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CalDigit's Thunderbolt Station 2 Launches in January With $170 Pre-Order Pricing

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CalDigit today announced that the follow-up to its popular original Thunderbolt Station, the Thunderbolt Station 2, is now available for pre-order with an expected ship date of January 26, 2015.

The new dock will retail for $199.99, but CalDigit is offering a limited pre-order price of $169.99 that runs all the way up to the day before release, January 25. The new station keeps the same functionality of connecting multiple devices with one Thunderbolt cable, but updates it with new Thunderbolt 2 and dual eSATA 6G ports. The Thunderbolt Station 2 also allows users a vertical orientation option the original lacked.

TS2-left-800x540.png
The Thunderbolt Station 2 also comes with HDMI, three USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, audio in/out ports, the ability to connect high-resolution 4K displays to its HDMI port, and two Thunderbolt 2 ports.
The Thunderbolt(TM) Station 2 allows users to connect all their devices through a single Thunderbolt(TM) cable. Featuring dual Thunderbolt(TM) 2 ports for integrating a 4K workflow, the Thunderbolt(TM) Station 2 allows users to connect a high-resolution 4K monitor to the HDMI port. This is ideal for professional users who need to connect modern 4K displays to their computers.

"The power of Thunderbolt(TM) 2 allows the Thunderbolt(TM) Station 2 to be the central hub of modern 4K workflows. Not only can users connect a 4K monitor, they can also daisy-chain 4K capable devices such as Thunderbolt(TM) storage for the ultimate 4K workflows", said Kosta Panagos, Director of Marketing at CalDigit.
Click to expand...
The release of the Thunderbolt Station 2 sees CalDigit joining several other dock manufacturers such as Elgato and OWC who have recently caught up to the Thunderbolt 2 standard ports, which were introduced on Macs beginning late last year.

The Thunderbolt Station 2 can be pre-ordered from the CalDigit official website for $169.99 until January 25, 2015, after which it will retail for $199.99.

Article Link: CalDigit's Thunderbolt Station 2 Launches in January With $170 Pre-Order Pricing
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2014/12/19/caldigit-thunderbolt-station-2/
$169 ?
Looks so neat! 2 eSATA ports? that's what I want!!!!
I have a couple of their Thunderbolt Stations from last year. They have been working perfectly. I bought them around 200 dollars. Now the new version is $169 with more ports on it. Can't wait to upgrade mine to this Thunderbolt 2!
 
This is also the dock I was waiting for. Only problem is I've waited too long. Would have been perfect if they had swapped out an eSATA for a FireWire 800, but I probably won't need FireWire for much longer. This dock hits all of the items on my list, including price. I'm really conflicted on whether I should get it though. Next autumn I'm probably going to pickup the 5K iMac which I don't think will need one of these (I have an rMBP right now and would love to just plug in a single data cable). I totally would have bought this in 2012 or 2013 but by now I'm pretty close to getting a desktop anyway. Besides, weren't there some rumors that Thunderbolt 3 50/100Gbps Fiber Optic will be coming out in the next year or two? That should handle additional 5K displays, or perhaps external video cards. Not that I need that but it would be nice to upgrade the graphics card in an iMac down the road.

Also, what's up with the brushed metal look? Love the vertical form factor but this thing would be hidden away on my desk with that brushed metal, lol.
 
I wish we could have something with a thunderbolt hub type functionality, not just daisy chained. thanks to many manufacturers (external HDD's, apple dongles, etc) not including a second port for daisy chaining I have like even 15 end nodes with most of my computers only having 1-2 TB ports on the actual machine it is a pain.

that aside this looks to be a decent dock.
 
Love my existing Thunderbolt station - it transforms my macbook in to a desktop when it's docked.

Love to upgrade - so wonder what a used version 1 will be worth??
 
No mention of multiplier support for eSATA which makes these sort of useless to me. Too bad. I'll just stick to my Akitio ThunderDock.
 
Unless you need eSATA, OWC's TB2 Dock is better.

macduke said:
This is also the dock I was waiting for. Would have been perfect if they had swapped out an eSATA for a FireWire 800, but I probably won't need FireWire for much longer. This dock hits all of the items on my list, including price. I'm really conflicted on whether I should get it though. Next autumn I'm probably going to pickup the 5K iMac which I don't think will need one of these. I totally would have bought this in 2012 or 2013 but by now I'm pretty close to getting a desktop anyway. Besides, weren't there some rumors that Thunderbolt 3 50/100Gbps Fiber Optic will be coming out in the next year or two? That should handle additional 5K displays, or perhaps external video cards. Not that I need that but it would be nice to upgrade the graphics card in an iMac down the road.

Also, what's up with the brushed metal look? Love the vertical form factor but this thing would be hidden away on my desk with that brushed metal, lol.
Click to expand...

I actually don't care about eSATA... doesn't make sense for most..


OWC has a great dock now with 5 USB 3 ports.. 2 high powered.. MUCH prefer more USB 3 ports over eSATA anyway.. AND includes a FireWire 800 port.. for those of us with legacy FW equipment.

ports.jpg


You can order now and get it in January. I was able to get in on the Dec list.. should be coming anytime now.. Check out full info on OWC's Thunderbolt 2 Dock here... https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/

  • (5) USB 3.0 ports - Five USB 3.0 ports add exceptional flexibility to your Mac, including two side-facing, high-powered USB 3.0 ports designed for power hungry devices and tablets.
  • (1) FireWire 800 port - Daisy-chain: 63 devices. Connect a wide variety of popular external storage solutions and audio interfaces.
  • (2) Thunderbolt 2 ports - Daisy-chain: 5 devices + display Connect up to five Thunderbolt devices plus a display. Dual ports provide up to 20 Gb/s of bandwidth and phenomenal performance.
  • (1) HDMI and 4K - With support for resolutions up to 4K via HDMI 1.4b, you can be assured your HDMI capable display, TV, or projector is compatible.
  • (1) Gigabit Ethernet - Missing the Ethernet port on your new Air or Retina laptop? This dock has you covered with a full-speed Gigabit Ethernet port that requires no configuration.
  • (1) Mic / Line In - Connect a microphone or any other line-in audio source.
  • (1) Audio / Line Out - Hook up your favorite headphones, speakers, monitors, or other gear.
 
arkmannj said:
I wish we could have something with a thunderbolt hub type functionality, not just daisy chained. thanks to many manufacturers (external HDD's, apple dongles, etc) not including a second port for daisy chaining I have like even 15 end nodes with most of my computers only having 1-2 TB ports on the actual machine it is a pain.

that aside this looks to be a decent dock.
Click to expand...

Then Thunderbolt would need to be completely redesigned. That will never work.
 
paulrbeers said:
No mention of multiplier support for eSATA which makes these sort of useless to me. Too bad. I'll just stick to my Akitio ThunderDock.
Click to expand...

I spoke to CalDigit UK on the phone as I had the same question about port multiplier on the eSATA ports, and they said it does support port multiplier.

The from USB 3.0 port also charges devices without being connected to a mac which will be really handy. Great price also @ $169.99.
 
I would say with all the ports this new caldigit thunderbolt 2 station could provide, each port is around 15 dollars. Look at other hubs, they are all 25 to 30ish... per port.

Definitely a winner with budget price and functionality, oh and the case design looks so neat. can do both vertical and horizontal positions.
 
t.gillespie said:
I actually don't care about eSATA... doesn't make sense for most..


OWC has a great dock now with 5 USB 3 ports.. 2 high powered.. MUCH prefer more USB 3 ports over eSATA anyway.. AND includes a FireWire 800 port.. for those of us with legacy FW equipment.

Image

You can order now and get it in January. I was able to get in on the Dec list.. should be coming anytime now.. Check out full info on OWC's Thunderbolt 2 Dock here... https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/

  • (5) USB 3.0 ports - Five USB 3.0 ports add exceptional flexibility to your Mac, including two side-facing, high-powered USB 3.0 ports designed for power hungry devices and tablets.
  • (1) FireWire 800 port - Daisy-chain: 63 devices. Connect a wide variety of popular external storage solutions and audio interfaces.
  • (2) Thunderbolt 2 ports - Daisy-chain: 5 devices + display Connect up to five Thunderbolt devices plus a display. Dual ports provide up to 20 Gb/s of bandwidth and phenomenal performance.
  • (1) HDMI and 4K - With support for resolutions up to 4K via HDMI 1.4b, you can be assured your HDMI capable display, TV, or projector is compatible.
  • (1) Gigabit Ethernet - Missing the Ethernet port on your new Air or Retina laptop? This dock has you covered with a full-speed Gigabit Ethernet port that requires no configuration.
  • (1) Mic / Line In - Connect a microphone or any other line-in audio source.
  • (1) Audio / Line Out - Hook up your favorite headphones, speakers, monitors, or other gear.
Click to expand...

Problem I have with OWC though is with their claimed speeds...Don't tell me it's a USB 3.0 connection (500MB/s bus speed) but it can only runs at 300MB/s. It's that reason that I don't know that I can trust OWC's enclosures anymore (and I own about 15 of them) with their outdated controllers...

OWC-USB3.png
 
Fabian90 said:
Can I attach a SSD or HDD to the eSATA Ports and use it for Bootcamp without any loss in speed then?! :eek:
Click to expand...

On the current Caldiget hub, they said you can only boot a USB 3 drive if your computer already was equipped with USB 3 ports, my current 2011 iMac will not work for that.

I think booting with the eSATA ports is TBD for now.
 
FCPEditor35 said:
I spoke to CalDigit UK on the phone as I had the same question about port multiplier on the eSATA ports, and they said it does support port multiplier.

The from USB 3.0 port also charges devices without being connected to a mac which will be really handy. Great price also @ $169.99.
Click to expand...

Unless the website states it, I won't believe it. I've been burned too many times by phone representatives on what a product "should have" vs what it actually does....

Many do not even know technical specifications like port multiplier and will just tell you anything you want to hear to get you off the phone. If they don't put it in writing on their webpage then there is nothing to refer to when I have to send it back because it didin't do what I expected it to (saying "I was told" is never good enough").
 
Because I have a number of external eSATA connected boxes with multiple drives, I've emailed CalDigit and asked whether it will support port multiplier. Since it's not mentioned, I tend to doubt it, but it does seem rather pointless for them to include eSATA without port multiplier.
 
Every time MacRumors runs a story on a thunderbolt whatever, some guy from OWC pipes up with this ad.

"Oh did I heart someone say Thunderbolt? Well let me tell you about the OWC etc etc..."

Tiring.

t.gillespie said:
I actually don't care about eSATA... doesn't make sense for most..


OWC has a great dock now with 5 USB 3 ports.. 2 high powered.. MUCH prefer more USB 3 ports over eSATA anyway.. AND includes a FireWire 800 port.. for those of us with legacy FW equipment.

Image

You can order now and get it in January. I was able to get in on the Dec list.. should be coming anytime now.. Check out full info on OWC's Thunderbolt 2 Dock here... https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/

  • (5) USB 3.0 ports - Five USB 3.0 ports add exceptional flexibility to your Mac, including two side-facing, high-powered USB 3.0 ports designed for power hungry devices and tablets.
  • (1) FireWire 800 port - Daisy-chain: 63 devices. Connect a wide variety of popular external storage solutions and audio interfaces.
  • (2) Thunderbolt 2 ports - Daisy-chain: 5 devices + display Connect up to five Thunderbolt devices plus a display. Dual ports provide up to 20 Gb/s of bandwidth and phenomenal performance.
  • (1) HDMI and 4K - With support for resolutions up to 4K via HDMI 1.4b, you can be assured your HDMI capable display, TV, or projector is compatible.
  • (1) Gigabit Ethernet - Missing the Ethernet port on your new Air or Retina laptop? This dock has you covered with a full-speed Gigabit Ethernet port that requires no configuration.
  • (1) Mic / Line In - Connect a microphone or any other line-in audio source.
  • (1) Audio / Line Out - Hook up your favorite headphones, speakers, monitors, or other gear.
Click to expand...
 
I hope that their new dock resolves some of the USB 3.0 problems I've had with their existing model. Some USB 3 devices simply don't work, however they work fine on the Mac's UBS 2 ports. (When I discussed the issue with their online support team they blamed Apple's USB 3 drivers)

If I were to nit-pick I'd say it would be nice to see the inclusion of Firewire, but at least the price isn't too bad.
 
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