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Matrox Announces DS-1 Thunderbolt Docking Station for $249

BornAgainMac said:
Do you think Apple will stop using the FW port with the new Macs this year?
Click to expand...

They dropped it on the Macbook line and apparently the MBPs so I don't see any reason why Apple wouldn't drop Firewire just to claim it saves space or claims nobody uses it.

Don't worry though, Apple will be more than happy to sell you $100 adapters that are too big and cover other nearby ports.
 
pdman said:
This stuff adds up when purchased separately... so why do we expect to pay less when integrated together?

Gigabit ethernet card - $30
DVI Card - $40
2 Port USB 3.0 card - $50
sound card - $20
Thunderbolt Cable - $40
Firewire 400 card - $20
Firewire 800 card - $40

Thunderbolt chipset cost ?
New Tech Premium cost ?
Click to expand...

I have no idea why no one has engaged you or why they have voted you down. My only problem with the numbers you have they are retail. They all probably have different markup values so aren't a good representation of probable cost when combined. It isn't too far outside the realm of likelihood of cost, though. It seems to me Intel seems to be keeping TB prices quite high or can't make it work as a consumer product. It is bewildering why everyone keeps blaming Apple for TB's slow uptake and devices.

Having said that, I agree with everyone else from a user point the choices are crazy. Surely a USB3 hub can take a reasonable number of ports. USB was supposed to be able to daisy-chain 127 devices (Though no one seems to go more than three levels as the through-put would be ridiculously low for anything more than keyboards & mice.) so surely an interface between TB & USB would be a hub therefore 1 port is, well, wrong. Many powered USB hubs have 4 - 8 ports. Can't see why this would be different.

Not having sound or firewire is wrong given the greatest demographic uptake of TB was likely to be either using one or the other at the very least. Incidentally regarding firewire being dead, just as Apple dropped Firewire ports other OEMs started taking it up. Around 2007 I started to get excited about the FW drives i was seeing appearing in non-Apple IT stores. Every new computer I've seen from HP in the last 2 - 3 years has had FW, and has been an option for every other computer brand name. Sadly no one in primary education around here seems to have a use for FW.

Display-port seems to be gaining ground with OEMs so DVI is also odd, but understandable. Would have preferred including a HDMI port & eSata.
 
no chainable TB port, No Firewire port, No HDMI port , No eSata, .. Pretty much useless, I can connect a monitor to my MBP directly, and i can connect USB hub with extra devices, directly, and i have no need of an external sound port.

USB doesn't interest me, if I'm going to be using TB as a connection device, i want eSATA or a TB daisy chain.

im guessing TB, much like FireWire, will be a minority Mac thing, then eventually fade away as the PC market embraces USB3, but then I'm guessing a USB3 cable won't cost 50 of your local currency.
 
KylePowers said:
Why have 1 USB 3.0 port and 2 USB 2.0 ports? Isn't USB 3.0 backwards compatible? Why not just have 3 USB 3.0 ports?

And like others are saying... no second TB port, no HDMI out (whose bright idea was it to only have DVI??), no FireWire, no deal.
Click to expand...

(maybe someone else have answered before in this thread. I am sorry if this is a double post)

Its all about bandwidth. Thunderbolt have 10Gbps. Three USB 3 ports are 15Gbps.
The same goes with Displayport.

DVI is since this is a office product. Most monitors have DVI. And a DVI ----> HDMI convertor costs 5 dollars.
 
I like the vast TB offerings at the ever popular g-technology product line. LOL. Matrox forgot to include a picture of the beautiful AC power supply the unit comes with at no extra cost to the discerning customer.
 
InuNacho said:
They dropped it on the Macbook line and apparently the MBPs so I don't see any reason why Apple wouldn't drop Firewire just to claim it saves space or claims nobody uses it.
Click to expand...
Apple has dropped FW from their entry-level notebook line (earlier the MB now the MBA) but all other Macs still have FW.
 
talmy said:
The 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display *is* Apple's answer to the docking station. It provides power, USB, Firewire, Ethernet, speakers, display, camera, and extends the Thunderbolt port. You could hardly ask for more in a docking station, although you might ask for less!
Click to expand...

Yes, and that "docking station" can be yours for only $1000, plus tax :rolleyes:
 
REALLY?? No firewire? All that other stuff, can be solved another way, but not having a portable solution for connecting FW is killing me.

Please, someone... make a simple streamlined TB to FW converter!!!
 
shompa said:
(maybe someone else have answered before in this thread. I am sorry if this is a double post)

Its all about bandwidth. Thunderbolt have 10Gbps. Three USB 3 ports are 15Gbps.
The same goes with Displayport.

DVI is since this is a office product. Most monitors have DVI. And a DVI ----> HDMI convertor costs 5 dollars.
Click to expand...

While 3 USB 3 may be capable of 15Gbps combined, how many solitary devices out there can saturate a USB3 port? Do they all have to use the total bandwidth at the same time? I understood that USB is designed to share the bandwith of the host, which is why few people daisychained the devices more than one or two levels?
 
FloatingBones said:
I'm not familiar of any docking system that is remotely comparable: able to drive multiple displays, external storage, etc., through a single interoperable port. What sort of PC-baed docks do you think are actually premium? Specifics, please!
Click to expand...

Here, for example, is a Dell Latitude E-series dock:

dell_eport_2_1_1_1_1_3.jpg

  • Single port connection to laptop (the thin shiny connector at the top) - provides power to laptop
  • eSATA/USB combo (use as eSATA or USB, supports "powered eSATA" connectors)
  • PS/2 keyboard/mouse
  • 5 USB 2.0 ports
  • RJ45 GbE
  • serial port
  • parallel port
  • VGA - video
  • Two DVI-D ports
  • Two DisplayPorts (can drive two 2560x1600 monitors)
  • Power port (to standard laptop power brick)
  • Audio out (stereo headphone jack)
  • Audio in (stereo microphone jack)
This is pretty standard stuff for a laptop dock. One click, and the laptop is connected to everything - including power. Another click, and it's free to travel.

This is $200, and there's a version with single DVI-D/DP for $150. (Both include a 130-watt laptop power adapter that sells separately for $96.)
 
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Seriously? Other than using the TB port for an additional monitor, has there been any fiscally sensible use for that wasted port space??

250.00? How many years now has TB been available for mac products (at least 2?) How many people are making use of it?

Makes me wonder.....
 
phpmaven said:
What planet are you living on? You can buy a 6' HDMI cable for less than $5.
Click to expand...

Brett Abelson said:
??
Click to expand...

Why is it so hard to follow the sub-thread ? This is the post that started this whole parenthesis :

SprodeBoy said:
Remember when Monster was selling HDMI cables for $100? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

In the context of Monster cables, they still sell the cables for 100$+. No, monoprice doesn't count, they don't sell Monster Cables for 5$, in the context of the original post...
 
gorskiegangsta said:
Why include a DVI out port instead of a MiniDP, an HDMI, or another Thunderbolt port?
Click to expand...

DVI is cheaper & more universal than your choices. Just look at the color coding of the audio ports. That one point shows its true colors as being made for Windows computers. The lack of a FW800 port means it is not for Mac Users. The lack of the Thunderbolt port probably deals with cost.

HDMI would have been a much better choice than DVI. Then sound can be passed as well as video on the same cable. I have little use for plain single link DVI. 3 of my 4 or 5 displays that I have connected to my Mac Pro are 30" models that require a dual link connection.

I'm just like many here that on first appearances we were ready to purchase. But then after going over its limitations we have decided against making a purchase.
 
Thunderbolt equipment is still way too expensive to be widely adapted.

Prices have to come down 50% at least to make it interesting.
 
FloatingBones said:
I'm not familiar of any docking system that is remotely comparable: able to drive multiple displays, external storage, etc., through a single interoperable port. What sort of PC-baed docks do you think are actually premium? Specifics, please!
Click to expand...

Lenovo have done a variety of ThinkPad Advanced Docks that offered AGP/PCI-E expansion slots suitable for graphics cards in addition to additional HDD bays etc for the common accessories. Example : http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-61232

61232tpadvanceddock2503.jpg


They're unlike the Thunderbolt docks as the USB, ethernet ports etc are passed through from the host laptop. The Thunderbolt docks like the Matrox and the 27" Cinema Display have additional PCIe controllers in them for the Ethernet, FW800 ports etc which increases the cost.

Work have been using the standard Mini-Docks such as the one below for years. They're the best solution for a hot-desking office that we can find.

lenovoadvancedminidock.jpg
 
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AidenShaw said:
Here, for example, is a Dell Latitude E-series dock:


  • Single port connection to laptop (the thin shiny connector at the top) - provides power to laptop
  • eSATA/USB combo (use as eSATA or USB, supports "powered eSATA" connectors)
  • PS/2 keyboard/mouse
  • 5 USB 2.0 ports
  • RJ45 GbE
  • serial port
  • parallel port
  • VGA - video
  • Two DVI-D ports
  • Two DisplayPorts (can drive two 2560x1600 monitors)
  • Power port (to standard laptop power brick)
  • Audio out (stereo headphone jack)
  • Audio in (stereo microphone jack)
This is pretty standard stuff for a laptop dock. One click, and the laptop is connected to everything - including power. Another click, and it's free to travel.

This is $200, and there's a version with single DVI-D/DP for $150. (Both include a 130-watt laptop power adapter that sells separately for $96.)
Click to expand...

This is exactly what will happen as predicted by another poster.

As a portable they will steer us to the cloud to store and re-download things.

So, one cable to connect all functions to a laptop is much better than what we are doing now.

Like others I have many cables attached at work, which all need to be unhooked and reconnected, when I want to take or reuse my MBP.

Just need that kind of a docking station.

Matrox is not it!!
 
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