One maddening feature of most USB-C/Thunderbolt docks/hubs is that they come with a fixed cable to connect to your laptop that usually is very short, so you have the hub with half a dozen cables snaking from it in all directions 10 inches from your laptop. Well, and they always lack exactly the kind of connector you happen to need three weeks after you bought it. This hub seems to solve both of these problems. At a price though.
I think it's short to achieve the full 40 Gbit/s with a passive cable. The longer passive cables only do half that, and you need to switch to a more expensive active cable if you want long and fast (which I think are still more rare).
Another Problem being the fact that a higher-end laptop in terms of specs will need more than 85W to charge and run at the same time meaning you will still need 2 cables.
All the USB C MacBooks need much less than that and the users of these seem to be a huge market. Still, there are hundreds of hubs and docks with fixed cables shorter than my hand is long. Same with monitors with integrated hubs by the way: There are only very few of them, although it's the perfect way to use a laptop with USB C on your desk: Plug in one cable for everything, the monitor is your hub and your charger.
My Dell XPS 15 2in1 needs higher watts - even 130watt Dell dock that I got with XPS 13 2in1 has trouble - I should use 180W power supply - but I can use dock for power and video and separate USB C hub for other stuff - thankfully XPS 15 2in1 has 4 USB C's and 2 are thunderbolt.
My Dell XPS technically needs 95W+ (came with 130W charger), but it works perfectly well with 65W dock. Under heavy load it slowly drains battery, but only once I came close to drain it (20% left) and that was pretty extreme day. So I dont consider 85W charger to be something negative.
What can be problem is driving 2x 4k@60Hz+ (I found the hard way that 2x4k could mean @30Hz...) and the biggest problem is multi platform driver support (especially Linux, Windows is usually OK, no experience with MacOS)
miniDisplayPort to HDMI cable at 6' is like $9 on Amazon. People really need to stop with the 'but what about HDMI?' when the smaller mDP is easier to put into products like this. AFAIK, 4k60hz is only doable on HDMI 2.0, which is still being adopted and more expensive when mDP is cheaper and can do 4k60hz much easier. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Not only no HDMI port...I'm waiting for an HDMI 2.1 port to be added, since it is a major upgrade to the current HDMI 2 standard. HDMI 2.1 products should be available in latter 2019 or 2020, and its capabilities are vastly superior so as to justify the wait.
Ports hub that costs more than a for example Be Quiet Dark Base 900 pro full tower pc case? What's the point? That desktop setup in above picture looks like updated Amiga/Atari ST desktop setup with accompanying forest of cables. Every peripheral device had to have power and data cables.
The point is that it's a solution to a completely different problem. You can't carry around your full tower PC case. I guess both you and I would rather put that money towards components in a stationary PC, and use multiple machines (e.g. one laptop plus one stationary), but for many people the convenience of having just one machine and being able to hook it up to a plethora of equipment with just one cable is worth a lot. Also, businesses are the main target group, not home users. In defense of the manufacturers, docks like these actually have to contain many controllers to support the connectors, so they are not very cheap to make either. If you open them up you'll find a network controller, an audio card, and a USB controller, etc. The only things that come through directly from the computer are the display and USB signals. (But because there are many USB ports of different speeds, usually a USB controller is added as well.) The rest is PCIe that has to be supported by a controller, just like you would by adding additional PCIe cards in your tower PC.
It's the perfect setup for people who need all kinds of stuff and a big screen at the desk and want to be able to just grab their laptop, rip out one cable and take their computer with them. Return, plug in one cable, done. How would your full tower PC case help here? The only alternative would be to have a much bigger laptop with half a dozen cables plugged in at the desk.
You could have one desktop at home, second at work and a laptop if it is really necessary. Syncing the data via either ethernet or wifi shouldn't be the problem. If you really need to carry every copy of work data with you hdd/sdd drawer can be of use.
This philosophy with one lightweight device and lots of peripherals was tried before and it wasn't sustainable. Apple II could be classified as portable (but without monitor). They opted for roomier Macintosh II/Quadra cases later. The most extreme example is the Apple Duo Dock expansion device from the early nineties. It was an hmm, external case for laptop which had a big opening where you put your laptop and the case swallows it, like old VHS recorders. https://i0.wp.com/lowendmac.com/wp-content/uploads...
In the end, it was cheaper to have a desktop case and put everything you need inside it. The function triumphed over form.
Nowdays, the form triumphs over function (Cases that look like mini TV from the seventies, desk lamp or beer can).
The mouse looks like a twisted piece of plastic, compared to something like Logitech MX Master 2S (which can be used to control desktop and laptop at the same time).
That keyboard in above picture can be used as coffee cup holder, but when you have to type anything for longer than 15 minutes without getting repetitive strain injury or carpal tunnel syndrome you need IBM Model M quality.
Wonder how long it'll be until we see 2.5/5Gbps Ethernet on such docks. Heck, 10Gbps shouldn't be impossible, although I imagine all of the higher values might upset a delicate bandwidth balance.
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uhuznaa - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
One maddening feature of most USB-C/Thunderbolt docks/hubs is that they come with a fixed cable to connect to your laptop that usually is very short, so you have the hub with half a dozen cables snaking from it in all directions 10 inches from your laptop. Well, and they always lack exactly the kind of connector you happen to need three weeks after you bought it. This hub seems to solve both of these problems. At a price though.hubick - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
I think it's short to achieve the full 40 Gbit/s with a passive cable. The longer passive cables only do half that, and you need to switch to a more expensive active cable if you want long and fast (which I think are still more rare).beginner99 - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Another Problem being the fact that a higher-end laptop in terms of specs will need more than 85W to charge and run at the same time meaning you will still need 2 cables.uhuznaa - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
All the USB C MacBooks need much less than that and the users of these seem to be a huge market. Still, there are hundreds of hubs and docks with fixed cables shorter than my hand is long. Same with monitors with integrated hubs by the way: There are only very few of them, although it's the perfect way to use a laptop with USB C on your desk: Plug in one cable for everything, the monitor is your hub and your charger.HStewart - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Not true for higher end models like XPS 15 2in1 and I assume normal XPS 15's ( only one TB 3 )Death666Angel - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
Replying to a comment that said nothing about non-Macs at all. Good job, HS, we expect nothing less of you!HStewart - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
My Dell XPS 15 2in1 needs higher watts - even 130watt Dell dock that I got with XPS 13 2in1 has trouble - I should use 180W power supply - but I can use dock for power and video and separate USB C hub for other stuff - thankfully XPS 15 2in1 has 4 USB C's and 2 are thunderbolt.qap - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
My Dell XPS technically needs 95W+ (came with 130W charger), but it works perfectly well with 65W dock. Under heavy load it slowly drains battery, but only once I came close to drain it (20% left) and that was pretty extreme day. So I dont consider 85W charger to be something negative.What can be problem is driving 2x 4k@60Hz+ (I found the hard way that 2x4k could mean @30Hz...) and the biggest problem is multi platform driver support (especially Linux, Windows is usually OK, no experience with MacOS)
hubick - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
I like the convenience of a dock, but do you lose Adaptive-Sync support if you use it? (I believe so)Also, is this Titan Ridge based, so you can use it w a USB-C (not TB3) host in a pinch?
lazarpandar - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Does that aux plug look huge to anyone else?jeremyshaw - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
You can see the smaller TRRS jack inside of the big cutout.ikjadoon - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
Thank you to finally someone properly labeling USB 3.1 ports as "Gen1" or "Gen2".A stupid decision by the USB-IF on type-A ports retaining the same color for 2x the bandwidth and even stupider on the type-C labeling fiasco.
I see this entire "logo license agreement" initiative has filed, 3 years later: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/08/what-the-u...
ikjadoon - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
*failedstanleyipkiss - Wednesday, November 14, 2018 - link
And yet, they missed adding a HDMI port.ahamling27 - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
miniDisplayPort to HDMI cable at 6' is like $9 on Amazon. People really need to stop with the 'but what about HDMI?' when the smaller mDP is easier to put into products like this. AFAIK, 4k60hz is only doable on HDMI 2.0, which is still being adopted and more expensive when mDP is cheaper and can do 4k60hz much easier. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯HStewart - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
TB 3 port can handle multiple displayPort's and/or multiple HDMI - so not big deal - adapter are available for TB3 and USB C.wolfchen - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Not only no HDMI port...I'm waiting for an HDMI 2.1 port to be added, since it is a major upgrade to the current HDMI 2 standard. HDMI 2.1 products should be available in latter 2019 or 2020, and its capabilities are vastly superior so as to justify the wait.bigvlada - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Ports hub that costs more than a for example Be Quiet Dark Base 900 pro full tower pc case? What's the point? That desktop setup in above picture looks like updated Amiga/Atari ST desktop setup with accompanying forest of cables. Every peripheral device had to have power and data cables.AdditionalPylons - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
The point is that it's a solution to a completely different problem. You can't carry around your full tower PC case.I guess both you and I would rather put that money towards components in a stationary PC, and use multiple machines (e.g. one laptop plus one stationary), but for many people the convenience of having just one machine and being able to hook it up to a plethora of equipment with just one cable is worth a lot. Also, businesses are the main target group, not home users.
In defense of the manufacturers, docks like these actually have to contain many controllers to support the connectors, so they are not very cheap to make either. If you open them up you'll find a network controller, an audio card, and a USB controller, etc. The only things that come through directly from the computer are the display and USB signals. (But because there are many USB ports of different speeds, usually a USB controller is added as well.) The rest is PCIe that has to be supported by a controller, just like you would by adding additional PCIe cards in your tower PC.
uhuznaa - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
It's the perfect setup for people who need all kinds of stuff and a big screen at the desk and want to be able to just grab their laptop, rip out one cable and take their computer with them. Return, plug in one cable, done. How would your full tower PC case help here? The only alternative would be to have a much bigger laptop with half a dozen cables plugged in at the desk.bigvlada - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
You could have one desktop at home, second at work and a laptop if it is really necessary. Syncing the data via either ethernet or wifi shouldn't be the problem. If you really need to carry every copy of work data with you hdd/sdd drawer can be of use.This philosophy with one lightweight device and lots of peripherals was tried before and it wasn't sustainable. Apple II could be classified as portable (but without monitor). They opted for roomier Macintosh II/Quadra cases later. The most extreme example is the Apple Duo Dock expansion device from the early nineties. It was an hmm, external case for laptop which had a big opening where you put your laptop and the case swallows it, like old VHS recorders.
https://i0.wp.com/lowendmac.com/wp-content/uploads...
In the end, it was cheaper to have a desktop case and put everything you need inside it. The function triumphed over form.
Nowdays, the form triumphs over function (Cases that look like mini TV from the seventies, desk lamp or beer can).
The mouse looks like a twisted piece of plastic, compared to something like Logitech MX Master 2S (which can be used to control desktop and laptop at the same time).
That keyboard in above picture can be used as coffee cup holder, but when you have to type anything for longer than 15 minutes without getting repetitive strain injury or carpal tunnel syndrome you need IBM Model M quality.
GreenReaper - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Wonder how long it'll be until we see 2.5/5Gbps Ethernet on such docks. Heck, 10Gbps shouldn't be impossible, although I imagine all of the higher values might upset a delicate bandwidth balance.