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  • jabber - Friday, February 12, 2016 - link

    Thunderbolt - kept so pricey and exclusive, the rest of the world moved on. Tough!
  • blackcrayon - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    You mean the world moved on to Thunderbolt 3? You should be excited, it'll finally be feasible (and intel supported) to connect a GTX 980ti to an ultrabook.
  • jabber - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    I'm sure it will be Thunderbolt 5 before I and 99% of the world is even mildly interested. If it's still around by then.
  • lazarpandar - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Hey if they can interest almost the entire planet in just two more iterations I'd say the product is, and I mean this seriously, the most successful product ever made.
  • dsumanik - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    This is the dock Mac users have been waiting for, every other design has had a fatal flaw... But this one should have been priced at 249 so most of us will be waiting for the stock to build up a the corresponding clearance sale Before the TB3 version arrives
  • pixelstuff - Sunday, February 14, 2016 - link

    I think it is going to be a while before it comes close to being as successful as USB.
  • abrowne1993 - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Did someone forget to tell StarTech about Thunderbolt 3?
  • smorebuds - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Nope. Did you forget to finish reading the whole article?
  • abrowne1993 - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    You mean the author's total speculation on the use of Thunderbolt 2?
  • StarTech.com - Tuesday, February 16, 2016 - link

    Hi,
    StarTech.com has many Thunderbolt 3 products coming soon and some available now, check out our Thunderbolt 3 site for more information: http://www.startech.com/USB-C/Thunderbolt-3
  • ABR - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Finally, the ability to connect two monitors to a docking station, about 5 years late, but hey! But why display port, not HDMI, especially since the two daisied thunderbolt ports could presumably already handle DP output?
  • pixelstuff - Sunday, February 14, 2016 - link

    Maybe HDMI is more expensive to license?
  • DanaGoyette - Friday, February 19, 2016 - link

    Why would you cripple a device by offering ONLY HDMI, when DisplayPort can drive everything else including HDMI? You can't really use HDMI to drive a 4k LCD at 60Hz, or drive a 2560x1440 LCD at 144Hz.

    Also, using the chaining output for a monitor isn't enough -- what if I want to use more than one DisplayPort monitor?
  • danjw - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Why Thunderbolt 2 now? Startech is a bit behind the curve here, with Thunderbolt 3 already available and the Alpine Ridge controller cheaper.
  • benzosaurus - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Probably because there currently exist TB3->TB2 adapters (or at least an adapter, also made by StarTech I believe), but not the other way around. And for the very vast majority of things, it doesn't really matter.
  • m2inor - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    While the Thunderbolt 3 spec describes a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 converter, none are shipping, nor are any docks. Yes, there are several Thunderbolt 3 laptops and computers shipping today, no devices are as yet. Looks like there is still lots of work yet to be done on the device and cable side.

    Thunderbolt 3 cables will come in 2 flavors: passive cables with Type-C connectors on each end, good for speeds up to 20 Gbps, and active cables with Type-C connectors on each end required for 40 Gbps speeds. The Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 conversion is an active cable. Ideally, that converter should be bi-directional, but this may be difficult.

    As for the Startech Dock, it looks god, but will likely not do any better than the docks already available at a lower price. Getting a dock to work with all the possible devices is a big task. Surely, it is certified, but I expect many potential compatibility issues.

    USB 3.1 Gen 2 potentially could take out a lot of Thunderbolt 3 promise, as it is sufficient for most people's uses connecting a hard drive or SSD drive. Today's Thunderbolt 3 implementations are really limited to connecting USB devices only for the time being. Recall that Thunderbolt 3 implementations today also support USB 3.1 gen 2 devices due to the capabilities of the Intel Alpine Ridge chipset.

    Thunderbolt 3 ports do have one attractive capability that will be useful for USB and Thunderbolt devices: 15w of power guaranteed. This is probably the single most "good thing" to say for this Type-C port.

    Who knows, someday Apple may actually eventually ship computers and laptops equipped with Thunderbolt 3 ports. Until then, it will be slow going.
  • Lerianis - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    What compatibility issues? With USB 1 - 3.1, if it fits into the port, it works!
    Same thing for Thunderbolt from what I have seen.
  • bill44 - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Still looking for a reason to get exited about TB.
    If I take DP (which I can get already, and soon be v1.3, that even TB v.1.3 will not support) out of the equation, what are we left with?
    Storage? Would be nice to have an external enclosure with 1x M.2 (or 2x M.2 in RAID mode) in it that supports PCIe 3.0 x 4, but no such thing exist. All external TB storage boxes support max. SSD speeds (~560MB/s) (Key B) or in RAID mode <1K MB/s (which is the same if you use USB 3.1 Gen2). 1x M.2 (key M i.e. PCIe3.0x4) should be able to saturate USB3.1 Gen2, or provide full speed over TB 3.1 if the correct bridge chip be available. But it's not the case. As such, what are we left with?
    I'm not a gamer, but love to have fast external storage solution. If Intel can squeeze DP v1.3 with FreeSync and HDMI 2.0a (alt modes) into TB v1.3 and chip vendors can create proper M.2 keyM PCI2 3.0x4 to TB chipsets, then YES I would be interested.
  • Osamede - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Kinda lost me on the sale at "Startech".....
  • kaidenshi - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Why? Out of all the gadget brands on Amazon and Newegg, Startech and Anker have been consistently good. I've had one Startech item arrive DOA in the past few years I've been buying them, and their reviews show them to be a solid if not phenomenal brand. They are the Rosewill of the gadget space; good enough, cheap enough, diverse enough.
  • Zak - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    Does this give you full speed over USB3 ports? I have the OWC dock and all USB3 ports max out at around 350MB/s. I basically bought it to add USB3 to an older iMac. All I really wanted was a 6-port Tb-to-USB3 hub. Thunderbolt is even worse disaster than FW800 was. Expensive and half-assed.
  • Notmyusualid - Saturday, February 13, 2016 - link

    So its wireless then?

    I see no cables for the two monitors, speakers, keyboard, nor mouse in the leading picture..

    :)
  • beginner99 - Monday, February 15, 2016 - link

    Good idea badly executed. How will invest $350 in an already outdated thing? No USB 3.1 and no type C-Connector. Also 3 USB ports is too little. You will need 2 just for mouse and Keyboard leaving you with 1 usable.
  • Murloc - Monday, February 15, 2016 - link

    if you have a need for a dock you can use a wireless set with 1 universal connector too.
  • BrokenCrayons - Tuesday, February 16, 2016 - link

    Giving up functionality in the name of making something thinner seems to have reached a point where too much is being sacrificed. Cooling, external ports, and structural strength are diminished in the name of making a computer thinner. I don't have objections to a laptop if it's 2 inches thick instead of one. I might start frowning a bit over a 3 inch thick notebook as I think we rightfully have moved onward from that sort of thing, but what I consider acceptable is clearly not the direction the industry is taking. Of course, thickness matters in mobile handsets and tablets much more due to the way they're used and the role they must fill, but no one expects a great deal of external connectivity in one of those devices.

    In any event, a docking solution over TB is a solution to an artificially created problem that lacks elegance. Short range wireless connectivity to external devices like monitors would be ideal. Use wifi or bluetooth for other components like external storage or interface devices respectively. Hopefully, the industry will eventually unify those standards into a single one, but we're probably pretty far away from a solution like that. Meh.

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