Just realized my cheap USB-C dock was costing me more time than money

I spent about $40 on a no-name dock for a client's laptop, and it kept dropping the external monitor connection. Wasted an hour troubleshooting before I just swapped it for a known-good brand. Anyone have a reliable budget dock they actually trust?

3 comments

3 Comments

susana661mo ago

Classic case of paying with your time instead of your wallet. You bought a cheap dock but it charged you a full hour of your life (and some client-side stress). Those no-name gadgets are basically little time bombs with USB ports. The worst part is the client probably thinks you brought the broken gear. Next time just bill them for the troubleshooting hour as a "stupid tax" on the cheap part.

uma6851mo ago

That "stupid tax" idea is kind of brilliant... do you actually put that line item on an invoice or is it more of an internal thing?

cameron5381mo ago

Forty bucks for a dock that just stops working is crazy. That's not even cheap enough to be throwaway junk. An hour of your time is worth way more than whatever you saved. I'd be so mad dealing with that in front of a client.