CalDigit TS4 is the best dock I've used. I tried several. I get 2.5 GB Ethernet, two external 4k monitors, and much throughput.
I had two expensive caldigit docks (TS3 i believe). One was warranty replacement for the first one. Each died after about a year.
After that I had an expensive alogic dock. Seemed great when it was working, but after just over a year it went dead (warranty is for two years).
The dock i had is out of stock. After weeks of “checking” I was offered an exchange for a cheaper version (whatever) that doesn’t include features i rely on (3 screens).
As “compensation” I was offered about 30% of the original price, since “the item was used”.
Thanks but no thanks. Standard amortization time for computer equipment is 5 years. And in either case, who has patience to go for weeks without their familiar computing environment? And my cost is replacement of the item, i did not rent it.
I got a Kensington dock sold by amazon at slightly less than the original price of that one, with better features and a brand name that is worth more than the piece of paper it is written on.
We’ll see how it lasts
So, I've been using a CalDigit TS3 Plus device for the last two or three years. I have USB 3, Ethernet, and DisplayPort going out from it, and a Thunderbolt cable going into it. Other than sometimes having to unplug and replug the DisplayPort cable to get the screen to wake [0], it works fine.
[0] To make this easy, I have an F<->F coupler near the display that doesn't have latches. I just slip out one end of the cable from the coupler and slip it back in. Quick and easy, if slightly annoying that I have to do it at all.
There's the proliferation of both "manager speak" and "self-help coach vocabulary", but that's (sadly) not unique to HN.
Nah, there's no need to apologize. If folks don't want to read and/or participate in the subthread that changes the topic, then they can just fold up the subthread using the handy "fold up the subthread" button.
And yeah, with the exception of the fellow who called it "HN slang" (or whatever) the folks who replied to you all have good answers to your question.
Given that i had a third unrelated dock fail recently it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suspect something on my end might be causing this, but then again that’s the only hardware that failed on me in a while and i don’t do anything that unusual besides having 3x4k screens plugged into it and the occasional mouse charging/flash drive drawing power off it.
In all cases the PSU of the dock died with it (but also the docks themselves) so i suspect current DL chipsets overheat and eventually burn out when pushing clost to their max resolution.
I don't push it too often, but when I do, it's fast enough to play six or more concurrent 1080p video layers in Resolume from a single Gen4x4 NVMe. It's not as fast as my M1's internal storage, but it does the job.
I have this device and don't have this problem? I have a couple of self-powered hubs downstream of this thing and have plugged them into the USB-A-shaped ports on the back.
I don't have any downstream Thunderbolt devices plugged into this thing. Maybe that's the major difference between my setup and the author's? (Or maybe I'm running better firmware on this thing than he is?)
I found this blog post, switched to one of the ASMedia ports (the rear 10 Gbps USB-C port or the most left-hand USB-A port) and both of the Ethernet controllers are rock-solid now.
I now have it in the Thunderbolt port which ekes out another 100 Mbps or so compared to the ASMedia USB ports.
The blog post is probably a bit sensationalistic but I still can't recommend the dock to anyone when half the ports on it are flakey, especially at that price.
> ...I still can't recommend the dock to anyone when half the ports on it are flakey, especially at that price.
This is understandable.
However, I'm pleased with my purchase and I'm only using the built-in Ethernet port, the built-in DisplayPort port, and a couple of USB ports. If it lasts me five years, I will have paid ~60 USD per year, which I think is a bargain when you compare it to fighting with something that's flaky no matter what you do, or just fails after a year or two... requiring you to go on the hunt for a new "dock".
Honestly, I think it's pretty damn stupid to have so many USB ports on the thing to begin with. Decent USB hubs are inexpensive; remove all but one or two of the USB ports and use now-spare bandwidth to put additional DisplayPort ports on the thing!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CMT7WMVM
Note that as all docks it requires displaylink software on mac to use more than one screen, and the software is a bit buggy - needs to be restarted every couple of times i reconnect to the dock for the displays to work right. TBH this is the first dock i experience this with but then again os and software updates, and ive seen weird flaky behavior before, just not specifically this.
> On Mac systems, dual display is only supported on M1 Pro/Max, M2 Pro/Max, M3 Pro/Max, and M4/Pro/Max systems
So if you're still on an OG M1 it won't work for you.
That requires DP.
Still incorrect.
What you actually have to use is two thunderbolt ports on the MacBook. Then you can power not just two but four 6K screens, as each TB port can push 2 externals (in addition to built-in screen).
So this iVANKY dock is native TB quad screen, for example:
https://www.amazon.com/FusionDock-Thunderbolt-Monitor-Dockin...