ViDock 4 Plus - Poor Customer Service

I really need to rant and maybe it'll help others to not waste money...

My Vaio Z13 can only support the internal screen and one external display, so I decided to go the external graphics route...after considering the DIY eGPU setups, I ultimately decided to go with the ViDock because of simplicity, looks (no mess of wires on my desk) and the hardware delay start.

Received it a couple weeks after ordering (had to come from China, bad sign already) and jumped right into it. I put my GTX-280 (bought off roommate for cheap) in it and booted it up...computer only recognized it as a usb hub. On top of that, the 200W power supply is screeching/screaming like a . To rule out the graphics card, we throw it back in my roommates computer and as we are doing so, I realize he has a 6 and 8 pin connector whereas the ViDock only has two six pin. Low and behold, the other two are required for the graphics card to boot, so I spliced the two extra ground wires into the ViDock harness.

I now had a working ViDock, so long as I inserted the card after the computer was past the BIOS screen. Remembering that there are jumpers that have to be messed with, I pulled up a thread where another Z13 owner posted the delay configuration--both jumpers being zero delay and no jumpers being 8 seconds. I go about messing with them and cannot get the computer to boot with the card plugged in. Frustrated, I finally email customer support.

I explained my entire situation (noisy PSU, delay start not working) and they tell me to open the power supply up because "something could have fallen in it during shipping" and then proceed to tell me how to pull the jumpers, despite clearly stating I had already tried it. In the end, I opened up the PSU (not something I should have to do on a brand new part) only to find it looks like an elementary kid's art project...bent piece of metal with a fan glued to it, some electrical components and all that wrapped in cardboard and inserted into the plastic sleeve. I couldn't see anything that could be making the noise but when I did plug it in with it open, I found it was the fan screaming at me (tiny little thing running faster than it should, I'm guessing). I then responded reiterating that I had already pulled the jumpers.

Their response was that I was clearly not doing something right and they wanted pictures of the jumpers pulled. I oblige and tell them the delay start is the main reason I bought the ViDock vs. making my own.

They reply that not all computers are compatible with the delay start and there's nothing they can do.

I reply again that I know other people with Z13s that have it working and that I must have a bad unit. I then ask return policy if I had to splice wires to get the POS to work in the first place...long story short, no go.

So, I now have a $300+ eGPU box that has to be plugged in after I start my computer and that has a PSU that is so loud, I have to unplug it every night (in my bedroom).