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How can I get rid of even more cables?

A

altecXP

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 3, 2009
1,115
1
So currently when I go home I plug into my MacBook Pro:
Power
a FW800 cable
Display cable
USB for iPhone
Cat6 for network

I really don't NEED the Cat6 but it help in my ping when I do SCII.

My FW800 runs to a 1.5TB drive for my storage that is daily chained to a 2TB drive for my TimeMachines that backs up my 1.5TB and my whole MacBook Pro(SSD and 500GB storage).

Is there any way to maybe merge 2 or 3 of these cables into one? I still don't get why there is no easy docking solution for the MacBook Pro's. I miss it from my IBM.
 
Does your iPhone need to be connected to your MacBook Pro all the time?
If you can do without that and the Ethernet, you are down to three cables, which, I would say, is acceptable.

Don't you use external sound equipment?
 
Once Thunderbolt enclosures are released, you should be able to consolidate the external HDDs and display cable. If someone makes a converter dock for Thunderbolt, you might be able to attach USB through that same connector too. Go wireless to eliminate Ethernet. Otherwise, there isn't much you can do.
 
gorskiegangsta said:
One word: Thunderbolt :cool:
Click to expand...

Steve's original idea called Light Peak, was created for high speed data transfer. Brilliant in it's first form complete with fiber optic cable.

Now it's been slowed down by greater than ten times via a measly copper wire instead of fiber. Not too thrilling, but for the clever vastly deceptive name.

Thunderbolt! That'll make believers outta them :)
 
maclaptop said:
Steve's original idea called Light Peak, was created for high speed data transfer. Brilliant in it's first form complete with fiber optic cable.

Now it's been slowed down by greater than ten times via a measly copper wire instead of fiber. Not too thrilling, but for the clever vastly deceptive name.

Thunderbolt! That'll make believers outta them :)
Click to expand...

Not at all true. 10 Gbps was always the plan for the first generation. And why go optical, at much greater cost and complexity, when copper will work just fine?
 
altecXP said:
So currently when I go home I plug into my MacBook Pro:
Power
a FW800 cable
Display cable
USB for iPhone
Cat6 for network

I really don't NEED the Cat6 but it help in my ping when I do SCII.

My FW800 runs to a 1.5TB drive for my storage that is daily chained to a 2TB drive for my TimeMachines that backs up my 1.5TB and my whole MacBook Pro(SSD and 500GB storage).

Is there any way to maybe merge 2 or 3 of these cables into one? I still don't get why there is no easy docking solution for the MacBook Pro's. I miss it from my IBM.
Click to expand...

If your iPhone is jailbroken, there's an app to sync wirelessly. That, and dropping the Cat6 cable are about the only things I can think of to keep everything fast. The MBP doesn't have a docking port like many other laptops which is why there's no easy docking station. There's no single port that can accommodate everything at the moment.

If you'd be ok with a speed drop, you can really drop things down. Get this powered USB hub and use it for the hard drives, iPhone, monitor, and internet. Then you're down to just power and a single USB cable.
 
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maclaptop said:
Steve's original idea called Light Peak, was created for high speed data transfer. Brilliant in it's first form complete with fiber optic cable.

Now it's been slowed down by greater than ten times via a measly copper wire instead of fiber. Not too thrilling, but for the clever vastly deceptive name.

Thunderbolt! That'll make believers outta them :)
Click to expand...

1. It wasn't Steve's idea, it was Intel's. Although Apple did push Intel to develop the technology faster.
2. It hasn't been "slowed down", the maximum theoretical fiber optic speeds remain the same. There's no need, at this point, to use fiber-optics at all. Bi-directional 10gbps is, and will be, more than enough for a few years.
 
maclaptop said:
Steve's original idea called Light Peak, was created for high speed data transfer. Brilliant in it's first form complete with fiber optic cable.

Now it's been slowed down by greater than ten times via a measly copper wire instead of fiber. Not too thrilling, but for the clever vastly deceptive name.

Thunderbolt! That'll make believers outta them :)
Click to expand...

Intel's original idea to be more precise.
 
Get a USB hub, and plug both hard drives and the iPhone dock into it. This will remove the FW800 cable (I'll assume your hard drives have USB2 as well. If not, replace them. USB2 is slower, but you said you want less cables).

If you're not setup to use a 5GHz wireless network in "wide band" mode, do that and ditch the ethernet cable. It should be damn fast.

That pares it down to 1 power, 1 USB, and 1 display cable. The only way to pare it down more is to screw plugging your iphone in and plug the drives into your router.
 
that is the downside of having a laptop or a all in one computer too for that matter , everything needs to be external connected with some sort of wire
and for thunderbold....all the peripherals need to go on a hub as there is only 1 thunderbold port
as for thunderbold enclosures ..i would not wait for that as i gueess the enclosures coming will be hideous expensive , as only apple is using thunderbold ports at the moment and i guess further that that will stay that way , like it was with firewire , enclosures more expensive then usb and mostly used from Apple , and you rarely found a firewire port on a pc, so the peripherals will cost more to get back the cost for development of thunderbold
 
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Peteman100 said:
I've heard mediocre reviews of those docks
Click to expand...

Probably more accurate to say there are mixed reviews of the Henge Dock. I personally don't understand the negative reviews I've seen. I have owned the first generation Henge Dock for a 13" MacBook Pro for a year now, and I absolutely love it. After the initial setup (took me about 30 minutes), it has worked flawlessly. Docking and undocking takes 3 seconds, eliminating the need to connect/disconnect cables for power, firewire, ethernet, multiple USB, displayport, and audio. It is stable and compact and looks great, hiding all of the cable clutter behind the desk. In my view, this is your best solution.
 
altecXP said:
So currently when I go home I plug into my MacBook Pro:
Power
a FW800 cable
Display cable
USB for iPhone
Cat6 for network

I really don't NEED the Cat6 but it help in my ping when I do SCII.

My FW800 runs to a 1.5TB drive for my storage that is daily chained to a 2TB drive for my TimeMachines that backs up my 1.5TB and my whole MacBook Pro(SSD and 500GB storage).

Is there any way to maybe merge 2 or 3 of these cables into one? I still don't get why there is no easy docking solution for the MacBook Pro's. I miss it from my IBM.
Click to expand...


Why not go for a docking station there are few out now for the macbooks and pro's. Check out Hengedock like someone else mentioned and also byte-dock and bookendz.
 
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