What does PowerShare mean in the context of a Dell dock?
May 22, 2019 2:41 PM Subscribe
The Dell D6000 dock is marketed as having "3 x SuperSpeed USB 3.0" and "1 x SuperSpeed USB 3.0 with PowerShare". As far as I can tell, all four of these USB Type A ports are exactly the same. Dell Technical Support was no help. Does anyone have any idea how they might differ?
I have configured my laptop so that the PowerShare ports ON THE LAPTOP are able to charge devices when the laptop is turned off. But the PowerShare port ON THE DOCK does not function unless the dock is powered by its AC adapter. So what's the difference between the dock's PowerShare port and its non-PowerShare ports?
I have configured my laptop so that the PowerShare ports ON THE LAPTOP are able to charge devices when the laptop is turned off. But the PowerShare port ON THE DOCK does not function unless the dock is powered by its AC adapter. So what's the difference between the dock's PowerShare port and its non-PowerShare ports?
Response by poster: The dock's PowerShare USB Type A port has a little battery icon next to it. The same icon appears on its PowerShare USB Type C port, but not on the other three USB Type A ports.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:43 PM on May 22, 2019
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:43 PM on May 22, 2019
Response by poster: All of the ports still charge things if the dock is disconnected from the laptop, as long as the dock is still connected to its AC adapter. Without the dock's AC adapter, nothing functions.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:46 PM on May 22, 2019
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:46 PM on May 22, 2019
Response by poster: The first Dell person (sales) ended up telling me that the PowerShare port had a higher data transfer rate. I think they were bullshitting me. The second one (technical support) admitted that he had no idea what was going on.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:47 PM on May 22, 2019
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:47 PM on May 22, 2019
Are you sure that the non-PowerShare ports provide power when the laptop is off/disconnected? I would have assumed PowerShare on a dock means it always provides power, and that other ports only send power when the associated computer is turned on.
I have the Dell 3100 dock but nothing to test the port power with at the moment.
I wonder if PowerShare on an AC-powered device is just more of a vestigial thing and some engineer figured they should just always have power on all of the powers, but marketing / port-case-artwork-printers never got the memo.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 2:53 PM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I have the Dell 3100 dock but nothing to test the port power with at the moment.
I wonder if PowerShare on an AC-powered device is just more of a vestigial thing and some engineer figured they should just always have power on all of the powers, but marketing / port-case-artwork-printers never got the memo.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 2:53 PM on May 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Aha! I have discovered the difference! And it's seriously weird!
When the dock is connected to my laptop (and the dock AC adapter), all four USB Type A ports charge either my portable battery or my iPhone X.
When the dock is disconnected from my laptop, all four USB Type A ports still charge my portable battery. But! Only the PowerShare port charges my iPhone X!
This is very strange to me, because the iPhone X does not require more than the 2.5W of a standard USB 2.0 port to charge. The dock has a 130W power adapter! Can it really not provide a measly 2.5W to each of its four USB Type A ports? Why would they do this?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:02 PM on May 22, 2019
When the dock is connected to my laptop (and the dock AC adapter), all four USB Type A ports charge either my portable battery or my iPhone X.
When the dock is disconnected from my laptop, all four USB Type A ports still charge my portable battery. But! Only the PowerShare port charges my iPhone X!
This is very strange to me, because the iPhone X does not require more than the 2.5W of a standard USB 2.0 port to charge. The dock has a 130W power adapter! Can it really not provide a measly 2.5W to each of its four USB Type A ports? Why would they do this?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:02 PM on May 22, 2019
Response by poster: And of course, most of the time when the dock is plugged into the laptop, the dock is charging the laptop! So it should have LESS spare power to provide to the USB Type A ports, not more! The hell?
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:03 PM on May 22, 2019
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 3:03 PM on May 22, 2019
This article would seem to indicate that “PowerShare” allows the charging of external devices (ie, a smartphone) from the laptop computer’s battery. There’s a setting somewhere that allows you to select how much of the laptop battery may be used for this purpose.
posted by doctor tough love at 6:17 AM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by doctor tough love at 6:17 AM on May 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
(In case I wasn’t clear: I believe that if you connect a laptop computer to the dock, you can charge a USB device from the “PowerShare” port on the dock, drawing power from the battery of the attached laptop computer.
The article contains a wealth of finicky details, including “On many of the new notebook systems the Default setting in the BIOS for USB PowerShare is = Disabled.”
This appears to be a feature that is useful when you’re stranded somewhere without AC power. How does it work when you *have* AC power? Beats the hell outta me.
In short: “Dude! You got a Dell!”)
posted by doctor tough love at 7:12 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
The article contains a wealth of finicky details, including “On many of the new notebook systems the Default setting in the BIOS for USB PowerShare is = Disabled.”
This appears to be a feature that is useful when you’re stranded somewhere without AC power. How does it work when you *have* AC power? Beats the hell outta me.
In short: “Dude! You got a Dell!”)
posted by doctor tough love at 7:12 AM on May 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I can confirm that the dock is non-functional without its own AC adapter, even if it is connected to a Dell laptop via Thunderbolt 3 on USB Type C.
My best guess at how this happened:
DELL EXEC: Customers love PowerShare, so this dock should have at least one PowerShare port.
DELL ENGINEER: Well, that really only makes sense if you put a battery in the dock. Otherwise there's no battery to obtain power from.
DELL SALES GUY: That's silly. People don't carry around docks. They keep them on their desk. They don't need batteries.
DELL EXEC: OK, great meeting everyone, thank you!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:14 AM on May 23, 2019
My best guess at how this happened:
DELL EXEC: Customers love PowerShare, so this dock should have at least one PowerShare port.
DELL ENGINEER: Well, that really only makes sense if you put a battery in the dock. Otherwise there's no battery to obtain power from.
DELL SALES GUY: That's silly. People don't carry around docks. They keep them on their desk. They don't need batteries.
DELL EXEC: OK, great meeting everyone, thank you!
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 9:14 AM on May 23, 2019
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posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 2:42 PM on May 22, 2019