Promise Technology Debuts $249 Thunderbolt 3 Dock With 5 USB-A Ports, 2 TB3 Ports and SD Card Slot

[MacRumors]

Promise Technology today announced the launch of its new TD-300 Thunderbolt 3 dock, which is designed for Apple's latest MacBook Pro models with USB-C and Thunderbolt 3.

The TD-300 features five USB 3.0 ports (three at the back and two at the front), two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port, an audio in/out port, and an HDMI 2.0 port.

There are a range of Thunderbolt 3 docks on the market now, but Promise Technology's TD-300 includes a good number of ports and an SD card slot, something that we've only seen on OWC's TB3 dock. A Thunderbolt 3 cable and power adapter are also included.

Promise Technology's dock supports two 4K displays or one 5K display and delivers up to 60W of power to charge a MacBook Pro. That's sufficient for the 13-inch MacBook Pro models, but may be inadequate for charging a 15-inch MacBook Pro under a heavy load.

"As part of our mission to offer solutions that are optimized for rich media workflows, we're constantly expanding our portfolio of innovative solutions that harness the latest technology," noted Vijay Char, president, Promise Technology USA. "The addition of a Thunderbolt 3 dock brings a new level of efficiency and flexibility to creative professionals. Laptops can be charged at the fastest speeds possible, images from DSLR cameras are easily transferred, peripherals such as hard drives and monitors can be daisy-chained for increased productivity, 4K video can be sent to multiple displays, and more. The possibilities are truly endless."

The TD-300 Thunderbolt 3 Dock can be purchased from the Promise website or from Amazon for $249.

Article Link: Promise Technology Debuts $249 Thunderbolt 3 Dock With 5 USB-A Ports, 2 TB3 Ports and SD Card Slot

 

[ayale99]

Too bad there's no support for dual monitors. It needs a mini display port or another TB3 port.

 

[ajfahey]

HDMI 2.0, no DisplayPort and inadequate power for MB Pro 15”. Pass.

 

[Applebot1]

Another disappointing dock.

 

[jordanst]

Is there no thunderbolt dock with properly aligned ports?

 

[darkarn]

Does it deliver what it promises?

 

[thatsthequy]

Too bad there's no support for dual monitors. It needs a mini display port or another TB3 port.

Wouldn't you be able to daisy-chain the monitors?

 

[cube]

Where are the eSATA and optical ports?

 

[foobarbaz]

65W? Why turn away half your target market ...

 

[fairuz]

Too bad there's no support for dual monitors. It needs a mini display port or another TB3 port.

There is support for dual monitors, according to the article. There are two TB3 ports.
Edit: You've corrected me: There's only one TB3 port after you connect the Mac, so I assume the 2 monitors come from that plus HDMI.

 

[thederby]

There is support for dual monitors, according to the article. There are two TB3 ports.

Yes. One for connecting to the MacBook and one for connecting to the display.

 

[fairuz]

Yes. One for connecting to the MacBook and one for connecting to the display.

Oops, my mistake. Thought it meant 2 in addition. So one is for an external monitor, and the HDMI serves a second monitor.

 

[RimasM]

Is there any other TB3 dock except Elgato which would provide 85W for MBP15?

 

[pallymore]

this actually seems pretty good to me.

Indeed it doesn't support dual-monitors (non-type-c ones) out of the box but not a lot of others do either. I've already got a type-c to displayport adapter so I can use my existing setup with this dock no problem (hdmi + type-c-2-displayport)

I've been looking for a "one-cable" solution for a while, my other choice would be the elgato tb3 dock since I don't need e-sata/firewire... but this one seems very interesting given it's $50 cheaper. But I've never heard of this brand - could anyone share your own experience with their products?

 

[Marx55]

Bring eSATA ports. On the other hand, does the SD slot support UHS-III with 624MB/s Full Duplex? As shown at
Bus Speed (Default Speed/ High Speed/ UHS)
https://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/bus_speed/index.html

 

[theluggage]

Hmm...

Still waiting for a good way of adding extra USB-3 ports to an iMac - this one shows potential since it has *2* front-facing USB3, 3 on the back, and a bit cheaper than other TB3 docs.

Wonder if all the USB ports are driven direct from a controller, or if there is an internal hub (in which case, may as well get a cheap USB3 hub)...

 

[fairuz]

Wouldn't you be able to daisy-chain the monitors?

I think you can, and I also think you have to. Might be wrong, but I just remembered a limitation of TB3 being that you can't "split" it, which is why none of these docks ever have more than 2 TB3 ports in total. But you could have 2 DisplayPort... um... ports.

 

[saulinpa]

On the other hand, does the SD slot support UHS-III with 624MB/s Full Duplex?

Still waiting for a good way of adding extra USB-3 ports to an iMac - this one shows potential since it has *2* front-facing USB3, 3 on the back, and a bit cheaper than other TB3 docs.

Wonder if all the USB ports are driven direct from a controller, or if there is an internal hub (in which case, may as well get a cheap USB3 hub)...

Good questions as before spending money on this dock it would be good to know a bit about performance.

And yes, I am another that doesn't need a "dock" but just needs more connections for my desktop. So for me the audio, video, and Ethernet ports aren't needed. Good USB 3.0 and a fast SD reader in a nice package is what I'm looking for.

The two LEDs on the front I would cover with electrical tape as don't want the distraction.

 

[fpsBeaTt]

HDMI instead of DisplayPort... just get out

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Too bad there's no support for dual monitors. It needs a mini display port or another TB3 port.

mDP, maybe. Another TB3 port.... that's not how TB works.

 

[macnisse]

The two LEDs on the front I would cover with electrical tape as don't want the distraction.

I hear ya, do have a look at the OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock, it has the two light indicators at the bottom of the dock, which works really nice to not distract. The dock is also great overall, have it fully connected (except the firewire) incl two external monitors (one 4k). Best dock so far. Cheers!

 

[aidler]

That's what you need these days to make a usable device out of a Macbook Pro. A dock for over 200 $US in addition to the MacBook Pro that already costs over 2.000 $US. Apple is indeed a totally customer focused company.

 

[Jobeo]

Wouldn't you be able to daisy-chain the monitors?

I haven’t found a 4K display For my 2016 Mbp15” w/tb that is usb-c tb3 in and has usb-c tb3 out that will drive a second monitor. The ones Apple pushes have usb-c out that are not tb3.

 

[Jimmy James]

$249 for ports that should be on the laptop or already bundled with an included dock.

 

[Brookzy]

Is there any other TB3 dock except Elgato which would provide 85W for MBP15?

Belkin and CalDigit.