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Kickstarter - MBA Dock
- Thread starter ZipZap
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Damn high production value on that video. That's where all that KickStarter money will go ;-)
Looks pretty cool - may have to get one. Will probably warp the Air though with my luck
Looks pretty cool - may have to get one. Will probably warp the Air though with my luck
Internaut
macrumors 65816
I await the Belkin Thunderbolt Dock
With utmost patience (and it looks like I'm going to need a great deal of patience).
With utmost patience (and it looks like I'm going to need a great deal of patience).
* Rear port extensions (10/100T Ethernet, 3x USB 2.0 ports) are all driven via Air's right-side USB port. 1x USB 2.0 port on the left side of the LandingZone is a direct pass-through USB port from MacBook Air's left side USB port.
* Thunderbolt is NOT supported. None of the Thunderbolt devices will work with LandingZone. That'll be our top to-do engineering work next year as soon as Intel starts expanding its Thunderbolt licensing program.
From the creator!
very expensive too fifth os the price of the thunderbolt display for a fraction of the functionality.
* Thunderbolt is NOT supported. None of the Thunderbolt devices will work with LandingZone. That'll be our top to-do engineering work next year as soon as Intel starts expanding its Thunderbolt licensing program.
From the creator!
very expensive too fifth os the price of the thunderbolt display for a fraction of the functionality.
Thunderbolt is basically THE connection for future docking stations for Mac. Look at the 27" Thunderbolt display, it is basically a docking station with a beautiful 27" screen attached to it. This is a glorified USB hub.
What?! No need?! So you want all 3 of your USB ports and your ethernet to be limited to the speed of a single USB 2.0 port?
Exactly!
Seems cool to me...
It gives you four USB ports, an ethernet connection, and the ability to lock up your MBA with a Kensington lock. And, the form factor is tiny... compared to everything else on the market... your desk isn't dominated by the dock; and, it's cool looking... unlike everything else on the market.
Not sure why anyone would say "waste of money" or even "expensive"... it's only $160 on Kickstarter right now and for $300 you can get two. What else compares to that?
Looks good to me (i'll take two!).
my two cents.
It gives you four USB ports, an ethernet connection, and the ability to lock up your MBA with a Kensington lock. And, the form factor is tiny... compared to everything else on the market... your desk isn't dominated by the dock; and, it's cool looking... unlike everything else on the market.
Not sure why anyone would say "waste of money" or even "expensive"... it's only $160 on Kickstarter right now and for $300 you can get two. What else compares to that?
Looks good to me (i'll take two!).
my two cents.
So does a USB Hub
That will be slower than the wifi (100mbps ethernet max vs 300mbps wifi)
True, but at $160 bucks, that's a lot to spend for a place to lock your MBA (alternatives exist)
Like what? Most Docks I've ever used barely take up anymore space than the laptop they are connected to. How is this any different?
Edit: Oh and USB Hubs can take up almost no space on your desktop....
Completely subjective. I'll grant you, it does look nice, but I'd rather have function over form (especially if form = no function).
Well if it was a true docking station, I would say it is spot on for cost as most go for $150. But for $150 docking station, I expect it to have multiple USB, a Gigabit Ethernet, and at least one (if not multiple) display connectors. This has multiple USB and that is it.
Using USB 2.0 as the back bone of this device, just limits it too much. I'd pay $200 and maybe even $250 if it had all the above.
It does have a MiniDisplay Port and it lets you lock it up too. So, for me it works out great because it solves several of my needs in one small package.
And, you're right that it is subjective whether you like the design. From my perspective, the others i've seen haven't put as much energy into how it actually looks on your desk... especially when the computer isn't there.
I'm not trying to convince you to buy it, I'm just saying it works for my needs and my guess is that there are a lot of other people like me out there.
best,
m
There's a design flaw here that I can't get over.
MBAs automatically go to sleep when you close the lid. This function cannot be disabled natively because there is a very real risk of damage due to heat reaching the screen.
So, taking their video as an example. You plug the MBA in to the dock to watch a movie on the big screen. Your MBA heats up quite a bit due to the high processing occurring for video playback and damages the screen and or other components when left for an a certain amount of time.
I like the idea, but I can't risk that.
MBAs automatically go to sleep when you close the lid. This function cannot be disabled natively because there is a very real risk of damage due to heat reaching the screen.
So, taking their video as an example. You plug the MBA in to the dock to watch a movie on the big screen. Your MBA heats up quite a bit due to the high processing occurring for video playback and damages the screen and or other components when left for an a certain amount of time.
I like the idea, but I can't risk that.
This is not correct. The MBA will operate quite fine with the lid closed. If you connect it to a monitor and close the lid it will stay on and not overheat or melt, just like every other apple laptop.
Nah, the MBA has a fan near the keyboard, but it blows the hot air out the back by the hinge as the rest of the mac laptops tend to.
On the PBG4s and MBPs, the vent is behind the hinge in a way that some of the air goes out the back and some goes straight up. If the screen is closed, that air could just sit around under the LCD, but it'll go out the back anyway (path of least resistance!) There really isn't enough room to vent air out through gaps in the keyboard, and even if there was, they'd clog up too easily. Shoot, that means you'd be killing your machine with those silicone covers! Knowing that those are very popular, I doubt Apple would build a machine that exhausts through the keyboard (lol). If they did, the keys would be made out of some kinda mesh anyway. Right?
On the PBG4s and MBPs, the vent is behind the hinge in a way that some of the air goes out the back and some goes straight up. If the screen is closed, that air could just sit around under the LCD, but it'll go out the back anyway (path of least resistance!) There really isn't enough room to vent air out through gaps in the keyboard, and even if there was, they'd clog up too easily. Shoot, that means you'd be killing your machine with those silicone covers! Knowing that those are very popular, I doubt Apple would build a machine that exhausts through the keyboard (lol). If they did, the keys would be made out of some kinda mesh anyway. Right?
I think this is a fail without Thunderbolt at least as an option. Companies don't succeed launching new products targeting older versions of products... just never seen that succeed. This thing ends up being a very overpriced USB hub.
And, to the guy that said you can't run the MBA with the lid closed, that's just crazy talk. MBA + TBD + Bluetooth Keyboard.... works fine.
And, to the guy that said you can't run the MBA with the lid closed, that's just crazy talk. MBA + TBD + Bluetooth Keyboard.... works fine.
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This is how I've been using all 4 MacBooks I 've had, including the i5 Air I am writing this on now. My Air 95% of the time is a desktop computer, lid closed, driving a 30" Apple Cinema Display. Unless there are a few Flash banners running simultaneously in a few browser tabs, the processor stays around 50-60°C and the fan is quiet around 2000 RPM.
We aren't wining, we are pointing out that without Thunderbolt, it makes this nothing more than a glorified USB Hub. There isn't an integrated power supply, and the Ethernet and USB ports are just run off the USB connectors. I can accomplish all of this with a cheap 5 dollar hub and just plug that one hub into my Macbook Air. We get that the inventor doesn't have licensing to add Thunderbolt, but without it it doesn't do much good now does it? With Thunderbolt, you could have a full gigabit Ethernet, firewire, extra USB, high speed storage connections, etc... Otherwise again, this is just a fancy USB Hub.
Should we buy a product just because in the future other versions will do what we need/want it to do? That's asinine. It should do what it needs to do now. We shouldn't drop $150+ on a product that has a very limiited use. I'm sorry, not all inventions are a good one!
I'm starting to think Zip Zap is the inventor of this "docking station"....
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Again, thinking what thru Zipzap?
That the Ethernet will run at a max of 100mbps which is slower than the 300mbps you can get with wifi? And that if I utilize the Ethernet, it will reduce my USB bandwith for all other devices (i.e. external drives?). I don't think you understand the limitations to USB 2.0... The MBA already is limited to USB, we need a docking station that will utilize the Thunderbolt port so we can have more connections, not just shove even more stuff thru the limited bandwidth ports (i.e. USB).