This seems like such a simple question but when I did a quick search I came up with conflicting answers. I have a friend who's father's desktop computer is about to die. She asked me to help him figure out what to do next and after presenting a few options, the cheapest was to use a laptop they already have in place of the desktop and just plug in the external keyboard, mouse, printer, monitor and ethernet cable. Her father was a bit concerned that he would forget one of the five cables. Looking to save money (and thus not purchase a formal docking station) I was thinking he could get a simple USB hub, plug the keyboard, mouse, and printer into it, and then he would just have three cords, each unique in shape, that he would have to plug in (USB, VGA, and Ethernet).
Somewhere in the back of my mind I recalled being told, many years ago,...