Maybe I missed it but the Belkin Thunderbolt dock is shipping $310 w/ tb cable at Amazon

[C(-)ris]

I think under $200 is the reasonable price point. Needs to have 2 TB, 4 USB 3, 1 FW, HDMI and DVI, gigabit Ethernet.

[Gareth]

Would like to see this particular dock around $200, but what I really want to see is a true Thunderbolt Hub (i.e. one TB port to many TB ports). There are just too many TB devices out there with only 1 TB port, which doesn't make sense because then you can't daisy chain them and it's incredibly annoying when you only have 1 TB port to begin with and also need to use an external (non-TB) monitor.

[Lew Zealand]

OWC Larry wrote:
What price and what connectivity would make this a winner for you all?

Hi Larry,

For me, all I need is USB3 (I have the same gen Mini as pRICE). If I could get 2xTB (for passthru) and 3x USB3 for $150, I'd be happy. I assume that the MBAir & Retina people might like Gigabit Enet and maybe FW800 or DVI out in addition for $199, but for me it's all about 1 feature - USB3.

[bfd]

Lew Zealand wrote:
[quote=OWC Larry]
What price and what connectivity would make this a winner for you all?

Hi Larry,

For me, all I need is USB3 (I have the same gen Mini as pRICE). If I could get 2xTB (for passthru) and 3x USB3 for $150, I'd be happy. I assume that the MBAir & Retina people might like Gigabit Enet and maybe FW800 or DVI out in addition for $199, but for me it's all about 1 feature - USB3.
Ditto. Don't need the Gigabit ethernet or FW 800. TB port can be used to make a DVI or HDMI or whatever video out you need. Price at $150-$160.

At $300 - for a few hundred more, as some mentioned, you can get a Mac Mini and get a computer with these ports, too. Unfortunately, the current Mini has only one TB port.

Even a hard drive enclosure with a TB pass-through would work here.

[SKYLANE]

OWC Larry

Just picked up the Mercury Rack Pro (http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20W...P1UF8U3EP/) from you folks. Love it. Now, to make it faster.

I was starting to get unreliable performance out of file transfers within my G5 Server, so decided it was time to retire the unit. So, I transferred drives and set up RAID-5 with four 3TB WD Red Drives. With other drives hooked up to PowerMacG5 along with Rack Pro via FW800, transferring 3 TB of data to Rack Pro took for hours. I assume this would have gone faster had these units been hooked up to a unit with USB 3 or eSATA (two interfaces that I don't have). I have a 2011 2.0 GHz MacMini Server 10.8 that I can use with the Rack Pro. Or, even with my MacBookPro, I think I got this in 2011 too, Maybe 2012. Both with Thunderbolt (fastest), FireWire 800, and USB2.

The Rack Pro has USB3, eSATA, FireWire 400/800. I would like to use the fastest connection possible on the Rack Pro when attached to my computers. How do I do that, USB3 to Thunderbolt adapter? (Buy the new MacPro and call it a day! :-) ) Will the Matrox DS1/HDMI make that connection for me? The $249 price point for that has currently held me back from purchasing the unit, plus I am not in need of the other docking features (maybe). (I considered the LaCie eSATA/Thunderbolt Hub, but it didn't offer Port Multiplier, which not really needed utilizing RAID-5 I guess.)

NOTE: By the way, to those of you here that may have been interested in the Rack Pro, I bought it new for $449 at beginning of the month. Some open box units were in garage sale for $299, killer deal. Wish I had seen those first! ;-)

[Fritz]

$200 I'd be there, but at this price it's not a priority, just a convenience.
I wish it had 1/4" jacks for the audio side. I don't trust 3.5mm for much time, unless those happen to be a hi quality blocked chassis mount.
I'm sure it's locked up in development and licensing, but I don't think Belkin put their best foot forward at this price. It's still made in China for $2.50/hr.

Now if this was made in the US for $15/hr, I'd buy tmrw.
Not that $15 is any great shakes, but ......

[MrNoBody]

I'm sorry, but given their poor track record;
nothing with the Belkin brand on it is worth $300.

I guess the Monster offering will be $999 :emoticon-tv-015:

[Speedy]

C(-)ris wrote:
I think under $200 is the reasonable price point. Needs to have 2 TB, 4 USB 3, 1 FW, HDMI and DVI, gigabit Ethernet.

This! Except a third TB port. With only two, one goes to the Mac leaving only one useable.

[JoeH]

Speedy wrote:
[quote=C(-)ris]
I think under $200 is the reasonable price point. Needs to have 2 TB, 4 USB 3, 1 FW, HDMI and DVI, gigabit Ethernet.

This! Except a third TB port. With only two, one goes to the Mac leaving only one useable.
Why? Since TB is daisy-chainable like FW, a third port is not needed as long as other peripherals have two ports. That is what I would be more concerned about, having as many TB externals with two ports. TB is not like USB where you have to use a multi-port hub.

[C(-)ris]

JoeH wrote:
[quote=Speedy]
[quote=C(-)ris]
I think under $200 is the reasonable price point. Needs to have 2 TB, 4 USB 3, 1 FW, HDMI and DVI, gigabit Ethernet.

This! Except a third TB port. With only two, one goes to the Mac leaving only one useable.
Why? Since TB is daisy-chainable like FW, a third port is not needed as long as other peripherals have two ports. That is what I would be more concerned about, having as many TB externals with two ports. TB is not like USB where you have to use a multi-port hub.
Exactly, every TB product should have 2 ports. This should be a requirement for the spec.