Dell D3100 4K Ultra-HD Docking Station

My ownership of the D3100 UltraHD Universal dock is a story of dysfunction enhanced by Dell Tech Support incompetence and apathy. The dock failed to work properly when connected to my system. The source of my problems was originally not clear, although ultimately identified as the dock & Dell tech support. Here's the long version of my problem. I purchased the Dock along with a Dell XPS 15 laptop and Dell U2713HM monitor, all purchased new at the same time. Both the computer ($2000) and the monitor ($500) are made for ultra-high-resolution display (maximum 3200x1800 and 2560x1440 respectively). They do not match resolution, despite the assurances I got on this point from Dell before purchasing the equipment. Prior to purchase I was told by two separate Dell answer-line people that these three products (laptop, monitor, Dock) were designed to work together. It is obvious they were not. Initially the monitor did not work (black screen) when connected through the dock, or directly to the laptop. Two different Dell tech support technicians spent a cumulative 5 hours (with me a hostage assistant) working remotely on my system, resetting and re-installing every possible driver and setting and cable configuration, plus having me purchase additional cables. Unfathomably, the DVI and VGA cables supplied with the UltraHD monitor do not support its full resolution; you must purchase additional cables for it to reach its full, advertised resolution. With no help from Dell tech support I accidently discovered that the computer-monitor connection (either with or without dock) will not function if the Screen Resolution setting is "Duplicate these Displays". Any other setting works. After solving that "problem" my monitor works fine when connected directly to the laptop. Connections through the D3100 Dock work only intermittently. This includes both monitor display and keyboard communications. After Dell Tech Support recommended purchasing additional cables, which also did not solve the problems, my case was elevated to Dell's "HD resolution specialist" who confessed having never worked with a D3100 dock before, so wasn't sure what to expect of it. After having me perform more tests and having me install more drivers, communicating only by email, she eventually concluded that either the dock is faulty or maybe I need to re-install the computer OS. It took 2 weeks' of occasional email to reach this indecisive conclusion. It has taken one month to get to this point, the source of the problem and its resolution are still not known decisively, and Amazon is out of stock on the D3100 dock until end of February. I asked the Dell Tech Support specialist if they could handle the Dock replacement in order to expedite finding a solution to my problems and she promised to let me know. That was 5 days ago; still no response. If the replacement Dock doesn't work I'm faced with an OS re-install that also may or may not work. This is not Dell's cheapest equipment by a long shot. I expected a lot more of both their equipment and especially of their tech support. It will be a long time before I think of purchasing Dell equipment again. I can only wonder: how would Apple have handled such problems if it was their equipment? Update 1/18/15: I exchanged my D3100 for the same product two weeks ago and the new dock has worked well during this time. Apparently my problems stemmed from a hardware failure in my original dock. I would give the new D3100 a 5-star rating if not for the fact Dell tech support was both helpless and apathetic about assisting me to diagnose what was the cause of my connectivity problems (I was on my own to figure out if it was caused by my new computer, new monitor, or new dock). I'm raising my rating to a 3-star because the hardware is good if it is functioning, but lack of product tech support and misinformation from Dell denies it a higher ranking.