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CalDigit Thunderbolt Station

carestudio said:
saw the email from caldigit saying they are selling Thunderbolt station for only 99 dollars if purchasing with their thunderbolt storage...

http://www.caldigit.com/store.asp

grab one quickly...
Click to expand...
...but not the 3TB T3 (I just got one earlier...)

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I'm thinking of buying one of these for my 2012 Mac Mini mostly just to get additional USB ports which I know is silly because a USB hub would be much cheaper. However I hate little doodads hanging off my desk, and most usb hubs are small and end up dangling. Is anybody using it this way?
 
chrfr said:
The Startech is externally identical to the Caldigit, so it's almost certainly the same device.
Click to expand...

Yea. I guess I'm more curious about the build quality and reliability. I've never purchased devices from either of these companies so I interested in hearing other people's opinions.

In terms of dimensions, it appears the Caldigit is significantly smaller than the Startech so that's a plus in their column for now.
 
trancinchino said:
Yea. I guess I'm more curious about the build quality and reliability. I've never purchased devices from either of these companies so I interested in hearing other people's opinions.

In terms of dimensions, it appears the Caldigit is significantly smaller than the Startech so that's a plus in their column for now.
Click to expand...

The Caldigit has exactly the same ports and arrangement as the Startech, it just doesn't have the vertical stand, so it's really not a different size.
I have no complaints about the Caldigit dock's build quality and it has worked fine for a couple of weeks.
 
chrfr said:
The Caldigit has exactly the same ports and arrangement as the Startech, it just doesn't have the vertical stand, so it's really not a different size.
I have no complaints about the Caldigit dock's build quality and it has worked fine for a couple of weeks.
Click to expand...

Oh ok. The dimensions I saw must have been including the vertical stand. Thanks for the heads up
 
Is anyone having issues keeping the internet connected through the station? I had everything hooked up and functioning properly for a few. Put the rMBP to sleep and came back later and cant get the internet to connect. I can still do Wifi but no wired. I have been in the network preferences and still cant get it to connect.
 
wrx09md said:
Is anyone having issues keeping the internet connected through the station? I had everything hooked up and functioning properly for a few. Put the rMBP to sleep and came back later and cant get the internet to connect. I can still do Wifi but no wired. I have been in the network preferences and still cant get it to connect.
Click to expand...

I have actually noticed somewhat reduced speed when the cable is plugged into the dock.

But thats just me.
 
cuestakid said:
I have actually noticed somewhat reduced speed when the cable is plugged into the dock.
Click to expand...

I would imagine going through the TB with everything else it would. I cant even get it reconnect to do a test. Cant figure out what the deal is. A speed slowdown wouldn't bother me as Im using it for convenience.
 
I have noticed sometimes when my mac wakes up and I am using both the MBP and a external monitor through the CalDigit station the monitor will not wake up. I have to unplug the thunderbolt cable and re plug it it. So I not sure if it is a OS X issue or what. But anyway sounds like the same issue you are having with your eathernet.
 
wrx09md said:
Is anyone having issues keeping the internet connected through the station? ...
Click to expand...

Works fine for me - there's sometimes a delay of about a minute after coming back until it's connected, but my suspicion is that might be my company's DHCP server being slow, since the network always shows a physical conenction, just not always a IP address
 
dimme said:
I have noticed sometimes when my mac wakes up and I am using both the MBP and a external monitor through the CalDigit station the monitor will not wake up. I have to unplug the thunderbolt cable and re plug it it. So I not sure if it is a OS X issue or what. But anyway sounds like the same issue you are having with your eathernet.
Click to expand...

I have no issues with my external monitor waking. Does sound a little similar. I also use my lower left corner to put screen to sleep and with an external monitor you are not able to hit the bottom corner because it makes the viewable area on the laptop smaller.

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omvs said:
Works fine for me - there's sometimes a delay of about a minute after coming back until it's connected, but my suspicion is that might be my company's DHCP server being slow, since the network always shows a physical conenction, just not always a IP address
Click to expand...

I haven't waited a whole minute, to impatient. Very annoying. I just switch to wifi and say screw it for now. Might contact Cal Digit and see what they say.
 
Haven't got any of those problems. I do have the monitor hooked up to the hdmi port via a hdmi-dvi cable. The Intel i210 nic in the Thunderbolt Station has been a very solid nic so far: stable and performance as expected.
 
carestudio said:
Just tried this new driver to charge my iPad, iPhone and my few-years-old super drive, they all work perfectly with two of my Caldigit thunderbolt station :cool:, all three USB 3 ports work! Nice Job! Caldigit!
Click to expand...
But why does it require Mavericks? That leaves out a lot of us that
don't want to update. :(
 
danny_w said:
Bummer. And I was seriously considering one, too bad.
Click to expand...

I thought I would stay in 10.6 forever since it was really nice OS X release. I dived into Mavericks last year and really like it. I know some of us might not be able to upgrade to 10.9 or 10.8 due to some software compatibility, but I know you will do that sooner or later. At least it's nice to know we have an option to use thunderbolt dock and charge our devices.

On the other hand, I use Windows XP for 14 years till now, and believe I would never upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 box since it's not an improvement but a backward improvement from XP :cool:
 
Last edited:
Steer clear

Gotta say after three weeks with this thing, I would not touch it with a ten-foot pole.

Constant dropouts, randomly of the USB, or the network, or the device being seen by the MBP.

It doesn't matter which TB port its plugged into. There is no rhyme or reason to it. I've tried every possible combination of plugging in devices in different orders, plugging it into my Mac with the lid open or closed. Unplugging each and every cable at both ends, power cycling, etc, etc.

Service is from some jerk who won't even put their name in their email, and doesn't speak English very well. I got the 'reset the PRAM three times thing,' and it reminds me of advice from Dell or MS to reinstall the system software instead of even trying any test.

I have had to restart the computer several times, after which this piece of junk works perfectly. For a while. Then magically one or more functions just stop, and there's no apparent reason or solution. I've wasted about 12 hours over the past three weeks just trying everything I can think of.

Did I say I hate this thing and their support? Oh, yeah, I did.

BTW, I hate their support.

This is the first Caldigit item I have purchased, and I won't buy another for a long time.

You're on your own. Oh-their support sucks. Just so you know.

Late 2013 rMBP
Mavericks, fully updated
 
sawxray said:
Gotta say after three weeks with this thing, I would not touch it with a ten-foot pole.

Constant dropouts, randomly of the USB, or the network, or the device being seen by the MBP.

It doesn't matter which TB port its plugged into. There is no rhyme or reason to it. I've tried every possible combination of plugging in devices in different orders, plugging it into my Mac with the lid open or closed. Unplugging each and every cable at both ends, power cycling, etc, etc.

Service is from some jerk who won't even put their name in their email, and doesn't speak English very well. I got the 'reset the PRAM three times thing,' and it reminds me of advice from Dell or MS to reinstall the system software instead of even trying any test.

I have had to restart the computer several times, after which this piece of junk works perfectly. For a while. Then magically one or more functions just stop, and there's no apparent reason or solution. I've wasted about 12 hours over the past three weeks just trying everything I can think of.

Did I say I hate this thing and their support? Oh, yeah, I did.

BTW, I hate their support.

This is the first Caldigit item I have purchased, and I won't buy another for a long time.

You're on your own. Oh-their support sucks. Just so you know.

Late 2013 rMBP
Mavericks, fully updated
Click to expand...

I have the same machine and the CalDigit Thunderboilt station. I have a problem once in a while when waking from sleep where the CalDigit Thunderboilt station will loose it connection, most I the time I have to restart other that that (which is a major pain) I have no issues.
 
Follow up on crappy customer support

After several emails where the support person wouldn't provide a name, and I kept asking for one, I got a response from 'Frank.'

'Frank' had the kind of English that makes you think of a foreign accent, oh, let's say, an Indian accent.

'Frank' told me it was my fault.

I had chosen to use a manual IP Address for my computer. My fault.

My system was obviously corrupted. My fault.

My system kernel log was incomplete, perhaps because it was 'intentionally deleted.'

No solution for the problem.

Its the user's fault.

I wish I were this smart. I don't know how he figured out that my system software (new rMBP, fully updated Mavericks) was corrupted without any evidence, but he did. And all my other hardware and software that works? I guess that just supports the fact that the TB hub is perfect, but my hardware and software is causing the issue. After all, with my corrupted system software, I'm seeing all these other issues (zero), while the hub works perfectly (not at all).

Its like my first Dell computer. Doesn't work on first boot. Call Dell, they tell me to call MS. Call MS, they tell me to call Dell.

Its the user's fault. I guess I plugged in the power adapter wrong. Maybe I'm using the wrong color TB cable. Or maybe I oriented the hub on my desk the wrong way relative to the North star.

If you buy one of these and it works, hope that it keeps on working.

If you buy one and it doesn't work, its your fault. You don't get to choose your network settings unless they satisfy the hub. Your system software is corrupted, so do a fresh install, reinstall all your system software, and of course, the hub is SURE to work then, right?

---

BTW, they have never even considered the fact that there's something wrong with the device. I guess they're perfect, and their assembly line is perfect. We should install these on the next generation space shuttle. They're foolproof.
 
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