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Matrox Thunderbolt dock turns MacBooks into desktops for $249 - Page 2

post #41 of 101
6/4/12 at 12:02am

Ok but at any price point a thunderbolt dock should have a Thunderbolt port, 

and a fire wire too.

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post #42 of 101
6/4/12 at 12:06am

OK but a Thunderbolt dock at any price point should have...a Thunderbolt port ! ..and a fire wire too.
 

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post #43 of 101
6/4/12 at 4:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by tokenuser View Post

So what you are saying is that they aren't the same ... but you can daisy chain some adapters and kinda sorta make up for it, provided you don't want audio as well?

The definition of "same" gets broken the second you add a qualifying "except" in there, at that point they are no longer "the same".


I can only assume that the intended message was this:

The video component of an HDMI connection is electrically identical to a modern digital DVI connection with encryption.

 

DVI connections can also exist as an analog signal, or a digital signal without content encryption.  On the other hand, HDMI connections must be digital and they must be encrypted.

 

So, it would be completely accurate to say that HDMI starts out as a strict subset of DVI, and then it has something else (digital audio) patched on over top.

 

A single adapter (where did your "daisy chain" of multiple adapters come from?) is all that is needed to go from DVI to HDMI.

 

If the adapter does have a digital audio input, then you could connect it to your Mac's built-in digital audio output, and the resulting HDMI output would be, for all intents and purposes, a complete and perfect replication of a native HDMI port.  If the adapter does not have a digital audio input, then the resulting HDMI output would be a perfect replication of the video component, but you'd have to live without the audio component.


Edited by lfmorrison - 6/4/12 at 4:49am
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post #44 of 101
6/4/12 at 5:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by souliisoul View Post

@Jragosta: Everyone is  allowed their opinion, so stop telling people what to do and let them speak their mind. I see nothing wrong with comments and to be frank your comments sounds like you had a bad day maybe week and going off on people for valid comments. Consumers buy products and allowed to comment if their feel the product is not right!

Yes, people are entitled to their opinion. But they are not entitled to act like their opinion is universal - which is what I was pointing out.

Furthermore, I've been hearing "that's too expensive" about Apple products and peripherals for 20 years and it's getting a little tiring. There's one solution if a product is too expensive - don't buy it.
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post #45 of 101
6/4/12 at 6:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajmas View Post

I am unimpressed by this. Other than using Thunderbolt to connect to the host system, it really doesn't seem offer more than this USB based solution:
http://www.frontierpc.com/networking/kvm-switchboxes/kvm-switch/startech/startech-com-2-port-usb-dvi-kvm-switch-kit-w-cables-sv211kdvi-1011615655.html

As I've said on many threads, it's all a matter of expectations vs. what the product appears to have been designed for. Just by reading this thread, it's obvious this product wasn't designed for the majority of you, but that might be a unique demographic. To me, this and the belkin were designed for someone who needs a BYO-kmd(keyboard, mouse, display) and that's pretty much it. Great for the user that just upgraded to a TB MB/Mini that has peripherals they don't feel like parting with just yet and wants to few extra ports. I'd say that's it works for that purpose only, not the power user. I needed a dock for my work PC at home and got a dell port replicator, about the same idea and it was only $129...works as expected. Yes TB tech is expensive because it's new but for that price I can wait until they come down to invest for my personal MB.
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post #46 of 101
6/4/12 at 7:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta View Post

What's with all the whining?
OK, maybe they're not going to win a beauty contest, but maybe the target audience is more interested in function than form.
Isn't it funny how the Apple haters claim that Mac users only buy Macs because of the appearance and that they're no different than PCs, but yet they're the first to jump on a product that doesn't meet their standards of beauty. Can you say 'hypocrite'?

 

Because it sucks?  No eSata.  No FW800.  If I have legacy gear it's going to be FW800 or FW400. 

 

The Belkin is much better with TB passthrough, HDMI and FW800 for $50 more.  This is one of those "why bother" product offerings at $250.  At a $150 it has value in comparison to the Belkin (much lower cost).

 

Frankly what I want is a TB docking station with the extra ports and a PCIe slot for $599.  Like combining the Belkin with the Sonnet Echo Express (which is $599 but hey).

 

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/echoexpresschassis.html

 

Or a cube design of this:

 

http://www.sonnettech.com/product/xmacminiserver.html

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post #47 of 101
6/4/12 at 7:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by antkm1 View Post

As I've said on many threads, it's all a matter of expectations vs. what the product appears to have been designed for. Just by reading this thread, it's obvious this product wasn't designed for the majority of you, but that might be a unique demographic. To me, this and the belkin were designed for someone who needs a BYO-kmd(keyboard, mouse, display) and that's pretty much it. Great for the user that just upgraded to a TB MB/Mini that has peripherals they don't feel like parting with just yet and wants to few extra ports. I'd say that's it works for that purpose only, not the power user. I needed a dock for my work PC at home and got a dell port replicator, about the same idea and it was only $129...works as expected. Yes TB tech is expensive because it's new but for that price I can wait until they come down to invest for my personal MB.

Exactly. This is basically a modern day docking station. It's for the business executive who travels with his laptop and wants to use the same computer in the office. Instead of messing around plugging in a keyboard and mouse and monitor and ethernet cable, he simply plugs in a single TB cable. He can leave his desktop in place and when he returns from the road, plugs it in and has a 24" (or whatever) monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc right where he left them.

Considering that many laptop docks were more than $250, the price doesn't seem horribly out of line.

It's not meant to be an uber-geek "does everything" device.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht View Post

Because it sucks?  No eSata.  No FW800.  If I have legacy gear it's going to be FW800 or FW400. 

The Belkin is much better with TB passthrough, HDMI and FW800 for $50 more.  This is one of those "why bother" product offerings at $250.  At a $150 it has value in comparison to the Belkin (much lower cost).

As always, you seem to be confused about the difference between "I don't like it' and "no one could possibly like it"
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post #48 of 101
6/4/12 at 8:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfmorrison View Post


I can only assume that the intended message was this:

The video component of an HDMI connection is electrically identical to a modern digital DVI connection with encryption.

 

DVI connections can also exist as an analog signal, or a digital signal without content encryption.  On the other hand, HDMI connections must be digital and they must be encrypted.

 

So, it would be completely accurate to say that HDMI starts out as a strict subset of DVI, and then it has something else (digital audio) patched on over top.

 

A single adapter (where did your "daisy chain" of multiple adapters come from?) is all that is needed to go from DVI to HDMI.

 

If the adapter does have a digital audio input, then you could connect it to your Mac's built-in digital audio output, and the resulting HDMI output would be, for all intents and purposes, a complete and perfect replication of a native HDMI port.  If the adapter does not have a digital audio input, then the resulting HDMI output would be a perfect replication of the video component, but you'd have to live without the audio component.

 

Electrically identical IS NOT THE SAME as Mechanically identical.

Would you say that the US power adapter and the Australian power adapter were the same?

Electrically the are - both take an incoming voltage (and the adapter is smart enough to treat the US 110V vs the Australian 240V differently, but output the same DC for a computer).

Mechanically they are different - as in NOT THE SAME. You need to plug in adapters or swap out cords to make them work.

 

The "daisy chain" of multiple adapters - a slight exaggeration. HDMI is a subset of the DVI spec as far as video is concerned ... but adding in that digital audio layer turns it into a different beast. To fully realize HDMI, you need to deliver audio as well. Can that be done via the headphone jack? Do you need to use a USB audio dongle to transform into digital audio? Suddenly SAME AS become more complex. HDMI is mechanically different, and (optionally, but optimally in a growing number of cases) has audio capability. 

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post #49 of 101
6/4/12 at 8:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Splash-reverse View Post

 

There's nothing wrong with that. If you check motherboard designs they all feature the same. This thing have circuit boards in it too. It was designed to be use with USB cables hence the ports are at the back. This is also meant to stay in one place at all times. Besides, this is a docking station. If you want to use fat flash drives, use the port that's on your laptop. Simples!

Of course there's something wrong with it if it reduces functionality for no good or apparent reason. I'm not too fond of the close arrangement of ports on desktop PCs either, but the backplate is a standard fixed size so there's not really much to do about it.

 

Another solution would be to just fill up the back with USB ports. Three are not very many.

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post #50 of 101
6/4/12 at 8:48am

Holy Crap!

I can't believe how stupid these companies are. Haven't they even done a user case before they built these products?

I guess I have to get into the peripherals market.

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post #51 of 101
6/4/12 at 8:49am

I don't use my Thunderbolt port at all, but if I did, having it be used to connect to a hub for USB, Firewire, and eSATA devices would be pretty nice.

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post #52 of 101
6/4/12 at 9:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta View Post

What's with all the whining?
OK, maybe they're not going to win a beauty contest, but maybe the target audience is more interested in function than form.
Isn't it funny how the Apple haters claim that Mac users only buy Macs because of the appearance and that they're no different than PCs, but yet they're the first to jump on a product that doesn't meet their standards of beauty. Can you say 'hypocrite'?

Aesthetics aside, it has 1 USB3 port, 2 USB2 ports, no HDMI, no FW400/800 port(s), and an ethernet port. For $300. This has zero function because it has zero useable features. This thing is literally garbage and overprice by about $250. Not even worth manufacturing really.

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post #53 of 101
6/4/12 at 9:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HKZ View Post

Aesthetics aside, it has 1 USB3 port, 2 USB2 ports, no HDMI, no FW400/800 port(s), and an ethernet port. For $300. This has zero function because it has zero useable features. This thing is literally garbage and overprice by about $250. Not even worth manufacturing really.

Yet another "this device doesn't give a geek wet dreams so it must be garbage" comment.

Let's take a very common usage pattern. An executive who is traveling, but wants to use his same laptop in the office with a separate keyboard and monitor. S/he can leave the desktop keyboard and mouse, ethernet port, and monitor attached to the TB device. When s/he leaves the office, s/he removes one cable. When s/he returns, s/he plugs in one cable. It fulfills the function that docks used to do (and still do for some laptops).

So where does the 'zero function' and 'zero usable features' crap come from?
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post #54 of 101
6/4/12 at 9:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


Yet another "this device doesn't give a geek wet dreams so it must be garbage" comment.
Let's take a very common usage pattern. An executive who is traveling, but wants to use his same laptop in the office with a separate keyboard and monitor. S/he can leave the desktop keyboard and mouse, ethernet port, and monitor attached to the TB device. When s/he leaves the office, s/he removes one cable. When s/he returns, s/he plugs in one cable. It fulfills the function that docks used to do (and still do for some laptops).
So where does the 'zero function' and 'zero usable features' crap come from?

I have the apple bluetooth keyboard and magic trackpad along with a $3 cable connecting my thunderbolt port to an external monitor.

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post #55 of 101
6/4/12 at 10:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bizzle View Post

I have the apple bluetooth keyboard and magic trackpad along with a $3 cable connecting my thunderbolt port to an external monitor.

That's nice.

So as soon as you prove that your solution is perfect for everyone else in the world, then you might have a point.
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post #56 of 101
6/4/12 at 10:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta View Post

That's nice.
So as soon as you prove that your solution is perfect for everyone else in the world, then you might have a point.
Yep. I find the BT keyboard limiting for my work, and use a full USB keyboard so I get nav keys, and a dedicated keypad. I also use a magic trackpad, but installed a mobee rechargeable battery pack, so it is also tethered via a USB cable most of the time.

Oh noes! I've ruined the wireless desktop aesthetic. Doesn't worry me, and it enhances my productivity.

Your point about no solution being perfect for everybody is well taken.
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post #57 of 101
6/4/12 at 11:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by wizard69 View Post

Not really, this thing is a joke. If it had a pass through TB port and cost something like $125 it might be worth a discussion. Or if it had an internal drive or other redeeming value it might be worth considering. This doesn't even take into account the other shortcomings already pointed out.
I'm trying to resist yet another computer purchase this year and will try to milk my 2008 MBP for a bit longer. Crap like this hitting the market just means that it is much easier to put off the purchase. I want to see TB offer up some real value for the laptop owner.

I agree in a sense, but I don't think there's enough competition or volume to help push the prices down. The Thunderbolt bridge chip probably still costs $80 each.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lfmorrison View Post

DVI connections can also exist as an analog signal, or a digital signal without content encryption.  On the other hand, HDMI connections must be digital and they must be encrypted.

Encryption is not an absolute requirement to pass a legit HDMI signal, but it's necessary to have if you want to play any copy protected content because the entire chain needs to be encrypted before certain players will play copy protect flagged content. Otherwise a Blackmagic Intensity wouldn't be a legal product.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bizzle View Post

I have the apple bluetooth keyboard and magic trackpad along with a $3 cable connecting my thunderbolt port to an external monitor.

I don't know if it's possible to have a $3 Thunderbolt cable.

If you have external speakers, a docked drive and hook up a wired network, then this can be beneficial. This could be more useful, being a Matrox product, I'm surprised they don't have a Firewire connection, given a major part of Matrox's business is video encoding and such.
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post #58 of 101
6/4/12 at 11:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


You're not happy unless you're complaining about Mac products.

The ****? It's completely platform-agnostic.

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Ridiculous lucky captain rabbit king, lucky captain rabbit king nuggets are for the youth!
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post #59 of 101
6/4/12 at 11:47am

The Belkin has the all-important 2nd Thunderbolt port for chaining in other TB devices. I also prefer having the HDMI port (Belkin) vs. that ugly (and huge) DVI port in this Matrox dock and it just looks better. However, it doesn't have USB 3.0 (grrr...otherwise, it'd be the perfect dock!), which this one does have. Fortunately, Belkin can still do the right thing and incorporate USB 3.0 into its as yet unreleased docking station. :)

 

A lot of it depends on what the new Macs will look like. Intel's new "Ivy Bridge" CPUs support USB 3.0 at the chipset level, so Apple would have to disable it, which, quite frankly, would be outrageous considering that Macs are becoming more common. I also read that we might get two Thunderbolt ports on the 15" MBP, which could be helpful in several scenarios, too.

(Mid-2012) 15.4" MacBook Pro w/ IPS Retina Display | Quad Core i7-3720QM 2.6GHz / 3.6GHz Max. Turbo | 16GB DDR3-1600MHz RAM | 256GB Samsung 830 SSD-based NAND Flash ETA 9/5

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(Mid-2012) 15.4" MacBook Pro w/ IPS Retina Display | Quad Core i7-3720QM 2.6GHz / 3.6GHz Max. Turbo | 16GB DDR3-1600MHz RAM | 256GB Samsung 830 SSD-based NAND Flash ETA 9/5

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post #60 of 101
6/4/12 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


I don't know if it's possible to have a $3 Thunderbolt cable.

Not for a long time. I'm guessing that even at enormous volumes the chips at each end of the cable will never be cheap enough to reach that price point.

 

Intel has said that it's a long-term goal to move the standard completely to optical cabling, change the connector and eliminate the need for transceivers in the cables. At that point the cables would simply be a strand of glass, similar to a toslink cable.

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post #61 of 101
6/4/12 at 11:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post

I don't know if it's possible to have a $3 Thunderbolt cable.

This is the one my roommate and I bought:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5106&seq=1&format=2 

 

We got ours from Ebay for half the price (and free shipping) but monoprice is somewhere people might be more comfortable purchasing from.

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post #62 of 101
6/4/12 at 12:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bizzle View Post

This is the one my roommate and I bought:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5106&seq=1&format=2 

We got ours from Ebay for half the price (and free shipping) but monoprice is somewhere people might be more comfortable purchasing from.

Technically, that's not a Thunderbolt adapter. It's a mini-display port adapter.

Of course, since Apple used the mini display port connector for TB, it's hard to tell the difference.
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post #63 of 101
6/4/12 at 12:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


Yet another "this device doesn't give a geek wet dreams so it must be garbage" comment.
Let's take a very common usage pattern. An executive who is traveling, but wants to use his same laptop in the office with a separate keyboard and monitor. S/he can leave the desktop keyboard and mouse, ethernet port, and monitor attached to the TB device. When s/he leaves the office, s/he removes one cable. When s/he returns, s/he plugs in one cable. It fulfills the function that docks used to do (and still do for some laptops).
So where does the 'zero function' and 'zero usable features' crap come from?

Yet another idiot that can't see past the end of his nose. I didn't realize that I must find value in everything you do. What does this "dock" get you that isn't on any MacBook? A single USB3 port, and an ethernet jack for the Air. It off almost nothing else useful that you couldn't get with a monitor cable adapter. This has so much more potential yet Matrox decided to waste time and effort designing a dock that has the USB ports too close together, a shitload of wasted space that could be taken up with FW ports and a display port that is useful but could be complimented with an HDMI port. Yeah, it IS garbage because they are selling you an overpriced box with one useful port. Where does your sense of usefullness come from? A box of crackerjacks? This is worthless because adds almost nothing of value while having the potential to be a must have accessory. As it sits it's pretty much worthless for it's pricepoint because it doesn't add anything but a USB3 port that is waaay too close to it's neighbors. This is a $99 accessory, maybe $150. But that's pushing. At $250 it offers nothing that is of that high a value. It's 1/4 the way to a used Thunderbolt ACD and that has 3 times as many ports as this POS.

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post #64 of 101
6/4/12 at 12:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HKZ View Post

Yet another idiot that can't see past the end of his nose. What does this "dock" get you that isn't on any MacBook?

Please don't call people idiots. I don't care if you think it's justified, it's still a personal attack.

I don't think you read his comment at all. The point of a dock or port replicator is to provide one easy connection that fans out to lots of other ports. You make one connection and it plugs in a lot of other devices vs. manually plugging in six cables. The basic concept is still good, just the implementation might be a bit wanting. The point of a dock isn't to provide connectors that aren't already on the computer, it's to replicate most of those connections so it can be done in one shot.
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post #65 of 101
6/4/12 at 12:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


Please don't call people idiots. I don't care if you think it's justified, it's still a personal attack.
I don't think you read his comment at all. The point of a dock or port replicator is to provide one easy connection that fans out to lots of other ports. You make one connection and it plugs in a lot of other devices vs. manually plugging in six cables. The basic concept is still good, just the implementation might be a bit wanting. The point of a dock isn't to provide connectors that aren't already on the computer, it's to replicate most of those connections so it can be done in one shot.

 

Sorry, won't happen again. Yes, I did read his comment. This is still a worthless box because everything that is on Macbooks is not replicated here and having a Thunderbolt port is supposed to allow you to use faster devices without cable clutter. You get a single USB3 port and nothing else of value. The only thing it has going for it is that one USB3 port and even then it's still jammed up next to the other 2 USB ports which are USB2. They are backwards compatible so why only have one? Why have DVI and not include HDMI? The amount of money they want for this device doesn't add up to the features it has. Simple as that. It's completely pointless to buy this because it's overpriced with lame features. If it was $99 I'd be all about it, THAT would be a great deal. For $250 it at minimum needs FW ports and every USB port on it should be USB3. It's simply too much money for what it offers. Like I said, this is 1/4 the cost of a used Thunderbolt ACD and it's not lacking for anything. It's a waste of $250 as it sits. If they sold it for $99 it would be a very attractive product.

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post #66 of 101
6/4/12 at 12:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tokenuser View Post
Your point about no solution being perfect for everybody is well taken.

It's difficult to give any validity to his statement about it not being perfect for everybody given that this dock doesn't have firewire yet he's challenging everyone's opinion as to why we don't feel it's worth purchasing.

 

It also doesn't have two display ports or the capability to daisy chain thunderbolt devices making it functionally no different than the MDP cable I use (in regards to video).

 

So at best it's a hypocritical point and at worst it's simply trolling.

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post #67 of 101
6/4/12 at 12:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HKZ View Post

Sorry, won't happen again. Yes, I did read his comment. This is still a worthless box because everything that is on Macbooks is not replicated here and having a Thunderbolt port is supposed to allow you to use faster devices without cable clutter. You get a single USB3 port and nothing else of value. The only thing it has going for it is that one USB3 port and even then it's still jammed up next to the other 2 USB ports which are USB2. They are backwards compatible so why only have one? Why have DVI and not include HDMI? The amount of money they want for this device doesn't add up to the features it has. Simple as that. It's completely pointless to buy this because it's overpriced with lame features. If it was $99 I'd be all about it, THAT would be a great deal. For $250 it at minimum needs FW ports and every USB port on it should be USB3. It's simply too much money for what it offers. Like I said, this is 1/4 the cost of a used Thunderbolt ACD and it's not lacking for anything. It's a waste of $250 as it sits. If they sold it for $99 it would be a very attractive product.
I don't get is how you're determining the value for everyone based on the specs that are given. If a product doesn't suit your needs then don't buy it. It's really that simple. Are you against a company wanting to make a profit or do you have some secret list of component and manufacturing costs that you aren't sharing?

The Belkin dock for $50 more has FW800, USB ports spaced out slightly farther (as far as I can tell), and offers the TB passthrough for daisy-chaining. Considering what is needed for the additional features of the Belkin dock I think the Matrox price inline.

That said, neither one of these products are of no use to me so I won't buy either of them. It's that simple.

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post #68 of 101
6/4/12 at 12:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta View Post

As always, you seem to be confused about the difference between "I don't like it' and "no one could possibly like it"

 

As always, you end up attacking the person as confused or not understand Apple or whatever when it ends up being you that is wrong.

 

I and others expressed an opinion that this device sucks in comparison to the Belkin device despite not being all that much cheaper.  Frankly, this device as the feel of something designed for Windows.  DVI and colored coded audio ports?  They're designing for the next set of Windows 8 Ultrabooks that require either USB3 or TB to meet Intel specs IMHO.

 

Something actually interesting would be something along the lines of the Sony Power Media Dock for $499: AMD Radeon 6650M, BluRay, HDMI, VGA, USB2, USB3, GigE.

 

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&partNumber=VGPPRZ20A/B#specifications

 

So for MBA users a compelling dock for $499 would be:

 

AMD Radeon 6750M, TB/DisplayPort passthough, HDMI, 1xUSB3, 1xFW800, GigE, DVD burner (Blu-Ray would be too much to hope for).

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post #69 of 101
6/4/12 at 1:01pm
Quote:
"... and their small screens and keyboards make them uncomfortable to use in the office all day".

 

Hmmm...

 

iMac 21.5" doesn't see small screen and you can optionally choose a full size numeric keyboard. Also, the little bluetooth keyboard is also full size.

iMac 27" certainly isn't a small screen at all, and you have the same option for a numeric keyboard.

MacBook 15" is an average laptop with full keyboard.

MacBook 17" have the largest screen offered in laptops by any manufacturer.

MacBook 13" is an average small laptop with full keyboard.

MacBook Air 11" is an average mini laptop but with full keyboard. So, better than average.

 

I think this guy is liying.... 

 

lvidal.-
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post #70 of 101
6/4/12 at 1:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post
Considering what is needed for the additional features of the Belkin dock I think the Matrox price inline.

 

That's a lot to give up for $50.

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post #71 of 101
6/4/12 at 1:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bizzle View Post

It's difficult to give any validity to his statement about it not being perfect for everybody given that this dock doesn't have firewire yet he's challenging everyone's opinion as to why we don't feel it's worth purchasing.

 

It also doesn't have two display ports or the capability to daisy chain thunderbolt devices making it functionally no different than the MDP cable I use (in regards to video).

 

So at best it's a hypocritical point and at worst it's simply trolling.

Is it a "dock" I would buy? No ...

 

But for those that want to connect a monitor (DVI), set of external speakers (speaker port), keyboard (USB2), mouse (USB2), external drive (meh - maybe USB3), perhaps a mic (mic port). It does all that.

 

As @nht said, this feels like a windows Ultrabook product. I suspect it would be primarily marketed to that audience. But that doesnt mean it wont (or shouldnt) be used on a Mac. It is an option - not an especially good one, but if you have a budget, and cant quite go the extra to a Belkin (or an Apple display), then it fits the purpose. Since switching to the OSX world full time I sorely miss the docking stations of Dell, HP, and IBM/Lenovo - this is filling that gap ... but thats all it does.  

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post #72 of 101
6/4/12 at 1:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


I agree in a sense, but I don't think there's enough competition or volume to help push the prices down. The Thunderbolt bridge chip probably still costs $80 each.
Encryption is not an absolute requirement to pass a legit HDMI signal, but it's necessary to have if you want to play any copy protected content because the entire chain needs to be encrypted before certain players will play copy protect flagged content. Otherwise a Blackmagic Intensity wouldn't be a legal product.
I don't know if it's possible to have a $3 Thunderbolt cable.
If you have external speakers, a docked drive and hook up a wired network, then this can be beneficial. This could be more useful, being a Matrox product, I'm surprised they don't have a Firewire connection, given a major part of Matrox's business is video encoding and such.

 

The Eagle/Light Ridge chips are supposedly in the $20-$30 range.  Cactus Ridge I assume to be cheaper.

 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5403/cactus-ridge-understanding-the-new-more-affordable-thunderbolt-controller

 

Based on the specs I'd guess the Belkin is using the Cactus Ridge 4C and the Matrox the 2C or possibly older Eagle Ridge. 

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post #73 of 101
6/4/12 at 1:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HKZ View Post

Sorry, won't happen again. Yes, I did read his comment. This is still a worthless box because everything that is on Macbooks is not replicated here and having a Thunderbolt port is supposed to allow you to use faster devices without cable clutter. You get a single USB3 port and nothing else of value. The only thing it has going for it is that one USB3 port and even then it's still jammed up next to the other 2 USB ports which are USB2. They are backwards compatible so why only have one? Why have DVI and not include HDMI? The amount of money they want for this device doesn't add up to the features it has. Simple as that. It's completely pointless to buy this because it's overpriced with lame features. If it was $99 I'd be all about it, THAT would be a great deal. For $250 it at minimum needs FW ports and every USB port on it should be USB3. It's simply too much money for what it offers. Like I said, this is 1/4 the cost of a used Thunderbolt ACD and it's not lacking for anything. It's a waste of $250 as it sits. If they sold it for $99 it would be a very attractive product.

Yet another one.

The fact that it doesn't meet your needs doesn't make it worthless. Does your swelled head keep you from walking through doorways?

I've already highlighted (several times) a perfectly useful application for this device. It replaces a docking station - and is not that different than the price of other docking stations I've purchased in the past.

If you don't like it, don't buy it. Feel free to look for something else for $99 that meets your needs.

Oh, and btw, your logic fails. First, you say it's totally worthless. Then you say that it would be a very attractive product at $99. Obviously, you can't even keep track of your own views on the product through a single paragraph.
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post #74 of 101
6/4/12 at 1:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


Yet another one.
The fact that it doesn't meet your needs doesn't make it worthless. Does your swelled head keep you from walking through doorways?
I've already highlighted (several times) a perfectly useful application for this device. It replaces a docking station - and is not that different than the price of other docking stations I've purchased in the past.
If you don't like it, don't buy it. Feel free to look for something else for $99 that meets your needs.
Oh, and btw, your logic fails. First, you say it's totally worthless. Then you say that it would be a very attractive product at $99. Obviously, you can't even keep track of your own views on the product through a single paragraph.

 

Yet another reading comprehension fail on your part. At $250 it IS worthless. It's too much money for not enough product, I've said that more than once. Should I go back and point them out to you or are you going to ignore what I wrote to suit your own needs. At $99 it is an attractive product. Get the difference now? It's really not that hard to read. Does your swelled head keep you from being able to read? Someone with the logic you claim to have would see that if you're commenting on the fact that people don't like what's offered, then maybe the offerings aren't good enough for what Matrox wants for it. Did that ever occur to you or are you too busy being high and mighty? If you have to counter-argue with people that because they don't like something they should just not buy it, that may mean that the product isn't a good one. But you obviously knew that right?

 

If Apple released this, or something with the same port setup, would anyone buy it? No. Because it doesn't offer enough value for money. At $99 it would be a steal. At close to $300 after tax it's not worth it, by any stretch. I'm not going to buy it due to its design and offerings, and for the money I doubt it will sell enough to break even and that isn't going to give other hardware companies the confidence to enter this market and make better and cheaper alternatives. It simply is the wrong product for the wrong price in a very young market and I think offerings this poor will hurt the market overall and discourage others from entering it. Anyone that would pay close to $300 for this deserves to get ripped off. There is no reason this "dock" should cost what it does for what it offers. You'd effectively pay almost $300 for a single USB port. Sure it's convenient to have one cable, but what is the point of duplicating half the available ports on a MacBook and none of the good ones? It takes me literally 8 seconds to plug in everything I need to have plugged in. Acting as though this is some great time saver is laughable. IF this had all the avaiable ports that I use on my MacBook now, then it would be worth it. As it stands having one USB3 port and an ethernet jack isn't enough to justify almost $300. You still don't get TB pass through, you get no advantage of having FW go through the cable (which it was designed to do for cripes sake) and you have all the ports jammed up close to one another. Having this lead the way on TB external docks is a piss poor effort and doesn't help the market mature. Selling crap only hurts markets. Especially at this price because if they sell anything like a significant number of them, that tells the competition that they too can sell something that takes absolutely ZERO advantage of TB as it was designed and charge a ridiculous price for it. How they hell can anyone be okay with this dock not even taking half the advantage that the TB spec makes possible at an almost $300 price point? It's crap at this price.

 

I'll continue to voice my opinion and I'll continue to ignore you telling me what I should do. I have just as much freedom to voice my displeasure at this device as you have being the person that thinks they should go around policing the internet. I'll ignore what you have to say from here on out because frankly, I don't care that you think I shouldn't buy it and that I should just shut up about it. You have no place telling me what to do here.


Edited by HKZ - 6/4/12 at 2:07pm
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post #75 of 101
6/4/12 at 2:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HKZ View Post

Yet another reading comprehension fail on your part. At $250 it IS worthless. It's too much money for not enough product, I've said that more than once.

OK, so your point is that you don't understand the English language?

'Worthless':
"without worth; of no use, importance, or value; good-for-nothing:"

If it's worthless, it can't be a good deal at $99.

I'd suggest that you pay attention in your 3rd grade English class.
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post #76 of 101
6/4/12 at 5:35pm

Add me to the "this product is a loser" category.  Since USB 3.0 is backwards compatible to 2.0, why not give the user three USB 3.0 ports instead of one 3.0 and two 2.0?  Also, the article says HDMI and it's a DVI connector.  Why a DVI?  That's old technology. Yes, you can get a DVI to HDMI adapter - but at additional cost and additional hardware.  Why not add a Firewire?  There are lots of Firewire drives that Apple sold their customers on and not that Thunderbolt is out, Apple is abandoning Firewire.  That's okay, but I would like a nice Thunderbolt to Firewire at a reasonable cost.  $249 for the Matrox device is way too much money for this product.  Apple still has USB ports and the rumors indicate that USB will still be a part of the future Macs.  A hub is cheaper and easier.  A Thunderbolt to HDMI or DVI is way cheap compared to this product.  The Ethernet is fine.  Matrox will have a very limited market with this product. Belkin still has the features advantage even at $50 more.

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post #77 of 101
6/4/12 at 7:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


Please don't call people idiots. I don't care if you think it's justified, it's still a personal attack.

 

Maybe you need to repeat this to jargosta.

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post #78 of 101
6/4/12 at 7:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jragosta View Post

Oh, and btw, your logic fails. First, you say it's totally worthless. Then you say that it would be a very attractive product at $99. Obviously, you can't even keep track of your own views on the product through a single paragraph.

 

Really?  Do you actually not understand his point?   The only one around here with a swelled head is you.  Who made you forum nanny to repeatedly tell everyone else what opinions not to have?  

 

The consensus is that the product is a piece of crap for the price.  Get over yourself.

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post #79 of 101
6/4/12 at 8:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht View Post

Really?  Do you actually not understand his point?   The only one around here with a swelled head is you.  Who made you forum nanny to repeatedly tell everyone else what opinions not to have?  

The consensus is that the product is a piece of crap for the price.  Get over yourself.

No, the opinion of a few loud-mouthed individuals is that the product is crap.

First, you don't speak for everyone.

Second, even if you don't think it's a good value, that's not what I was objecting to. I was objecting to people saying that there was no use for it and NO ONE could ever possibly use it.
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post #80 of 101
6/4/12 at 11:01pm
Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinemagic View Post



Add me to the "this product is a loser" category.  Since USB 3.0 is backwards compatible to 2.0, why not give the user three USB 3.0 ports instead of one 3.0 and two 2.0?  Also, the article says HDMI and it's a DVI connector.  Why a DVI?  That's old technology. Yes, you can get a DVI to HDMI adapter - but at additional cost and additional hardware.  Why not add a Firewire?  There are lots of Firewire drives that Apple sold their customers on and not that Thunderbolt is out, Apple is abandoning Firewire.  That's okay, but I would like a nice Thunderbolt to Firewire at a reasonable cost.  $249 for the Matrox device is way too much money for this product.  Apple still has USB ports and the rumors indicate that USB will still be a part of the future Macs.  A hub is cheaper and easier.  A Thunderbolt to HDMI or DVI is way cheap compared to this product.  The Ethernet is fine.  Matrox will have a very limited market with this product. Belkin still has the features advantage even at $50 more.

 

I suppose the main reason for not including 3 usb ports is that 3 x usb 3.0 would be too much bandwidth at 15GB whereas the Thunderbolt port is rated at 10GB.

Since the specs state it's HDMI one might suspect the box will include an adapter at no extra cost.

 

I read elsewhere that the DVI port appears to be dual link, which is actually much more expensive than single and may account for the relatively high price tag.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by nht View Post

 

Really?  Do you actually not understand his point?   The only one around here with a swelled head is you.  Who made you forum nanny to repeatedly tell everyone else what opinions not to have?  

 

The consensus is that the product is a piece of crap for the price.  Get over yourself.

Please don't feed that troll. He's already dragging the thread all over the place with his pointless and rude commentary and it only serves to lend more importance to his posts than warranted.

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