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While that's interesting I'm seeing no displayport or hdmi ports on this thing. So it's limited to using monitors that have USB-C/thunderbolt connections, or b

by Nursie 4y ago

While that's interesting I'm seeing no displayport or hdmi ports on this thing. So it's limited to using monitors that have USB-C/thunderbolt connections, or buying special thunderbolt->displayport cables (I say 'special' purely because I don't own any, I'm sure they're available), or dongle/dock chaining. I thought the point of a dock was to expand the ports to things you might realistically want!

lmm 4y ago
It's a premium device, they already dropped displayport in the previous iteration. High-end monitors have been thunderbolt for a while now. While I wouldn't say no to a few extra connectors, the main point is that it's something you can leave on your desk with all your desk stuff plugged into it.
- Nursie 4y ago
  > High-end monitors have been thunderbolt for a while now. How "high end" do we need to go before this is true? My old 32"/4K/60Hz BenQ EW3270U certainly does, but my much newer 32"/4K/144Hz Dell G3223Q[1] doesn't for whatever reason, it's certainly not ubiquitous. > the main point is that it's something you can leave on your desk with all your desk stuff plugged into it. Yes, and such a device would be better with a more varied array of connectors. That's what it's for! I understand premium laptops dropping ports to maintain their looks, and be thin and light, portable and sleek. As an M1 Air owner, I am totally down with that. But then a dock that itself needs more adapters to connect to extremely common interfaces ... that's not a good dock or a 'premium' selling point. ([1] approx 1100USD when it launched last year, I know that's hardly the peak of high-end but it's hardly cheap either)
  - CobaltFire 4y ago
    Another G3223Q user in the wild! On topic I was kind of put off by no USB-C, but a simple adapter cable from some Amazon brand works perfect on both a DELL laptop and my MBP M1. This monitor is amazing for the money though. I paid $400 + tax + shipping during Black Friday and it was an absolute STEAL.
    - Nursie 4y ago
      Yeah, I ended up paying around $850 (AUD) at around the same time, I agree it's a steal at that price! Great screen. I really should do some more gaming on it but it works great for office use too. I was surprised that there was no usb-c when it arrived too! I have a Dell D6000 dock for my M1 Air that's got some sort of DisplayLink hardware built in, so I get the ports and with Displaylink Manager installed it can drive however many screens you like. The only issue there is streaming services refuse to work (I don't think the dock does HDCP). But that's fine...
- htag 4y ago
  > High-end monitors have been thunderbolt for a while now. This is not true. Many high end monitors do not support thunderbolt. Some high end monitors support thunderbolt, but you will have a smaller portion of monitors to select from. Last year I spent four figures on a monitor that did not include thunderbolt. I'm looking at a new monitor this year, again four figures, and again no thunderbolt support.
  - cma 4y ago
    Apple has a thunderbolt one where the stand alone is 4 figures.
  - Aloha 4y ago
    With the correct series of adapters though, you can dang near connect anything to anything. (Other than HDMI source to DisplayPort Sink - that needs some special active thingy).
    - Gigachad 4y ago
      Unless the monitor only has thunderbolt like the Apple ones in which case the only possible setup is a hdmi capture card which is both expensive and probably adds latency.
  - 3np 4y ago
    Case in point: Eizo (which I'd consider one of the top manufacturers for serious use) do not do Thunderbolt at all AFAIK. The USB-C inputs only do DP.
TylerE 4y ago
A USB-C -> DisplayPort adaptor will work just fine. I literally just bought one yesterday to drive my 27" 1440p (@165hz!) gaming monitor with my new Mac Studio. Works fine. Cost about $15. It only gets a little iffy if you need specially 4k120. For anything less it doesn't need much.
- Nursie 4y ago
  Sure, you can do that, and it'll likely work just great. It just feels wrong on something which is supposed to be providing ports!
  - TylerE 4y ago
    You can fit about 3 thunderbolt ports in the same space as one displayport.
    - Nursie 4y ago
      Sure, but I'm not looking for a sleek and lightweight dock, I'm looking for something to provide the ports and charging I need for my sleek and lightweight laptop when I'm using it at my desk. As such an extra cm or two on the dock to allow for a normal monitor connection or two seems less problematic. Especially if I'm then having to hang dongles off it or buy less mainstream cabling to work around the dock limitations. It all just feels a bit self-defeating (and yes I own some similar USB-C -> HDMI and USB-C -> ethernet etc etc dongles. They're great! But I shouldn't need them as well as a 'dock', if I do the dock has failed its purpose)
      - TylerE 4y ago
        That’s more of a temporary pain. Everything is going USB-C. In a few years you’d be cursing a those obsolete ports while you start chaning USB hubs
        Nursie 4y ago
        So in a few years I'll buy a new dock that meets my changed needs? Just like I don't still have that one with a couple of USB-2 ports and a DVI connector from the mid 00s. And in the mean time we can agree it's not a great dock for right now?

by Nursie 4y ago

lmm 4y ago

It's a premium device, they already dropped displayport in the previous iteration. High-end monitors have been thunderbolt for a while now. While I wouldn't say no to a few extra connectors, the main point is that it's something you can leave on your desk with all your desk stuff plugged into it.

Nursie 4y ago
> High-end monitors have been thunderbolt for a while now. How "high end" do we need to go before this is true? My old 32"/4K/60Hz BenQ EW3270U certainly does, but my much newer 32"/4K/144Hz Dell G3223Q[1] doesn't for whatever reason, it's certainly not ubiquitous. > the main point is that it's something you can leave on your desk with all your desk stuff plugged into it. Yes, and such a device would be better with a more varied array of connectors. That's what it's for! I understand premium laptops dropping ports to maintain their looks, and be thin and light, portable and sleek. As an M1 Air owner, I am totally down with that. But then a dock that itself needs more adapters to connect to extremely common interfaces ... that's not a good dock or a 'premium' selling point. ([1] approx 1100USD when it launched last year, I know that's hardly the peak of high-end but it's hardly cheap either)
- CobaltFire 4y ago
  Another G3223Q user in the wild! On topic I was kind of put off by no USB-C, but a simple adapter cable from some Amazon brand works perfect on both a DELL laptop and my MBP M1. This monitor is amazing for the money though. I paid $400 + tax + shipping during Black Friday and it was an absolute STEAL.
  - Nursie 4y ago
    Yeah, I ended up paying around $850 (AUD) at around the same time, I agree it's a steal at that price! Great screen. I really should do some more gaming on it but it works great for office use too. I was surprised that there was no usb-c when it arrived too! I have a Dell D6000 dock for my M1 Air that's got some sort of DisplayLink hardware built in, so I get the ports and with Displaylink Manager installed it can drive however many screens you like. The only issue there is streaming services refuse to work (I don't think the dock does HDCP). But that's fine...
htag 4y ago
> High-end monitors have been thunderbolt for a while now. This is not true. Many high end monitors do not support thunderbolt. Some high end monitors support thunderbolt, but you will have a smaller portion of monitors to select from. Last year I spent four figures on a monitor that did not include thunderbolt. I'm looking at a new monitor this year, again four figures, and again no thunderbolt support.
- cma 4y ago
  Apple has a thunderbolt one where the stand alone is 4 figures.
- Aloha 4y ago
  With the correct series of adapters though, you can dang near connect anything to anything. (Other than HDMI source to DisplayPort Sink - that needs some special active thingy).
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    Unless the monitor only has thunderbolt like the Apple ones in which case the only possible setup is a hdmi capture card which is both expensive and probably adds latency.
- 3np 4y ago
  Case in point: Eizo (which I'd consider one of the top manufacturers for serious use) do not do Thunderbolt at all AFAIK. The USB-C inputs only do DP.

TylerE 4y ago

A USB-C -> DisplayPort adaptor will work just fine. I literally just bought one yesterday to drive my 27" 1440p (@165hz!) gaming monitor with my new Mac Studio. Works fine. Cost about $15. It only gets a little iffy if you need specially 4k120. For anything less it doesn't need much.

Nursie 4y ago
Sure, you can do that, and it'll likely work just great. It just feels wrong on something which is supposed to be providing ports!
- TylerE 4y ago
  You can fit about 3 thunderbolt ports in the same space as one displayport.
  - Nursie 4y ago
    Sure, but I'm not looking for a sleek and lightweight dock, I'm looking for something to provide the ports and charging I need for my sleek and lightweight laptop when I'm using it at my desk. As such an extra cm or two on the dock to allow for a normal monitor connection or two seems less problematic. Especially if I'm then having to hang dongles off it or buy less mainstream cabling to work around the dock limitations. It all just feels a bit self-defeating (and yes I own some similar USB-C -> HDMI and USB-C -> ethernet etc etc dongles. They're great! But I shouldn't need them as well as a 'dock', if I do the dock has failed its purpose)
    - TylerE 4y ago
      That’s more of a temporary pain. Everything is going USB-C. In a few years you’d be cursing a those obsolete ports while you start chaning USB hubs
      - Nursie 4y ago
        So in a few years I'll buy a new dock that meets my changed needs? Just like I don't still have that one with a couple of USB-2 ports and a DVI connector from the mid 00s. And in the mean time we can agree it's not a great dock for right now?