Seagate Firecuda Gaming Dock – Bringing the Desktop to your Laptop.

Seagate Firecuda Gaming Dock – Bringing the Desktop to your Laptop.

Honestly, how good are gaming laptops these days? The really good ones are quiet, have no problems with temp and can play any game thrown at them with ease. It wasn’t so long ago that any serious gamer wouldn’t even consider a laptop for their main rig, but now it is a perfectly legitimate option for your gaming needs. But there are still somethings laptops don’t do well. They tend to have smaller HDD’s that are harder to upgrade, fewer USB ports and lack other plugs and ports that desktop PC’s take for granted, making it harder to use a laptop as an all-round system. This is where the Seagate Firecuda Gaming Dock comes in to save the day.

Laptop docks aren’t a new thing, but they haven’t really been aimed at gamers before now. The Firecuda Gaming Dock, however, has every laptop gamer squarely in its sights, from the naming right through to the customisable lighting. But what does this substantial bit of hardware actually do? Well, quite a lot actually.

Seagate Firecuda Gaming Dock - Bringing the Desktop to your Laptop.

The goal of the Firecuda Gaming Dock is clear, to give laptop users the flexibility of a standard desktop PC and it does so quite well. Firstly it contains a 4tb mechanical HDD which a huge amount of space for games, movies and whatever else you would normally be unable to fit on your small laptop HDD. To boost the space even further it includes a dock so you can add an additional NVME drive as well, so if you have a need for speed, you are all set. The dock is both easy to access and use and means that you can have your high-performance games take advantage of the extra speed an SSD offers. In all this is a serious upgrade to any Laptop’s storage space and should mean that you never run out of room for all those ridiculous Call of Duty updates.

The next thing the dock offers is a range of connections for various tasks. A total of 5 extra USB 3.1 ports, an Ethernet port, a Display port and 3.5mm audio connections are all included with the dock. This adds to the useability of a laptop right away. In testing, I had two monitors (one on my laptop’s HDMI port and one on the Dock) connected, giving me a total of three working monitors (including the laptop screen, though it did make my 3-year-old laptop fan go into overdrive so you should probably only do this if you have a beasty laptop). This is perfect for those that like to stream or record gaming video, or for people that use their laptop as their work PC. A lack of desktop space is always an issue for people who only have access to a laptop. The extra USB ports and the audio connectors are also a welcome addition considering how limited these are on most laptops.

All this extra connectivity would mean nothing if the connection speed was slow or it was difficult to setup. Thankfully, the Firecuda Gaming Dock only requires one Thunderbolt cable and its power pack and you are away and racing. Plug the Thunderbolt cable into your laptop and Windows does the rest. Not only is Thunderbolt easy to use, but it is super fast too, meaning that playing games or accessing data from the dock is as quick as possible. I tested this out by running a range of games from the dock’s HDD and was pleasantly surprised at just how quick it all worked. Up until now, I would have never suggested people install games to an external HDD, but the Gaming Dock handles it with ease.

Now comes the slightly painful part, the price. The Firecuda Gaming dock retails for $599 AUD. That is a fair chunk of change to find behind the couch. But that being said, it is certainly cheaper than having both a Desktop computer and a Laptop so there is a market for it. It also comes with a three-year warranty and I can tell you that the build quality is exceptional. Not a weak point or cheap connection to be found it is all solid and secure construction.  I can see the Gaming Dock being rather attractive to streamers, Youtubers and multimedia professionals who live in apartments that lack the space for a traditional PC, but still need the extra connectivity that a Desktop offers.

In all the Firecuda Gaming Dock is the perfect solution for a niche market. Most people won’t need what it offers, a simple external HDD will do, but for those that long for the adaptability of a PC without the impact on space, this is a godsend. A high-quality unit that turns your laptop into something that can truly be used as both a work computer and a home gaming station.

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