CalDigit's Thunderbolt Station 2 Launches in January With $170 Pre-Order Pricing

Every time MacRumors runs a story on a thunderbolt whatever, some guy from OWC pipes up with this ad.

"Oh did I heart someone say Thunderbolt? Well let me tell you about the OWC etc etc..."

Tiring.

I actually don't care about eSATA... doesn't make sense for most..


OWC has a great dock now with 5 USB 3 ports.. 2 high powered.. MUCH prefer more USB 3 ports over eSATA anyway.. AND includes a FireWire 800 port.. for those of us with legacy FW equipment.

Image (https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/images/ports.jpg)

You can order now and get it in January. I was able to get in on the Dec list.. should be coming anytime now.. Check out full info on OWC's Thunderbolt 2 Dock here... https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/ (https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/)


* (5) USB 3.0 ports - Five USB 3.0 ports add exceptional flexibility to your Mac, including two side-facing, high-powered USB 3.0 ports designed for power hungry devices and tablets.

* (1) FireWire 800 port - Daisy-chain: 63 devices. Connect a wide variety of popular external storage solutions and audio interfaces.

* (2) Thunderbolt 2 ports - Daisy-chain: 5 devices + display Connect up to five Thunderbolt devices plus a display. Dual ports provide up to 20 Gb/s of bandwidth and phenomenal performance.

* (1) HDMI and 4K - With support for resolutions up to 4K via HDMI 1.4b, you can be assured your HDMI capable display, TV, or projector is compatible.

* (1) Gigabit Ethernet - Missing the Ethernet port on your new Air or Retina laptop? This dock has you covered with a full-speed Gigabit Ethernet port that requires no configuration.

* (1) Mic / Line In - Connect a microphone or any other line-in audio source.

* (1) Audio / Line Out - Hook up your favorite headphones, speakers, monitors, or other gear.

I actually don't care about eSATA... doesn't make sense for most..


OWC has a great dock now with 5 USB 3 ports.. 2 high powered.. MUCH prefer more USB 3 ports over eSATA anyway.. AND includes a FireWire 800 port.. for those of us with legacy FW equipment.

Image (https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/images/ports.jpg)

You can order now and get it in January. I was able to get in on the Dec list.. should be coming anytime now.. Check out full info on OWC's Thunderbolt 2 Dock here... https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/ (https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/)


* (5) USB 3.0 ports - Five USB 3.0 ports add exceptional flexibility to your Mac, including two side-facing, high-powered USB 3.0 ports designed for power hungry devices and tablets.

* (1) FireWire 800 port - Daisy-chain: 63 devices. Connect a wide variety of popular external storage solutions and audio interfaces.

* (2) Thunderbolt 2 ports - Daisy-chain: 5 devices + display Connect up to five Thunderbolt devices plus a display. Dual ports provide up to 20 Gb/s of bandwidth and phenomenal performance.

* (1) HDMI and 4K - With support for resolutions up to 4K via HDMI 1.4b, you can be assured your HDMI capable display, TV, or projector is compatible.

* (1) Gigabit Ethernet - Missing the Ethernet port on your new Air or Retina laptop? This dock has you covered with a full-speed Gigabit Ethernet port that requires no configuration.

* (1) Mic / Line In - Connect a microphone or any other line-in audio source.

* (1) Audio / Line Out - Hook up your favorite headphones, speakers, monitors, or other gear.

Problem I have with OWC though is with their claimed speeds...Don't tell me it's a USB 3.0 connection (500MB/s bus speed) but it can only runs at 300MB/s. It's that reason that I don't know that I can trust OWC's enclosures anymore (and I own about 15 of them) with their outdated controllers...

Unless you need eSATA, OWC's TB2 Dock is better.

This is also the dock I was waiting for. Would have been perfect if they had swapped out an eSATA for a FireWire 800, but I probably won't need FireWire for much longer. This dock hits all of the items on my list, including price. I'm really conflicted on whether I should get it though. Next autumn I'm probably going to pickup the 5K iMac which I don't think will need one of these. I totally would have bought this in 2012 or 2013 but by now I'm pretty close to getting a desktop anyway. Besides, weren't there some rumors that Thunderbolt 3 50/100Gbps Fiber Optic will be coming out in the next year or two? That should handle additional 5K displays, or perhaps external video cards. Not that I need that but it would be nice to upgrade the graphics card in an iMac down the road.

Also, what's up with the brushed metal look? Love the vertical form factor but this thing would be hidden away on my desk with that brushed metal, lol.

I actually don't care about eSATA... doesn't make sense for most..


OWC has a great dock now with 5 USB 3 ports.. 2 high powered.. MUCH prefer more USB 3 ports over eSATA anyway.. AND includes a FireWire 800 port.. for those of us with legacy FW equipment.



You can order now and get it in January. I was able to get in on the Dec list.. should be coming anytime now.. Check out full info on OWC's Thunderbolt 2 Dock here... https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/ (https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/)


* (5) USB 3.0 ports - Five USB 3.0 ports add exceptional flexibility to your Mac, including two side-facing, high-powered USB 3.0 ports designed for power hungry devices and tablets.

* (1) FireWire 800 port - Daisy-chain: 63 devices. Connect a wide variety of popular external storage solutions and audio interfaces.

* (2) Thunderbolt 2 ports - Daisy-chain: 5 devices + display Connect up to five Thunderbolt devices plus a display. Dual ports provide up to 20 Gb/s of bandwidth and phenomenal performance.

* (1) HDMI and 4K - With support for resolutions up to 4K via HDMI 1.4b, you can be assured your HDMI capable display, TV, or projector is compatible.

* (1) Gigabit Ethernet - Missing the Ethernet port on your new Air or Retina laptop? This dock has you covered with a full-speed Gigabit Ethernet port that requires no configuration.

* (1) Mic / Line In - Connect a microphone or any other line-in audio source.

* (1) Audio / Line Out - Hook up your favorite headphones, speakers, monitors, or other gear.

I spoke to CalDigit UK on the phone as I had the same question about port multiplier on the eSATA ports, and they said it does support port multiplier.

The from USB 3.0 port also charges devices without being connected to a mac which will be really handy. Great price also @ $169.99.

Unless the website states it, I won't believe it. I've been burned too many times by phone representatives on what a product "should have" vs what it actually does....

Many do not even know technical specifications like port multiplier and will just tell you anything you want to hear to get you off the phone. If they don't put it in writing on their webpage then there is nothing to refer to when I have to send it back because it didin't do what I expected it to (saying "I was told" is never good enough").

Every time MacRumors runs a story on a thunderbolt whatever, some guy from OWC pipes up with this ad.

"Oh did I heart someone say Thunderbolt? Well let me tell you about the OWC etc etc..."

Tiring.

I had the exact same thought.

The post is so polished that it is almost certain that it is an ad in disguise.

Wtf... why is it always eSata or Firewire and never both... Any reason why no one wants to do them all?

I'm guessing its constrained by what permutations of SATA, Firewire USB3 and Ethernet are offered by chipmakers as single-chip, multifunction, PCIe controllers.

Maybe (e.g.) there are no single chips that do USB3 + SATA + Firewire, or older ones that do SATA + Firewire don't support the latest SATA standards for mutipliers etc.

They'd want to keep the chip count down for cost reasons anyway, but also, according to the Sonnet web page (http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echo15prothunderboltdock.html) for their dock (which does promise Firewire and eSATA, but is sadly looking more and more like vapourware):

"Windows can only support a maximum of two PCIe controllers in one Thunderbolt device."

...moving to Thunderbolt 2 was supposed to solve this, but since almost a year on there's still no sign of the Sonnet dock, maybe it doesn't.

Just got a reply, port multiplier is supported.

I actually don't care about eSATA... doesn't make sense for most..


OWC has a great dock now with 5 USB 3 ports.. 2 high powered.. MUCH prefer more USB 3 ports over eSATA anyway.. AND includes a FireWire 800 port.. for those of us with legacy FW equipment.

Image (https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/images/ports.jpg)

You can order now and get it in January. I was able to get in on the Dec list.. should be coming anytime now.. Check out full info on OWC's Thunderbolt 2 Dock here... https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/ (https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/)


* (5) USB 3.0 ports - Five USB 3.0 ports add exceptional flexibility to your Mac, including two side-facing, high-powered USB 3.0 ports designed for power hungry devices and tablets.

* (1) FireWire 800 port - Daisy-chain: 63 devices. Connect a wide variety of popular external storage solutions and audio interfaces.

* (2) Thunderbolt 2 ports - Daisy-chain: 5 devices + display Connect up to five Thunderbolt devices plus a display. Dual ports provide up to 20 Gb/s of bandwidth and phenomenal performance.

* (1) HDMI and 4K - With support for resolutions up to 4K via HDMI 1.4b, you can be assured your HDMI capable display, TV, or projector is compatible.

* (1) Gigabit Ethernet - Missing the Ethernet port on your new Air or Retina laptop? This dock has you covered with a full-speed Gigabit Ethernet port that requires no configuration.

* (1) Mic / Line In - Connect a microphone or any other line-in audio source.

* (1) Audio / Line Out - Hook up your favorite headphones, speakers, monitors, or other gear.

I see OWCs sales department has chimed in :rolleyes:

I ...

... preordered and received it about three weeks ago. Its performance is flawless to date. We have it almost fully loaded, attaching the following devices:

2x eSata HD casings
2x USB3 Drobo S boxes
1x USB2 3x hub, connecting a Apogee Jam and a LG Bluray burner
1x Gigabit Ethernet Hub
1x headphone
1x Dazzle Hollywood bridge via Thunderbolt > Fw800 > FW400 adapter

It is - by a huge margin - the best thunderbolt dock option to date, regarding performance and price.

I actually don't care about eSATA... doesn't make sense for most..


OWC has a great dock now with 5 USB 3 ports.. 2 high powered.. MUCH prefer more USB 3 ports over eSATA anyway.. AND includes a FireWire 800 port.. for those of us with legacy FW equipment.

Image (https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/images/ports.jpg)

You can order now and get it in January. I was able to get in on the Dec list.. should be coming anytime now.. Check out full info on OWC's Thunderbolt 2 Dock here... https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/ (https://eshop.macsales.com/preorder/OWC-Thunderbolt2-Dock/)


* (5) USB 3.0 ports - Five USB 3.0 ports add exceptional flexibility to your Mac, including two side-facing, high-powered USB 3.0 ports designed for power hungry devices and tablets.

* (1) FireWire 800 port - Daisy-chain: 63 devices. Connect a wide variety of popular external storage solutions and audio interfaces.

* (2) Thunderbolt 2 ports - Daisy-chain: 5 devices + display Connect up to five Thunderbolt devices plus a display. Dual ports provide up to 20 Gb/s of bandwidth and phenomenal performance.

* (1) HDMI and 4K - With support for resolutions up to 4K via HDMI 1.4b, you can be assured your HDMI capable display, TV, or projector is compatible.

* (1) Gigabit Ethernet - Missing the Ethernet port on your new Air or Retina laptop? This dock has you covered with a full-speed Gigabit Ethernet port that requires no configuration.

* (1) Mic / Line In - Connect a microphone or any other line-in audio source.

* (1) Audio / Line Out - Hook up your favorite headphones, speakers, monitors, or other gear.

I lost interest and trust in OWC products when their mini stack would cause problems with Bluetooth. They say it is because that is just what USB 3.0 does, yet fail to account for that in the design or marketing. If this is a known issue inherit in USB 3 and Bluetooth, account for that in the design and warn people in the marketing. The comments in the blog continually failed to address this issue and just blamed USB 3.

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Problem I have with OWC though is with their claimed speeds...Don't tell me it's a USB 3.0 connection (500MB/s bus speed) but it can only runs at 300MB/s. It's that reason that I don't know that I can trust OWC's enclosures anymore (and I own about 15 of them) with their outdated controllers...

Image (http://www.sealightentertainment.com/images/OWC-USB3.png)

Thanks for pointing this out. I don't buy from OWC anymore because I simply don't trust them to design and build good products that work as you expect. There have been some hidden issues that users find out and then OWC points to the fine print or some white paper spec to shift the blame.