The sleek, aluminum-encased Thunderbolt Express Dock from Belkin lets you use a single cable and a “single connection to create high-speed, reliable transfers between your laptop and up to eight other devices, including FireWire, Ethernet, USB, and daisy chaining multiple Thunderbolt devices.” With two Thunderbolt connectors (one upstream, one downstream), you’ll be able to daisy-chain up to five more Thunderbolt devices to your computer. You can connect a total of eight devices to your computer using the USB 3.0 and Firewire 800 connectors in combination with the Thunderbolt port. You’ll also find a Gigabit Ethernet connector and audio jacks for headphones and a microphone.
The Thunderbolt Express Dock is $299.99, and it’s a easy way to add desktop features to your MacBook Pro or Air or even to add a lot of extra ports to your iMac or Mac mini.
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At last it’s for sale. Nice. I like the way they have put a groove through the case instead of a front port. Sadly my understanding is I can’t use it to drive a mini display port 27″ apple display from my macbook air. Can someone post if they find this does work ?
I’m typing on a machine who’s Thunderbolt chain looks like this:
MacMini (2011) –> LaCie eSATA Hub –> LaCie 2big Thunderbolt –> Seagate Backup Plus Desk with Thunderbolt –> Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock –> HP ZR2740w (via Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort adapter cable) at 2560×1440.
So yes, it works fine to “drive” a 27″ display via Mini DisplayPort. (To be exact, the Mac is driving the display. The signal is just passing through the Thunderbolt devices.)
See here:
http://www.belkin.com/us/support-article?rnId=8432
Also, many of the reviews have tested this with various displays — including the 27″ Apple Cinema and Thunderbolt displays — and it works just fine. It’s a standard daisy-chainable Thunderbolt device.
Thanks Josh. I also found this which gives the same positive answer.
http://www.macworld.com/article/2037026/review-belkins-thunderbolt-express-dock-lets-you-get-plugged-in-easily.html
Excellent news.