Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock (Compatible with Thunderbolt 2 Technology), Cable Sold Separately

Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock (Compatible with Thunderbolt 2 Technology), Cable Sold Separately..

GET Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock (Compatible with Thunderbolt 2 Technology), Cable Sold Separately By BELKIN

Most helpful customer reviews

155 of 171 people found the following review helpful.
A good but flawed attempt from Belkin
By Ken Gruberman
I'm the "Tech Daddy" on the Huffington Post, and I really wanted to like this device -- really! I'd been tracking it since it was first announced a little less than 2 years ago. At one time I chalked it up to vaporware, as the release date kept changing. But finally it was here and I couldn't wait to order it.

After all that anticipation, I'm sorry to say the device is is less than stellar, for the following reasons:

1. YOU CANNOT BOOT FROM IT -- nowhere online or in any print materials does Belkin mention this. Even on their own website they don't bring it up! BTW, there is no manual for the device; only an FAQ, and it's pretty paltry. Anyway, I had backed up a client's Mac to their new USB 3 external drive, and I used the Dock to connect that drive as their MacBook Pro doesn't have USB 3 ports. But it DOES have Thunderbolt! Using the Dock, the backup speeds were very impressive, indeed. HOWEVER ... I found that I could not boot from that drive, or any connected device, because they weren't recognized at startup. Bad Belkin!

2. THE ESATA PORT IS GONE -- originally the device as described by Belkin was going to have an eSata port. But when I unboxed the product, there was none to be found. I since learned that Belkin revised the device TWICE since its original announcement, and decided to drop the eSata port. That was one of the main reasons I wanted it: to use the eSata ports on my external drives. I did manage a workaround, though: I got a $30 eSata to USB3 cable and did it that way.

3. USB3 SPEED IS LIMITED TO 2.5GB/S -- the promise of unleashing full 5GB/S USB3 speed will have to wait for another day. For whatever reason, Belkin very quietly, and in small print, says 2.5GB/S is the maximum using the Dock. Really?

4. YOU MUST USE OS X 10.8.4 FOR THE DOCK TO FUNCTION ON A MAC -- not a huge problem, except when I tried to backup my client's drive from their Mac running OS X 10.7.5. The idea was to back it up, then completely reformat the machine for a new user. Instead I had to waste 20 minutes updating the system to 10.8.4 before I could start the backup. I *think* I still saved time overall, but not that much.

As for what some others have complained about -- flaky behavior or devices disappearing off the desktop -- I didn't see any of that. However, the caveats I just listed are enough for me to send it back and wait for Sonnet's even MORE expensive, but also WAY more juicy Echo 15 with 15 -- count 'em -- 15 ports! The Echo 15 will not only feature bootability and eSata, but a built-in DVD or Blu-Ray drive AND a traditional or SSD drive as well. For what I'm looking for, that'll be a lot better I'm sure.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful.
Hot plugin doesn't work correctly with this box
By larry
This dock station doesn't handle the hot plugin correctly. Each time I connect it to MacBook Retina laptop with the thunderbolt cable, it simply messes up my monitor settings, and I need to restart my MacBook Retina laptop to recover from it. So stay away from this dock station.

49 of 53 people found the following review helpful.
This solution didn't work for me
By Yakov Fain
Wanted to find a solution that would let me to disconnect just one wire from my MacBook Pro (Spring '11). Got it yesterday. Returned today for the following reasons:

1. I'm using hardwire connection, but the ethernet jack has some issues: after working for a couple of hours it'd lose connection. Belkin's tech support suggested to unplug the power for 10 sec. I did, and it helped for a couple of more hours... Not sure if it was a problem of this particular unit.

2. I'm using an external mike that's connected to my MacBook with optical cable via the Line In input. But this dock doesn't have replication of the Line In input - the have a jack for the mike, but it's not the same. So I was not able to hook up my high quality mike to the dock.

3. When I plugged my iPhone charger to the USB on the dock the iTunes didn't see my iPhone. So synchronization from iTunes didn't work.

I guess, this device may have some use for other people, but not for me. On the positive note I have to say that returning of this unit was pretty easy - they emailed me a prepaid UPS shipping slip.

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