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Belkin Shows Off Upcoming Thunderbolt Express Dock
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Now it says your a hamburger patty engineer in the fast food industry.
We just can't believe anything you say any more.
In addition to what has been written already:Do you have any links with information concerning this? I've never been much of a hardware guy and it does interest me a lot at the moment
USB is host-based, so USB devices are "dumb" and have to be controlled by the host (usually a full-fledged computer) via a variety of drivers. This not only increases CPU load (ask users of EyeTV USB hardware on older Mac minis about stuttering that went away when switching to a FireWire tuner), but it also requires individual drivers for each device. This issue has been partially mitigated by generic class drivers for e.g. mice, keyboards etc. that are included in current Windows and OSX incarnations, but you're basically out of luck if you try to use certain USB hardware on other hardware/software platforms without sufficient driver support (which is sometimes difficult to come by on those platforms due to lack of programmers or programming background information).
Several USB devices connected to the same USB port (via an external hub) can only "talk" to each other via the host, thus having to share the bandwith of that very port and requiring the host to be present in the first place.
In opposition FireWire relies on "intelligent" devices, where the logic is located inside the devices. This allows peer-to-peer connections and high transfer speeds without high CPU loads. You can connect two FireWire devices directly and use them without a host computer attached (actually the fastest network on older computers with only 100MBit ethernet - like the Apple Cube - is via FireWire (400MBit)).
You can read this up in detail on Wikipedia (amongst other sources): Firewire and USB.
DO WANT!
Finally, a good, innovative use for these awesome thunderbolt ports I've got in the back of my iMac. And since I never use the two t-bolt ports for ANYTHING, this is like just adding more ports! sweet!
Finally, a good, innovative use for these awesome thunderbolt ports I've got in the back of my iMac. And since I never use the two t-bolt ports for ANYTHING, this is like just adding more ports! sweet!
There are alot of inexpensive USB3 external drives with high capacities. Google search is your friend.
johnnyturbouk
macrumors 68000
Are USB 3 ports not blue?
![usb-3-hub.jpg]()
It's a shame - if belkin would have a eSATA + USB3 - this dock would be awesome - albeit a lil ugly
It's a shame - if belkin would have a eSATA + USB3 - this dock would be awesome - albeit a lil ugly
Par for the course for Thunderbolt devices.
I'm beginning to suspect that TBolt is having some serious teething pains.
The lack of price/date information has been strange, and then the story that Apple Preps for Thunderbolt Display Release with MacBook Air EFI Firmware Update raised a little red flag.
Perhaps adding PCIe expansion to all the new Apples has awakened some creepy-crawlies that were hiding in Apple OSX and/or Apple computers - but which were never seen because almost no Apples shipped with PCIe expansion before TBolt.
______
And now this: Apple Moves Closer to Thunderbolt Display Release with MacBook Pro and Mac Mini Firmware Updates
How many firmware updates are going to be needed?
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it's not a stupid omission at all. the Air is designed w/ ultimate portability in mind. like an ipad. if you so badly need wired ethernet -- plug it in via USB. problem solved.
this is the optical drive argument all over.
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why cant you daisy chain them?
Nice strawman. It's designed to portable so you can take it places, and that means places that may not have wireless (as I pointed out). And making something the "ultimate in portability" does not include requiring the user to carry a bunch of adapter dongles around on every trip. Yet that is the "elegant" Apple solution to several of their design errors:
- the defective headphone jack on the first iPhone, which 99% of headphones couldn't plug into
- the lack of proper USB I/O on iOS devices, requiring a clumsy "camera connection kit" to get pictures onto your iPad to share with your friends while on vacation
- the lack of SD card slot on iOS devices (see above)
- the lack of controls on the last-generation Shuffle
And this has nothing to do with the optical-media argument. Complain to Apple about that; they're the ones still putting a single-purpose Eject key on their laptops instead of a real Delete key.
The only thing holding back USB3 would the the "USB" part of it. USB has sucked form the beginning. Its saving grace is that it's cheap.
Some people want/need quality and are willing to pay for it. That is why FireWire is ubiquitous in the professional audio and video industries, while USB is what consumers looking to buy the absolute cheapest options choose. You do get what you pay for. History shows that, as far as most consumers are concerned, crapware that barely gets the job done is good enough.
Because USB3 isn't available in Intel's chipsets, yet, which is what Macs are built around. Once Intel sticks USB3 support into their chipsets natively, expect macs to start shipping with USB3 ports. For now, USB3 is entirely reliant on dodgy third party hardware and drivers, and all the accompanying problems.
USB has its place. They are complementary, not necessarily competing technologies, although some people will probably prefer to see them that way.
As outlined earlier, the ports on this device together added must be able to deliver more power than the Thunderbolt bus can supply. It is not unthinkable, however, that the device will be able to function without external power, with the caveat that (much) less power will be available through the USB and FireWire ports to connected devices.
Um, an Ethernet connector by itself is thicker than the bottom case of a MacBook Air. It simply won't fit in the case. So unless you'd like a thicker MacBook Air, you'd be carrying a dongle around, regardless. The lack of (native) Ethernet isn't stopping the MacBook Airs from selling like hotcakes, which kind of indicates that Apple made the right decision.
This device clearly isn't designed to travel. It resides at the office or at home with everything still plugged in, while the MacBook travels light. Upon returning, plug in the Thunderbolt cable and everything is re-attached.
.tsooJ
Perhaps tbealmear is wanting to use two standard MiniDisplayPort monitors (not daisy-chainable).
The 15" and 17" MacBook Pro's have had this since they first came out - ExpressCard is also a form of PCIe. The Mac Pro is arguably a niche product, but the MacBook Pro's aren't really.
I know, and I've said that, ExpressCard is an x1 PCIe, but it has a very limited penetration with a very small number of devices. Drivers for ExpressCard devices are also developed with the hot plug model specifically in mind.
TBolt is much, much broader in scope.
That was the whole point: Why not? It addresses a problem that the Air presents: a lack of Ethernet. There's no particular benefit to making it massive. It could easily be a small box at the end of a short TB cable.
Because.
That "problem" is also addressed by Apple's Ethernet dongle, which, coincidentally, is designed for portability.
Maybe you should express your desire for a more portable product to peripheral makers.
You're taking a very specific issue that you and perhaps a few others experience as a problem, and blaming the designers of a product that targets an entirely different market for not catering to this issue specifically.
.tsooJ
If 3Gb/s isn't enough for you, you will like TB.
But for 99% of people for 99% of usage 3Gb/s is well beyond good enough.
You know, that's more than 10x from what you get with usb2 with Macs.
And now that you know eSATAp exists, wouldn't it be pretty sane to have eSATAp ports with combined usb3 speeds to Macs with costs of 1/10th of TB?
Check out speeds from here:
http://www.barefeats.com/hard136.html
You can see that usb3 with MP is 2-3x faster than fw400.
But enclosures are already cheaper and more widely available.
Although usb2 is way slower in macs compared to most PC's that have about 50% more speed with usb2, why settle for second slowest (fw400) or by far the most expensive one (TB)?
Why macs couldn't also have reasonable options available?
Don't worry, TB will be perfectly working with 10.8!
And this is only reasonable thing, because Lion development was started way before TB and of course because the secracy in Apple, different groups can't communicate.
The logical solution is to route magsafe through and take some juice out of it.
The dock could alert with leds, when it needs external power in mobile use.
1) Apple has a patent on MagSafe and, for the past five years, shown no interest in licensing it.
2) How is it more logical? You'd still have to deal with a MagSafe cable coming out of the dock; it's perfectly fine for it to have its own power supply.
3) Furthermore, iMac and Mac mini users don't have MagSafe cables, and don't need it either.
4) All in all, it's more cost-effective (and more effective in general) for the dock to, like external hard drives and powered USB hubs, have its own power supply.
So now you're buying a redundant product at additional expense to work around a poor design. Typical apologist approach.
Another standard excuse: "Oh, this isn't INTENDED for that." What this really means is, "Whoever designed this didn't have the common sense or design acumen to make this product what it should be." Why do we know that? Because there's no advantage to NOT accommodating the requested use. Look at the module that holds the jacks here: All they had to do was make it detachable or not have the large "V" around it at all. They could have had it slide or snap into the V frame. Going on a trip? Detach that little box and hit the road.
Stop making tired excuses for poor product design.
But it's pretty!
How can pretty be poor design? Just because "pretty" makes it harder to use?
But it's pretty!
How can pretty be poor design? Just because "pretty" makes it harder to use?
Is it? It's too much like a Taco for me.
Having said that, when these come out and are reasonably priced, I'll snap one up in a minute. A hub doesn't need to be beautiful, and if it's really ugly I'll just hang it underneath the desk
I wish Belkin would hurry up with price and availability.
I'm not buying one, because I don't need wired Ethernet on my MacBook Air (not when I'm on the road, anyway). And judging by sales numbers, neither do the vast majority of MacBook Air users. That's kind of indicative that Apple made the right decision. Sucks to be you, I guess.
Do you think that the designers of this product thought, "wouldn't it be fun make a product that's not exactly what that MobiusStrip guy on macRumours forums wants, just to piss him off?" Or is it perhaps more plausible that they thought, "let's make a Thunderbolt dock that people can quickly disconnect and leave at home or the office when they take their MacBook on a trip."
Why don't you go to the Belkin site and tell them that you would like a portable version? If they decide there's a large enough market for it, perhaps they'll make one. Bitching and whining on forums that this one specific product isn't another product that you'd like to have is hardly productive.
Stop whining that some products aren't designed specifically for your needs.
.tsooJ
I've been looking for more information on this dock but literally since September 13th there's been no talk online. Anyone know anything?
I second this. Where are the updates on this glorious bundle of joy!?
Here we finally have a reasonably priced (They CAN'T charge more than $50 for this) and useful thunderbolt peripheral AND a solution to the constant hassle of reaching behind my iMac every time I want to change a USB plug.
EDIT: looks like it will be available around Spring 2012 according to this statement from Belkin that I found by googling 'belkin thunderbolt'.