY solutions so again nice with an out of the box solution. I have build a similar one myself with a little different setup. My solution can also rotate +-90 degrees (image that the slot where you put you tablet instead is attached to another backplate which can rotate) Also there is a lot behind the tables where you can slot in another laptop or tablet. I made this as the iPad need a laptop as companion. So either I use the iPad as the main painting device with procreate and the laptop as external screen (or just the iPad solo. Or I use the MacBook with the iPad as an extra “Cintiq” screen through astropad. This if I want to run desktop 3d apps like zbrush etc. The nice is my setup takes so little space. I get a 15” and a 13” dual screen setup with very high PPI rate. And then done I just fold all flat and pushes it to the back of my desk. I can use the desk for other type of work and still the iPad is active to show notifications play music or view a movie. Heh realized it was not easy to explain but I hope you got a little of the picture at least :)

[@Alvin-Nukman]

@@litjellyfish please make a video to show your setup. Its really neat!

[@lorcro2000]

@@aelaan12 There are cheaper ways to do really good kiosks, though. Also cheaper computers to use for that than an expensive MIcrosoft one. Lenovo Miix costs a fraction of the money and works fine.

[@lorcro2000]

It would also make the surface "puck" dial more easy to use since you can vary the angle on this much more easily.

[@HeroG9000]

If it was 200 I would go for it, to give some life to my pro 4. This cool I’d love to draw on it but at 300 it doesn’t make sense for my lower end surface pro 4. At 300 I could almost get a decent drawing tablet with a stand. It’s a shame I’ll keep my out tho. If It drops a bit I’m jumping on this

[@Boxhead42]

Try $400+, awesome product, but way over priced.

[@raziariff2345]

Nice, just the thing i need for my future office

[@Jacob-xw8zd]

So now I want to get a Surface Pro 6 just so I can use this thing, and that's just wrong...but so right!

[@thilotech]

It also supports the Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Pro 2017

[@casekocsk]

Same here... Never have thought to buy any of those Surface line until I watched the videos. And for me, it's better buy this combo than buying Surface Studio.

[@EneRec]

Caseko CSK that’s not really true, surface studio is more powerfull, the most powerfull surface is the book 2 If you want this as a professional 3D modeling... only if you already have a surface pro, if not, go for the studio or book 2 with an i7 processor If it’s for drawing or using the surface as a notebook, this is more than worth it

[@samanagem767]

أداة تثبيت الشاشة بجهة اليمين عمتعمل تلوث بصري وتشوه شكل الشاشة يلزم تصغيرها أو وضعها في الخلف

[@Roman-nu1om]

She comes right to the point. Love that woman!!

[@IshanTheAwesome]

Hey Lisa, nice video as always. I was wondering when you will do the review of Galaxy tab S4.

[@johnsimeonidis7518]

Great review! Will this dock work on the new surface 7?

[@parrylim]

Cool device

[@alfabravo80]

Great, now I want a surface pro to get the dock.

[@gumbo3063]

Also, Lisa, I've been looking high and low for a Surface Pro 2017 keyboard case that basically turns the device into a true laptop. The only thing that comes close is the Brydge and there is scuttlebutt that this could crack the screen. Any suggestions? TIA J

[@Follower_Of_Xi_Jinping_Pooh]

Hi Lisa. Could you review Lenovo Ideapad D330 when it arrives in US? I think this 2in1 is a good contender to the Surface Go.

[@sparker1901]

I like IT wow super cool I bet it would make a nice night stand device or net to a Bose music system... super cool stuff Lisa .......SUPER COOL!

[@ricardorivera2383]

Are you planning on doing a review of the new 4k dell inspiron 2 in 1 7000 (7386, 7586, 7786)?

[@g34r9]

O bought it for my pro 8 and fitment was an issue, so I tried it on my pro 6 since it's compatible with it. Same thing. So I went back with my pro 8 and tried again. It was hard to get it in, but finally I got it to work. Figured if the pro 6 and 8 are both close enough on dims it should work. So I have the 8 in the dock, but it's a struggle to get it out.

[@EliseAngelofHealing]

Thanks for this video. Wow it looks great, and easy to take the surface pro in and out if the dock. The only drawbacks I see is that it does not come with SD card slot, and the cost, but I may just may invest in this. When will this be available to the public? Right now I don't see anyone selling them as of yet, and It is unavailable at Amazon. Update. Amazon will have it in stock on January 10, 2019, but the cost jumped up to $399.99. Ouch.

[@Flygodz4life]

I wish you took it out and showed the sliding in mechanism. I am worried it will scratch the surface on repeated use.

[@Thirsty_Fox]

I'd like to see the glorious 3:2 28" Surface Studio display without the base computer.

[@devontaylor1913]

Wish they would make something like this for the surface book as well

[@Jaylikescar]

I also like the brydge keyboard I see at Best buy because it makes it into like a laptop but I read reviews where their screen cracks so didn't want to risk it

[@lorcro2000]

Honestly, the Surface keyboards are pretty darn excellent. Harder to use the Surface in your lap with one, sure, but I don't do that anyway.

[@nononsense129]

I like the idea. Pretty good. They could have added optional LTE capability?

[@WIImotionmasher]

Wow... an actually useful and cool product in the computers industry? Very surprising, but refreshing.

[@ricolavender1795]

Lisa this is a cool product, but i think kensington should add a memory card slot and a GPU in the base just like the surface studio and maybe an option for SSD storage will be great

[@EneRec]

Rico Lavender totally agree because of the price range

[@yamamancha]

They raised the price to $399. It's a shame no one else is developing accessories that take advantage of Surface Connect. Even MS isn't offering their Type-C adapter anymore.

[@ValorZeroAdvent]

It's a baby Surface Studio!

[@Tigerex966]

Cool Can you review the official Microsoft usbc adapter for the surface connect port? Thanks

[@EneRec]

Tigerex966 news for me

[@Tigerex966]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qoHddmOOqr-Jn7c No one seems to want to review it, yet they complain about no usbc? I do not get that?@@EneRec

[@1.123]

dear madam, i remember you from the time i watched many videos about the surface pro 5 when it came out in order to make up my mind. i ended up buying it and still remember you as a very competent person. my next plan is to buy the surface dock and ask for your expertise: is it advisable to use the mini display port of the surface pro for my external monitor in order to just keep the data flow through the microsoft connector as thin as possible and to prevent some speed loss for lan/usb ports or is it absolutely not necessary? and a second question: when i use my surface pro on my desk with an usb-hub and my external monitor i regularily run it on battery mode to prevent the battery‘s life from running to short as if i would keep it always on 100% at the electric outlet. is this somehow realisable with the docking station?

[@benjamina6915]

Looks cool, they should make a generic one for none ms models.

[@lorcro2000]

Not bad. The surface dock does the job fine for me, as I basically don't use the touch functionality anyway when it's docked (keyboard and mouse...) but if I were shopping for a dock now I might pay the premium.

[@EneRec]

Croft totally agree with you, only without the dock I use the touch funcionality. Remember if you use your surface a lot of time in the dock, enable the option in the bios to not damage the internal battery You can enter in the bios like this: when the surface is turned off, hold the volume + button, turn the surface on and keep holding the volume + button, then search the option. The bios is REALLY funcional, just try it The bad about enabling the secure mode for the battery is your battery will only charge the half of it

[@jeffjsmith]

Interesting. Is there a recommendation for a keyboard to use while it is in this Dock?

[@EneRec]

Jeff Smith it doesn’t matter, it only depends in your preference. I use a wired Mechanical keyboard because I play videogames in surface pro 4, but if you are not going to play anything and it’s just for working normally, a cheap bluetooth is worth it. Wired=low latency or delay

[@getdrinking]

Will plugging/unplugging the device constantly cause scratching? It looks metal, and metal against glass doesnt usually play nice

[@EneRec]

getdrinking just be carefull, anywais the screen is reeeeeally difficult to scratch, just search durability test

[@thinmints5375]

Wonder if this helps with some of the scaling issues seen with the standard Surface Dock and an external display? Not sure 399 is worth it to fix that though.

[@EneRec]

Thin Mints what issues are you talking about?

[@carmennooner2027]

Why did the screen get brighter when lifted out of the device, then darken again when reconnected to it? Optical illusion?

[@BoingoCat]

I was wondering the same thing. 9nce the connection was lost, it brightened up, and once connected again, it dimmed.

[@DaveFarr]

It probably switched power plans. If Lisa had the plan it defaults to when unplugged set to a higher brightness, this is what you'd see.

[@dickiewongtk]

Power plans setting. You can set it yourself.

[@mostlymessingabout]

Hi Lisa, can you confirm this will work with the SP7? Cheers

[@Knowledge_Nuggies]

Does it work with the type cover flipped back or do I need to detach the type cover first?

[@phonlawutchansri7083]

My surface pro have protective case on it, so I need to remove the case before put into this dock station right?

[@lucaspunzengruber]

put an external GPU in the base and connect it via TB3 and you´re golden

[@solfentress7724]

Yes

[@EneRec]

I don’t think that’s thunderbolt 3 at all

[@tatedottech]

I would LOOOOOOOVE something like this for my iPad pro

[@BobsCycl3ShoP]

So i guess it doesnt have the cool „1 finger is enough to change positions“ going on like the surface studio?

[@EneRec]

BobsCycl3ShoP more or less... surface pro is weaker than surface book or studio in performance

[@tIanne70]

Really like this. I would find something more portable much for useful.

[@MrNosugarcoating]

They need to do this for the surface book

[@solfentress7724]

If they did i would want the base to have gpu

[@AbbasMwali]

KEEP IT SIS

[@philm6674]

Cool. So Kensington adopted a professional grade POS stand for consumer electronics. That’s awesome. great review thank you very much!

[@bobsagget823]

moron

[@philm6674]

bobsagget823 how so? I work in retail, these stands are an integral part of POS (point of sale) systems. This is similar to equipment i use when opening new operations, only without locks at the hinge.

[@shourjo1987]

Please review the Dell Inspiron 13 7386.

[@BakizaKh]

Hey Lisa! Do you think this would fit the tablet portion of the surfacebook 2?

[@Cosmic-Bear.]

I checked the product out on Amazon and Kensington themselves said it doesn't work with the Surface Books, only Pros

[@martelljhixson]

One would be nice with the surface book. Bigger screen. With charging capacity and the keyboard being Bluetooth capable...maybe some performance boost with the stand...that would be a baby surface studio.

[@francobarbagallo8915]

I’d kill for one of this for the surface pro 8/9 And the surface studio laptop

[@robertfeliciano5723]

This is what Wacom should be doing. Make the screen a lot lighter and put the electronics in a base.

[@EneRec]

Robert Feliciano I think that already exist xd The thing are the ports behind

[@tominfhl]

Interesting ...

[@ivonahumpalot538]

If I use this with the surface pro 7 can I do tethered photography

[@user-cg9yu4gx2q]

can i use my surface book screen on this as well?

[@victorr8092]

Cool

[@timtran7756]

Good

[@AaronWeissTheWeissIsRite]

Why did they go up in price in the almost two years since release? Or did you misspeak?

[@michaelcorcoran8768]

Yeah I've been wondering that myself. Even used ones are usually over $300. Brand new ones are $400. Even broken ones are 200

[@Alvin-Nukman]

We need something like this for the ipad pro. I mean, we Really need this. Its kinda genius

[@Loadedwhisperer]

damn this woman knows her shit

[@nicolepatrick1394]

Would this work for the surface book if you detach it from the keyboard?

[@mobiletechreview]

No, it wouldn't fit into the frame that Surface Pro slides into. The Surface Connect is on the bottom on Surface Book, so it's not in the right place for this dock.

[@EneRec]

Nope, surface pro is smaller than book

[@rickZZZZZZZ]

Can you use it to hold iPad Pro?

[@cooper3795]

Now all I have to do is learn how to draw; should be easy. Edit: Nope, can't draw anything but a stickman.

[@ccjh0806]

The hinge mechanism seems really rough/unrefined though. Nowhere near as smooth as the Surface studio hinge

[@lorcro2000]

I wonder if there is a reason that the Surface Studio 2 costs over $4000? :)

[@vinterskog]

Good stuff, but you know what it lacks? A rack for a desktop GPU. Which probably cannot happen before Surfaces get Thunderbolt 3 ports.

[@EneRec]

Khogn TM yeah, surface PRO with thunderbolt 3 must be the BEST experience with a 2 in 1 device. Everywhere just an integrated gpu and at home a dedicated one. Just like a desktop!

[@martin5697]

Can't be used with the Kensington Blackbelt Case that I have...

[@Spark55278]

Anyone know the the Model of the LG Monitor featured.

[@allbluedream]

A little pricey, but looks good anyway. I do wish that there's a portrait position

[@weirdshibainu]

I wish the base would allow for wireless charging for phones

[@saopaulosoul8714]

im disappointed the no reviewer seems to talk about the transfer speeds... or heat build up while using an external ssd whilst editing on it. but I figure I will find somewhere on the net to get that info. thanks anyways

[@joselucnico]

Will it work for an ipad ?

[@jeroldtan-franco9093]

Will this work with a surface book?

[@EneRec]

Jerold Tan-Franco maybe there is a version for a surface book 1 and 2... if not, surface book is bigger

[@THR33-LAWS-SAF3]

This would be cool for an iPad Pro 2018...

[@rsmeanie]

Where did you find this for $299? Other reviewers in the past few months have also mentioned $299 but no one is currently selling this dock for less than $399. Even the Kensington website shows it for $399. I would be will to spend $299 but I think $399 is too much.

[@macfallan]

Is this compatible with a Surface book tablet?

[@mrankin2825]

No just pro

[@EneRec]

Nope, surface is smaller

[@Oztinfrog]

They should have put a sound system in the bottom

[@EneRec]

austin bader for the price... yup

[@PaulyGuy1]

Very nice speakers and SSD should be in that base

[@handquake]

I.....am not, "Living large" LOL...but that thing is still compelling.

[@rampyrs]

Does it work with surface book 2 13' inches?

[@EneRec]

Ravinder Singh don’t think so, surface pro 4 is very small

[@davidbaker1482]

Great review, but I am not seeing it for a price less than $400

[@EneRec]

David Baker yeah, it’s really expensive for display and usbs... the thing is that it includes a dedicated audio soundboard

[@tsb28]

can this be used with a Surfacebook screen?

[@EneRec]

Tushar Bhat nope

[@jenniferlee482]

@@EneRec really? This dock station don't work on Microsoft surface book? What is the difference with the surface book and pro 7 ?

[@EneRec]

Jennifer Lee the size of the surface book is one of the things that are different from the surface pro line of products and the biggest difference is power. Surface book can have a dedicate graphics card and it's much superior in power. I have a Surface Pro 4 and it's enough to use it for school and artworks but at home I use the original dock and a monitor. If you plan to spend 150€ or more in the dock, use it for a monitor. If you plan to use a more powerful machine in the future like a PC you can use the monitor too so yeah, it's better expending the money on that than in this thing

[@EneRec]

Jennifer Lee I hope that helped you :3

[@jenniferlee482]

@@EneRec lmao!! I am a student.. and I'm not into graphic art design.... I bought it 2 years ago because I liked the look and doable for laptop/ tablet. That was the only reason...lol And now we are at home more and my classes are on zoom.. I need some bigger screen... and came across the dock station which looks very easy and comfortable to work with the surface but didn't realize there's a whole bunch of other models and it's driving me nuts!! Lol But thanks so much for your input!! Have a wonderful day and stay safe!!

[@ysp01s25]

これは、すごい！！！！！！！

[@dttapp]

Does this work with Surface Pro 3 Lisa?

[@dttapp]

It should be right? Thanks Nick

[@DaveFarr]

My guess is it would. My SP5 works with my SP3 dock, so it seems likely the SP3 would work with this since the SP5 does. But if your SP3 is anything like the one I formerly used, it'll overheat and the cpu will throttle like crazy in a dock.

[@EneRec]

Surface pro 3 is the one with windows 8 and the windows key as a phisical button... Search the dimensions between surface pro 3 and 4, I don’t think it’s possible

[@AlecSong]

Say hello to my litt friend

[@curtoliver8584]

lmao. Now I can afford my Surface Studio.

[@EneRec]

Curt Oliver maybe, if you want a dedicated GPU... go for the real surface studio

[@caknelson2254]

4:09 second and we can't see how to dock and undock the Surface.

[@RuhDolu]

it also works with ipad, dont worry

[@EneRec]

cyigen85 but all the thing you can’t use because the surface plug :/

[@abiybattlespell8401]

I just use a dish rack for my ipad

[@robertm3951]

I would love something like this for my Surface Book, but Microsoft would never let a 3rd party make the base

[@EneRec]

Robert M yeah... surface book is powerfull but very 3rd party supported

[@user-kc1lk4ow1l]

Is it only for ms surface??

[@EneRec]

Yup