Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Computers & Peripherals => Topic started by: Kevin Gallagher on June 23, 2017, 02:51:19 pm

Title: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: Kevin Gallagher on June 23, 2017, 02:51:19 pm

 Hi to all, I've just purchased a new MBP and I was looking for guidance in selecting a "dongle" for lack of a better word. Below is one I had tentatively settled on but I'm seeing many less than stellar reviews, mostly saying that the connection to the MBP's ports is very fragile and tenuous at best. Can any of you suggest an alternative or relate your experiences with this item? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!!

(http://www.pbase.com/keving/image/165711687.jpg)

Kevin In CT
Kevin Gallagher

Title: Re: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: rdonson on June 23, 2017, 04:25:15 pm

There seem to be a number of companies supplying USB-C "hubs" like this.  They all seem to be fragile in their choice of connection to the MBP.  IMHO not the most robust design but I suspect a lot of people will find the sleek look appealing especially for road warriors not wanting to carry a wall wart.

If you're looking for a more robust solution you might consider something like this:

http://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-3-dock/thunderbolt-station-3-lite/

or

http://caldigit.com/usb-3-1-usb-c-dock/

Title: Re: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: paulster on June 23, 2017, 05:14:57 pm

Matt Granger did a comparison (including some performance tests) on a bunch just recently, so he gives some good pros and cons of a bunch of them here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZSnRjDRrvY

Title: Re: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: rdonson on June 23, 2017, 06:43:09 pm

Matt did a good comparison.  Thanks for sharing.

I kind of favor CalDigit just because they were among the very first to get onboard with Thunderbolt.  I have a CalDigit for Thunderbolt 1 and another for Thunderbolt 2 and they've never hiccupped and have performed as promised.  They are a bit of a brick though.  As Matt would say, exactly what you'd want in the studio.

With my MacBook Pro I just stick with USB 3.0.  I'm mostly unloading from my SD UHS-II cards to an external SSD.  That's about all I do when I'm travelling and USB 3.0 is more than sufficient for that task. 

I'm into photography and don't do video production.

Title: Re: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: Kevin Gallagher on June 24, 2017, 03:29:47 pm

 Ron and Paul, thank you both very much for your replies. In truth, I am looking for a portable type of solution as I would like to be able to do some light video editing and posting of happenings at my sportsmen's club. I already take and post still photos of most activities but it would be nice to be able to shoot some videos, then process and post them while still in the "field" so to speak. At the moment we are having the devil's own time with a couple of Osprey, it seems that as soon as the fishing pond is stocked these two go to work. Of course the first ones to go are the Golden Trout as they are the most visible. I'd also dearly love to be able to get some good stills of this pair in action.

 Thanks Again Guys!!

 Kevin in CT
 Kevin Gallagher

Title: Re: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: Joe Towner on June 26, 2017, 02:25:20 am

Hey Kevin,

I think the biggest issue is by adding these sidecar type devices, it's really putting pressure & torque on the port itself.  If the OWC DEC https://www.owcdigital.com/dec was out, that would be your ideal solution, but here we wait.

-Joe

Title: Re: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: rdonson on June 26, 2017, 11:12:01 am

Joe, that looks VERY clever!!!!

Title: Re: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: Kevin Gallagher on June 26, 2017, 12:13:37 pm

 Hi Joe, I fully agree with Ron about the OWC thing, I fear that it may end up costing darn near as much as the laptop did!! Nonetheless it is an extremely elegant solution!

 Kevin in CT
 Kevin Gallagher

Title: Re: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: ralfe89 on July 23, 2017, 01:36:50 pm

I have my first MacBook Pro 13'' (and first Mac ever) for a week now and so far very satisfied with what I got.
The port situation was also something I put some thoughts into what to buy and got from day one the following USB C multiport dock: https://www.i-tec-europe.eu/?t=3&v=477
It works, quite versatile and so far copying data from a SD card and parallel copy something on a connected 2.5'' drive doesn't influence the speeds at all. Both went on what the hardware was capable to send/receive :)

So far I'll buy a dedicated USB A to C adapter. If you want to only connect a single device it's more compact as always the big hub.
The big hub cost me 70€ in Germany.

Maybe this helps in your own decisions :)

Title: Re: Advice On Port expansion For 2017 MacBook Pro
Post by: Cornfield on July 25, 2017, 05:39:08 pm

I'm a PC user but I have a friend who rates the Pluggable triple display dock very highly.