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CalDigit's $199 Thunderbolt Station Shipping November 4
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I'm seriously considering this finally as it could remove clutter from my desk. Normally when I come home, I have to plug in 2 hard drives, my monitor, speakers, and ethernet. Now with this I could just plug in this dock and everything else would already be plugged in.
The only thing is I'm a broke college student...
The only thing is I'm a broke college student...
New Thunderbolt Display
I really like this . . . but my hope is that all of this will be part of a new Thunderbolt Display! So, I'm going to wait a month or two and see what shakes out.
But for those not in the market for a new display, it looks really cool.
I really like this . . . but my hope is that all of this will be part of a new Thunderbolt Display! So, I'm going to wait a month or two and see what shakes out.
But for those not in the market for a new display, it looks really cool.
Ordered!
I have been waiting for this product for nearly a year.
Like Richdmoore said, I have a Retina MacBook sitting on a BookArc stand. When plugged in to two monitors, ethernet, both USB ports occupied, and audio out. When I go mobile it involves disconnecting 7 plugs. And re-connecting when I return to my desk.
The CalDigit Thunderbolt hub should allow me to reduce that mess to two. I'm even considering making a bracket to attach the power and Thunderbolt leads together so I am effectively only using one plug.
I have been waiting for this product for nearly a year.
Like Richdmoore said, I have a Retina MacBook sitting on a BookArc stand. When plugged in to two monitors, ethernet, both USB ports occupied, and audio out. When I go mobile it involves disconnecting 7 plugs. And re-connecting when I return to my desk.
The CalDigit Thunderbolt hub should allow me to reduce that mess to two. I'm even considering making a bracket to attach the power and Thunderbolt leads together so I am effectively only using one plug.
What about "zed" for the letter "zee"? Or their pronunciation of "aluminum"?
What's the quote about two nations separated by a common language? Image
Aluminum is fine, you spell it a different way and pronounce it as it's written.
I still find some pronunciations strange though, like pronouncing Craig as Creg or hover as huvver. Still, keeps the world interesting. We in the UK can't complain anyway, we have over seventy different words for "breadcake".
Perhaps we can all agree there are obvious advantages to Thunderbolt but it certainly has not taken the market by storm. Look how long TB1 has been out and only now are we seeing a 3rd party provided market of devices. I do believe Apple's attempt to push out USB2 and Firewire was instrumental in helping TB get a start (though rather late) on being welcomed by consumers and professionals.
My only real annoyance is that Apple itself has done a poor job of marketing with respect to inexpensive adapters for legacy external devices such as FW to TB1 and so forth. Also many of the 3rd party devices that take on TB1 really didn't live up to the potential of TB. (- Even Seagate's adapter is not as fast as it could be and that is based on reading multiple tests on multiple devices. Firmtek's USB3 external case often matched and beat some TB devices which was surprising to say the least).
Well no matter... we can all move forward and empty our pockets to get into this faster technology and as some have pointed out - not all adapters/external buses are created equal in what they offer as far as ports and certainly as far as speed. Best that people do their homework before emptying their coffers on some of these devices.
Not all Macs come with 2 Thunderbolt ports. As far as I know most 2011 macs have 1 Thunderbolt and the 2012 cMBP also only have just 1. Also, the Air and Mini have only 1. The only Macs to my knowledge with 2 or more Thunderbolt ports are the rMBPs, 2011 27inch iMacs, 2012-2013 iMacs and the new Mac Pro.
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yep, i even have 2 thunderbolt ports but this allows me to dock my laptop with only 2 cables (power and thunderbolt).
so there are more uses than just expanding ports, such as docking to displays (since it supports 2 displays at once).
also this dock supports 2560x1600 on hdmi....not sure if they other ones do.
Very very frightening.
Joking aside though, thunderbolt so far has been pretty useless for me on my rMBP so far. The only thing I ever seem to do with it is plug in adapters to turn the socket into something else. We're already moving onto TB2 and yet TB1 has barely anything of value to plug into it.
Question: Why is there no simple Apple (or any other brand), TB to USB3 adapter? There are TB to Gigabit Ethernet, as well as TB to FW800 adapters available for $29. Is there a technical reason for this? Or is this because USB, unlike FW, is not a peer-to-peer protocol, that uses up CPU resources? And if that's the case, how do USB hubs get around this?
Btw, I'm tempted by that CalDigit Thunderbolt Station, but of course it's not TB2. At the moment I don't have a need for TB2, but it would be nice to know that if my needs change 6mos from now, that I don't have to shell out another $200 for a TB2 compliant dock.
Another poster mentioned the Henge Dock Horizontal Docking Station, coming soon in a TB version, a real elegant solution, with one major caveat: If Apple changes the layout of the side ports of future versions of their MBAs or MBPs, are you then back to square one again? I'm also not sold on that aligning of all those ports; if there is only the slightest misalignment, you could fairly soon end up with broken/bent dock connectors, or worse, non-functioning laptop ports. I'm not too lazy to connect the MagSafe, and that one lonely TB cable, as is required with the CalDigit Station. Your (or anyone else's) thoughts ..?
I've been using the Belkin for many months now with zero issues. System runs 24/7, too.
The previously mentioned Henge Dock Horizontal Docking Station automatically hooks up all your MBA or MBP connections at the push of a button, but I have some reservations about it; see my above post.
Check the top right and bottom left of this page for the answer to your question. http://hengedocks.com/index.html
Hi, may I know which machine are you using the belkin thunderbolt dock with? I am planning to purchase the belkin but too scared if it might not work properly. Currently I have the matrox ds1 and the OWC Helios. So far both are working well. Thanks.
You can check out my unboxing videos of the two devices here - YouTube.com/Handri
This magical hindrance is really bad. Most affordable dongles are useless, since they don't have TB passthrough and there's no TB hub.
This pretty much shows that Apple wanted TB only as casual overpriced use or professional overpriced use or only for use with apple's display.
Otherwise Apple would offer us cheap chainable dongles for about $50 a pop.
Now chainable esata dongle weights more than rMBP and costs $200!
And this caldigit's box is about the cheapest chainable usb3 dongle you can get!
The fact that these are coming to market at the same time as next gen TB is very telling. What a success story... They ain't selling these like hot cakes or iPhones...
English pronunciation of H
mmm, actually this isn't our pronunciation of H. Some people do and others don't but this pronunciation is by far the minority. not worried - but i find it interesting
Thought this might interest you.
British English dictionaries give aytch as the standard pronunciation for the letter H. However, the pronunciation haytch is also attested as a legitimate variant. We also do not ask broadcasters who naturally say haytch to change their pronunciation but if a broadcaster contacted to ask us, we would tell them that aytch is regarded as the standard pronunciation in British English, people can feel very strongly about this and this pronunciation is less likely to attract audience complaints.
Haytch is a standard pronunciation in Irish English and is increasingly being used by native English-speaking people all across the country, irrespective of geographical provenance or social standing. Polls have shown that the uptake of haytch by younger native speakers is on the rise. Schoolchildren repeatedly being told not to drop Hs may cause them to hyper-correct and insert them where they don't exist.
Sounds like the guy has a local Oxford accent
Kanex seems to be pretty close to releasing one. Though, they seem to want to include either eSata or Ethernet in their device. I'd much rather have TB throughput.
You can vote and comment for which one you want here
http://www.kanexlive.com/article/thunderbolt-adapters
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Even though I think its sad that TB hasn't gained much popularity and that most of the devices are way too expensive I wouldn't say that it's useless even if you only use it to expand with other ports. It is an awesome interface for that purpose.
It's a Barm, not breadcake.
Oh and for the americans - it's Sol-der. Not Sawwwder. Say it how it's spelt, just like aluminium.
Anyway back on topic ... this thing has potential. Shame my monitor doesn't have an HDMI port.
I assume that is why the professional line of computers (i.e. macbook pros, iMacs (sorta), and Mac Pros) come with multiple TB ports. Your average user who would buy the Mini and Macbook Air, wouldn't be as likely to use firewire or ethernet (although the Mini already has those build in).
No, Apple won't license out the MagSafe connector to third party vendors. Hence why you never see it. No dock will ever have it.
I don't think they are releasing the T2 any more.. I spoke to one of the sales guys at IBC in September and he basically told me they were releasing the T3 instead of the T2. Looks like a neat drive though
About damn time.
Been waiting for this sine I bought my 2011 17" macbook pro which came badly flawed without USB 3.0 and no dedicated video out aside from the thunderbolt port which is totally retarded by a lack of peripherals that support daisy chaining. Felt so betrayed by apple, again, that I bought a PC and am slowly makng the switch back. A massive PC was cheaper than buying thunderbolt monitors and thunderbolt hard drives.
Been waiting for this sine I bought my 2011 17" macbook pro which came badly flawed without USB 3.0 and no dedicated video out aside from the thunderbolt port which is totally retarded by a lack of peripherals that support daisy chaining. Felt so betrayed by apple, again, that I bought a PC and am slowly makng the switch back. A massive PC was cheaper than buying thunderbolt monitors and thunderbolt hard drives.
The market is probably too limited to justify the development costs:
(a) Because they are only of interest to owners of 2011 Macs that have Thunderbolt but no USB3. If you already have US3, a USB3 hub is a more economical choice. Also scrub 2011 17" MBPs which can take an Expresscard to USB3 adapter.
(b) If you have a 2011 MB Pro or Air, you only have a *single* TB port that doubles as your only display output. If you want to use an external monitor, a 'cheap' TB device with no Thunderbolt-through and/or display connector is no good.
(c) Not sure what the situation is re. powering USB devices via TB.
By the time you've built a box with TB controller, TB out, power supply and internal PCIe bus lane, throwing in standard PCIe-to-Ethernet/audio/SATA etc. chips widens the appeal of the device for a relatively small cost increase.
The 'cheap' FireWire and GB Ethernet adapters were produced by Apple primarily to smooth the transition to Retina MacBook Pros that had dropped FW and Ethernet in favour of a second Thunderbolt port.
No idea what profit Apple makes on these - but there would be a case for them to sell them at a loss to promote take-up of rMBPs. However, Apple aren't a charity, and if you want USB3 on your 2011 Mac they'd obviously quite like you to buy a new Mac.
It's not just for the time saving, it's also to save wear and tear on the connectors. Many examples of devices where a connector has become loose or intermittent, or worse, popped off a circuit board.
Or even the mundane, forgot to reconnect.
Not everyone is a knowledgeable device user.
Granted, will be interesting to see how this one works.
My simple Kanax usb3+Ethernet DualRole doesn't work completely with Mavericks. USB is fine; Ethernet driver is missing.