I'm buying a Thunderbolt 2 dock. I do lots of film editing. Any advice?
- Thread starter oxband
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2008
- Messages
- 65,248
- Reaction score
- 1,833
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Keller, Texas
- Your Mac's Specs
- 2017 27" iMac, 10.5" iPad Pro, iPhone 8, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 Mini, Numerous iPods, Monterey
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2006
- Messages
- 26,561
- Reaction score
- 677
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Texas, where else?
- Your Mac's Specs
- 15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
I have been looking pretty hard myself just the last couple of days. I've not yet found another dock with the port selection of the OWC dock.
Compare the specs.
OWC dock vs the RocketStor, try:
5 USB 3.0 ports instead of 2,
An HDMI port (with 4k support) vs none,
a FW800 port vs none,
it's $60-$100 cheaper,
and a company that I have had really good customer service experiences with...
I can't think of a reason I'd spend more money to get less on a brand I know nothing about.
Since I have an eSATA external RAID, would like to have seen an eSATA port, but since there are TB to eSATA adapters available, that's likely something I can live with. Been looking for a dock that has both FW800 and eSATA so I don't have to plug one of them into the end of a TB chain , but doesn't look like anyone has them both.
Plus it will permit booting from external drives via TB, FW, ethernet and with 2013 or newer Mac from the USB ports.
The one item the RocketStor does have is separate lanes for each of it's 2 USB ports. If 2 USB ports are enough and you have 2 devices that can actually read/write (make use of the bandwidth) at those speeds, be using them both simultaneously and you're not using TB for those devices, it could make sense for some buyers. They also list conflicting info related to the USB ports - the front page advertises high ouput 1.5A, but their faq says each port is only 1A.
Compare the specs.
OWC dock vs the RocketStor, try:
5 USB 3.0 ports instead of 2,
An HDMI port (with 4k support) vs none,
a FW800 port vs none,
it's $60-$100 cheaper,
and a company that I have had really good customer service experiences with...
I can't think of a reason I'd spend more money to get less on a brand I know nothing about.
Since I have an eSATA external RAID, would like to have seen an eSATA port, but since there are TB to eSATA adapters available, that's likely something I can live with. Been looking for a dock that has both FW800 and eSATA so I don't have to plug one of them into the end of a TB chain , but doesn't look like anyone has them both.
Plus it will permit booting from external drives via TB, FW, ethernet and with 2013 or newer Mac from the USB ports.
The one item the RocketStor does have is separate lanes for each of it's 2 USB ports. If 2 USB ports are enough and you have 2 devices that can actually read/write (make use of the bandwidth) at those speeds, be using them both simultaneously and you're not using TB for those devices, it could make sense for some buyers. They also list conflicting info related to the USB ports - the front page advertises high ouput 1.5A, but their faq says each port is only 1A.
Last edited:
C
chas_m
Guest
Highpoint makes some great stuff, I am not in a position to do a direct comparison but I can vouch for the quality of their products.
As for buying a Thunderbolt 2 dock, I have a feeling prices on them are going to start declining soon:
Thunderbolt 3 brings 40Gb/s to USB-C physical connector | MacNN
As for buying a Thunderbolt 2 dock, I have a feeling prices on them are going to start declining soon:
Thunderbolt 3 brings 40Gb/s to USB-C physical connector | MacNN
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2006
- Messages
- 26,561
- Reaction score
- 677
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Texas, where else?
- Your Mac's Specs
- 15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Well, I couldn't wait. My OWC TB2 dock arrived yesterday and will be getting it set up over the weekend.
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.