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Docking Station Recommendations

T

TJ71

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 14, 2015
7
0
Using macbook pro retina and have it hooked up a LG 34 inch monitor. Love the combo! Was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a docking station. I'm looking at the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock and the Startech Thunderbolt Dock currently and curious on feedback on those two or any other brands that work well.

Thanks!
 
I just setup a Henge Dock vertical docking station to my retina 15 inch. I have it hooked up to two 27 inch 2560x1440 monitors.

http://i.imgur.com/uJqZ6uc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/fdz9vv6.jpg

I absolutely love it. There is also a horizontal dock they sell, but I don't care about using my laptop screen when docked.

www.hengedocks.com

Since the dock only has one USB input, I also bought cheap USB 3.0 port replicator.

I also had to buy two mini display port to Dual DVI adapters ($99 each from apple) since those are needed to get to high resolution screens.
 
Speaking of docks I am a new Macbook owner and want to know how docking works. I see pictures of a docked laptop closed and vertical in a stand. When I close my Macbook it turns off, or at least goes to sleep. How does using a dock keep it running?
 
Never mind, I found a web site that explains using a Macbook in clamshell mode.
 
TJ71 said:
I really like that one. It says they are not shipping them until February. How did you get yours so quick? Is there another site where I can get one sooner?

Thanks,
TJ
Click to expand...

They're in pre-order so I had ordered mine in december so it would ship in January. If you can wait till February to get it, I highly suggest that one.
 
I ordered and am waiting for the StarTech thunderbolt 1 dock. I had been comparing all the different models and really didn't see a huge advantage to the thunderbolt 2 docks vs thunderbolt 1 except for 4k (which I don't plan on getting any time soon). The major downside I saw with all the docks is, if the dock comes with thunderbolt and HDMI you can only use one or the other if you don't have a thunderbolt display. I wanted two external monitors ideally and didn't seem like any of the thunderbolt 2 docks would allow that using mDP and HDMI. So I decided to get a cheaper thunderbolt 1 dock and see what the next generation or two of docks add in functionality. Hopefully I made the right choice and will know soon.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I've got to make a decision pretty quick. That OWC sure is enticing!

TJ
 
I've been using a StarTech TBDOCKHDPBC for over 6 months now. Its a solid product about as good as it gets for a docking station. The only gripe I have is the audio pop when going to sleep, but it seems that all TB docks do that including the OWC.


The OWC product has a few issues, and if you want to risk early developer bugs then its OK. It has two more USB ports and is TB2 compliant if thats important to you, but its also $70 more money. Your call.
 
I just got my StarTech Thunderbolt 1 dock yesterday and so far very impressed.

I am using this on a 2011 MacBook Pro 17 with an i7. So this laptop only has 1 thunderbolt port, and no USB 3.0 ports at all.

I used SATA to USB3 adapter to a Crucial m4 128GB (Not the fastest SSD in the world)

Connected to laptop directly I get about 27MB/s write and 34MB/s read
Connected to the dock I get 170MB/s write and 352MB/s read
So huge improvement for an older laptop without many options for faster connections.

I connected the gigabit port on the dock to my network and was getting on average 30-60MB/s transfer when moving files over the network. Which was about the same or slightly slower then what I get with the built in network port.

At the moment I am driving an Asus PB278Q 1440p monitor without any issues and controlling it with a wired USB mouse and keyboard without issues.

So far very happy, I had one issue coming out of sleep but I think that wasn't fully a dock issue since I have had a similar issue in the past.

I stuck with a Thunderbolt 1 dock since I didn't feel a 2 dock added much and would have cost me close to 200 more (I am Canadian and this dock was local, and 2 docks would have to be shipped from the US, plus exchange rate).

The one feature I really wanted was the ability to drive two external mDP or HDMI monitors but none can. So I got the cheaper dock and may upgrade in the future when better docks come out.
 
perhaps i'm just being dense.. but can you or someone tell me whether this dock can accept 2 monitor connections, 1 from some sort of a thunderbolt-to-DVI or thunderbolt-to-displayport connection and 1 from HDMI, at the same time?

i have a late 2013 MBP and I would like to connect to 2 external monitors and be able to use the additional USB ports..

Thanks!

thebro20 said:
i just got the new OWC thunderbolt 2 dock and i love it! it have 5xUSB 3.0, HDMI, and much more.

check it out here:

https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/
Click to expand...
 
EggWhite said:
I stuck with a Thunderbolt 1 dock since I didn't feel a 2 dock added much and would have cost me close to 200 more (I am Canadian and this dock was local, and 2 docks would have to be shipped from the US, plus exchange rate).
Click to expand...

That computer only has Thunderbolt 1.0, so it wouldn't have made a difference.
 
I too am now in the market for one. I was looking at Belkin, Elagato and OWC. If anyone has any experience with the first two I'd love to hear it.
 
mashinhead said:
I too am now in the market for one. I was looking at Belkin, Elagato and OWC. If anyone has any experience with the first two I'd love to hear it.
Click to expand...

I have the OWC thunderbolt 2 dock and I love it. It works great, and I like having the 5 USB ports and I also can't complain about the sleek design of it. All in all I'm satisfied with it and was worth the money.
 
mashinhead said:
I too am now in the market for one. I was looking at Belkin, Elagato and OWC. If anyone has any experience with the first two I'd love to hear it.
Click to expand...

I love the Elagato TB2 Dock. It has a great dock utility that lets you disconnect all drives with one click. I'm not sure if the others have that but it is a great feature. I've had it for a month and it has worked flawlessly. The only drawback is that it has 3 USB3 ports. 4 or 5 would be nice.
 
mobilebuddha said:
perhaps i'm just being dense.. but can you or someone tell me whether this dock can accept 2 monitor connections, 1 from some sort of a thunderbolt-to-DVI or thunderbolt-to-displayport connection and 1 from HDMI, at the same time?

i have a late 2013 MBP and I would like to connect to 2 external monitors and be able to use the additional USB ports..

Thanks!
Click to expand...

No, with all of the current docks you can only use either the hdmi or a passive mdp adapter but not both. The only way to get more than 1 display is to use an actual thunderbolt display.

I have not had a very good experience with the Belkin TB2 dock including intermittent USB and audio disconnects. It also throttles my ethernet speed for some reason.
 
drewsof07 said:
No, with all of the current docks you can only use either the hdmi or a passive mdp adapter but not both. The only way to get more than 1 display is to use an actual thunderbolt display.

I have not had a very good experience with the Belkin TB2 dock including intermittent USB and audio disconnects. It also throttles my ethernet speed for some reason.
Click to expand...

argh, that's good to know. I guess I'll stay away..
 
LandingZone makes docks for the Macbook Air & Pro:

http://www.landingzone.net

http://www.amazon.com/LandingZone-Do...dp/B00J7WG6ZA/

A couple years ago, I bought one for my 11" MBA and loved it. I recently bought a 13" retina MBP and immediately bought the LandingZone dock for it, and it's even better. I take my Macbook to work every day, and it's a pain to plug and unplug my speakers, printer, external mouse & monitor, etc every time. Plus the LandingZone adds more USB 3.0 ports and an Ethernet port.

I've also had excellent customer service from them. They are worth checking out. They also offer a modest discount for college students and teachers, I think it was about $20, not a lot, but enough for a pizza.
 
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