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Belkin Thunderbolt Dock

Belkin's site had a pre-order button for the dock for all of what, three days? Maybe they didn't manufacture enough in the first run, for fear they'd exceed demand. There were more rabid enthusiasts ready to pre-order it than they'd expected, so they stalled additional pre-orders, rather than mark it as backordered. Who knows.

I pre-ordered on Tue, and got an e-mail this morning that it'll ship the first week in March.

2m TB cable from Apple arrived. At $39+shipping, it's obviously a better deal than the $45 1m cable from Belkin. They package it in a 4-inch diameter coil -- guess that's about as much as you'd want to flex it, without causing any damage?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ta1pkgwnu8h25vn/TBcable-2m-Apple.jpg
 
Last edited:
chapinbk said:
I like the Belkin ExpressDock option better. I'd like to place the dock on a shelf in my cabinet anyway, not on my desk -- the Henge is just too massive. Undeniable necessity if you really have 3 external monitors though, not just one + an HDTV as in my case. Best of luck to Henge though, I bet there's enough of a professional mobile niche market to satisfy demand for it.
Click to expand...

Just curious. Are you saying you plan to use the MBP in clamshell mode when docked (which is why you think the henge dock profile is too big)? Seems silly to pay a premium for the retina display then not use it?
 
Very perceptive. You're not the first to suggest it. Fact is, I prefer looking at a larger v. higher resolution screen when I'm at my desk. And when I'm not at my desk (which is often), then I can bask in the Retina screen's brilliance.
 
Kills off your Thunderbolt connectivity

No-Me said:
Did you guys see this?
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1710259441/new-macbook-docking-station

There is no retina MBP version yet, but it looks really cool :)
Click to expand...

That dock kills off your Thunderbolt connectivity; apparently only one displayport screen may be used; no TB devices in between.

That makes it dead in the water for users who need to daisy chain TB devices. For e.g. : MBP --> TB cable--> Seagate TB Desk Adapter --> Apple Cinema Display (non TB screen, has to be at the end of the daisy chain).
 
Ah too bad,.. I assumed it was a thunderbolt device due to the audio interface, but that will probably go through usb.
Than it's quite stupid to introduce such a device without thunderbolt :)
 
chapinbk said:
Apple refuses to roll out a dock until their cash-strapped competitors do first, so they can release a less expensive alternative.
Click to expand...

And we see this time and time again with Apple hardware as well as apps. Apple let's others do the initial groundwork and when something "hits", they steal the idea and release their ow version.

Apple used to have so many allies, now they have enemies.
 
Any reviews on belkin thunderbolt dock? Has anyone bought it? What do you think of it?
 

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Yes I know! This is why I m asking. Because I m thinking of buying it because of this offer that goes on these days.
 
My god that is tempting. Shame it's really £125 because you need a thunderbolt cable as well, which still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Not sure if I jump on this or wait out for an updated Thunderbolt Display, as I need a display as well.
 
MattZani said:
My god that is tempting. Shame it's really £125 because you need a thunderbolt cable as well, which still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Click to expand...

I got a couple of new LaCie TB cables on eBay recently for £5 each.

cube said:
It is not fully fledged. It does not have eSATA.
Click to expand...

It does not have serial, parallel, SCSI or ADB ports, either. Totally useless, innit?
 
weckart said:
I got a couple of new LaCie TB cables on eBay recently for £5 each.



It does not have serial, parallel, SCSI or ADB ports, either. Totally useless, innit?
Click to expand...

What do those obsolete ports have to do with eSATA?
 
eSata will also become obsolete in a while... Very few manufacturers include it in their computers and it doesn't really offer any practical advantage over USB 3.0 while on the other hand has a few shortcomings
 
Bezbozny said:
eSata will also become obsolete in a while... Very few manufacturers include it in their computers and it doesn't really offer any practical advantage over USB 3.0 while on the other hand has a few shortcomings
Click to expand...

Yeah but cube really wants eSATA. And I think its good he wants it he tries for weeks now to get a solution and does not go away from eSATA.

Maybe this
http://www.kanexlive.com/thunderbolt-esata

+

the eSATAp to eSATA + USB cable I posted a while ago in his thread is the solution (maybe he already has a solution)
 
bennibeef said:
Yeah but cube really wants eSATA. And I think its good he wants it he tries for weeks now to get a solution and does not go away from eSATA.

Maybe this
http://www.kanexlive.com/thunderbolt-esata

+

the eSATAp to eSATA + USB cable I posted a while ago in his thread is the solution (maybe he already has a solution)
Click to expand...

That is the one I have. Just be aware that the USB 3 port gets VERY hot even with no drives plugged in. I see from reviews of the Belkin that this seems to be the norm with Thunderbolt to USB 3 adapters. Best used with a hub or an extender cable. I made the mistake of putting a thumb drive directly in the port on my first use and almost cooked it to death.
 
bennibeef said:
Yeah but cube really wants eSATA. And I think its good he wants it he tries for weeks now to get a solution and does not go away from eSATA.

Maybe this
http://www.kanexlive.com/thunderbolt-esata

+

the eSATAp to eSATA + USB cable I posted a while ago in his thread is the solution (maybe he already has a solution)
Click to expand...

Any proper laptop with ExpressCard can get eSATA if it doesn't already have eSATAp (which would not be constrained).

And it's extremely cheap to add eSATA to a desktop that does not have all its openings occupied, if the motherboard doesn't already have it.

That Apple cripples their hardware does not mean the rest of the world does not use it.

Portable Thunderbolt enclosures not only are expensive, but they are also unusable without a dock, if you also have to connect a normal monitor.

And I'm still waiting to hear if my eSATAp/UASP enclosure translates UNMAP. Even if this is the case, The Apple UAS drivers probably do to use it.

So eSATA is the only complete solution for now (because it can be portable with a proper MBP with ExpressCard).

I bought the eSATAp Y cable and it works, so that it is possible to portably use a small eSATAp drive. The eSATAp card that I bought does not provide enough power, so this other solution does not make sense when there are faster plain eSATA cards.

And finally, if you already have an eSATA RAID enclosure without USB3 that is fast enough, you want a dock with eSATA to minimise plugging/unplugging.
 
bennibeef said:
Yeah but cube really wants eSATA. And I think its good he wants it he tries for weeks now to get a solution and does not go away from eSATA.
Click to expand...
It's not good since he is posting meaningless posts in every possible topic about Thunderbolt/Thunderbolt docks which doesn't help the topic starter nor anyone else in the topic. What he does is topic hijacking and that's a big no no. He should keep it to his own topics.
 
cube said:
Any proper laptop with ExpressCard can get eSATA if it doesn't already have eSATAp (which would not be constrained).

Portable Thunderbolt enclosures not only are expensive, but they are also unusable without a dock, if you also have to connect a normal monitor.
Click to expand...

MBPr and iMac 27" both have dual Thunderbolt ports; Mac Pro has 6 Thunderbolt ports, so they don't require a Dock.

cube said:
And I'm still waiting to hear if my eSATAp/UASP enclosure translates UNMAP. Even if this is the case, The Apple UAS drivers probably do to use it.

So eSATA is the only complete solution for now (because it can be portable with a proper MBP with ExpressCard).
Click to expand...
You would still need the "now rarely used" eSATA powered connector.

cube said:
I bought the eSATAp Y cable and it works, so that it is possible to portably use a small eSATAp drive. The eSATAp card that I bought does not provide enough power, so this other solution does not make sense when there are faster plain eSATA cards.

And finally, if you already have an eSATA RAID enclosure without USB3 that is fast enough, you want a dock with eSATA to minimise plugging/unplugging.
Click to expand...

ExpressCard has a maximum throughput of 2.5 Gbit/s through PCI Express and 480 Mbit/s through USB 2.0 dedicated for each slot. So you would be limited to SATA I speeds, where most of the market is SATA II and III now.
 
g4cube said:
MBPr and iMac 27" both have dual Thunderbolt ports; Mac Pro has 6 Thunderbolt ports, so they don't require a Dock.


You would still need the "now rarely used" eSATA powered connector.



ExpressCard has a maximum throughput of 2.5 Gbit/s through PCI Express and 480 Mbit/s through USB 2.0 dedicated for each slot. So you would be limited to SATA I speeds, where most of the market is SATA II and III now.
Click to expand...

I don't have one of those toys, I have a real computer (a cMBP), which only has one Thunderbolt port.

While not ideal, I can do without an eSATAp port on the computer with a Y cable, which is better than with 2 cables.

I know about the limits of ExpressCard 1.0
 
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