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  • qap - Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - link

    Almost what I need ... almost. I would much rather see this with dual link DVI-I instead of VGA (it's becoming difficult to connect my older but still very good 30" HP LCD) and at least one more USB port.
  • Destoya - Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - link

    You could get an active DP to HDMI 1.4 adapter and use that to connect to your monitor (assuming it's one of the older 2560x1600 monitors). Dual-link DVI is such a niche connector nowadays that I can't imagine a company integrating it into one of these hubs.
  • peterfares - Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - link

    Many older 2560x1600 monitors only support DL-DVI for their native resolution. Some (like my U3011) technically support 2560x1600@60 over HDMI but their EDID doesn't specify support for it. If you're able to set a custom resolution it'll accept it.
  • Guspaz - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    The U3011 is a native DisplayPort display... You can feed it 2560x1600 over DisplayPort. You don't need DL-DVI for that.
  • hechacker1 - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    I was looking for the same thing (a hub with dual link DVI) but couldn't find one. I ended up buying a generic one on amazon since I really only need it for my older monitors that are DVI only.
  • Sarah Terra - Friday, March 31, 2017 - link

    The real issue at hand is who the eff bought the new macbook pro? ...ripoff/fail central
  • bill44 - Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - link

    I would like a USB C Hub. Every time I see one mentioned, it turns out it's just an other old 5Gbps USB A hub with some aditional (usualy old style or old version) extra display and ethernet pors.

    So far, I have not come accross any proper USB C hub, where the input is USB C Gen 2 and a least 2 of the output (or should I call them input) ports are also USB C 10Gbps.
    Will there be one? I would like a 4 port version.
  • quiksilvr - Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - link

    Why the hell isn't it 4K at 60Hz? Oh, because Apple cheaped out and limited the USB Type C port to 5 Gbps.
  • Kevin G - Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - link

    The limitation isn't that the Type-C port is limited to 5 Gbs.

    It is a limitation of the DP to HDMI active converter chip in this adapter.
  • dontlistentome - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    Not quite.

    There are 4 channels in USB C that can be used to provide Thunderbolt, DP or USB3 or a combo.

    Most use 2 for displayport (so 1x 2560@60 or 1x 4K@30) and 2 for USB 3 speeds. They could have given the hub the ability for 4K displays at 60Hz, but it would have meant only USB2 speeds for those ports / the LAN port.

    The way around this will be Displayport 1.4 when that (finally) goes mainstream, or building the port on Thunderbolt 3 over the datachannels (more cost, but can support 2x 4K@60).
  • Guspaz - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    It's worth noting that even with all four channels dedicated to DisplayPort, you still have two channels of USB 2.0. Not ideal for storage, but lots of peripherals (like a mouse, for example) is fine with USB 2.

    DisplayPort 1.3 should also be able to handle 4K60 with only two channels, since it supports 4K120 with four channels. DisplayPort 1.4 is basically the same as 1.3 but with compression, but you shouldn't need compression to do 4K60 in two channels.
  • melgu - Wednesday, April 19, 2017 - link

    Apple didn't cheap out at all on the ports. There are 4 Thunderbolt 3 Ports which each support 2 4K or 1 5K monitor at 60 Hz*. The problem is, that USB 3 doesn't offer enough bandwidth. So the problem is with the dock not with Apple.

    *The Graphics card doesn't support 8 4K monitors (only 2), but the Thunderbolt connections themselves would.
  • lmcd - Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - link

    One of the worst things about all of these for me is that no one is testing Windows 10 Mobile compatibility. If Anandtech ever gets one of these in, please send it to anyone on the team with a W10 phone and let us know compatibility.
  • HomeworldFound - Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - link

    They can't even do proper benchmarks on CPU's and GPU's together due to two staff members being in different countries. It would be easier if you try it.
  • satai - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    Win 10 Mobile Is dead anyway...
  • negusp - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    Do you really think any of the AT team uses a Windows phone? lol...

    You're probably 1 of maaaybe 11 people that want to know WMobile compatibility.
  • Samus - Wednesday, March 29, 2017 - link

    Real solution: make the laptop a few millimeters thicker

    Fake solution being pushed on consumers: spend hundreds more on laptop because it's thin, then spend hundreds more on dongles to add weight and thickness. and don't forget: none of these machines meet DOD STD810G specifications like the models that are 1.4mm thicker (comparing the envy to the elitebook 1030, for example.)
  • koaschten - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    Excuse me WHAT?
    Why would a normal person need a laptop that can withstand freezing rain or work in a salt water fog atmosphere?
    "MIL-STD-810 addresses a broad range of environmental conditions that include: low pressure for altitude testing; exposure to high and low temperatures plus temperature shock (both operating and in storage); rain (including wind blown and freezing rain); humidity, fungus, salt fog for rust testing; sand and dust exposure; explosive atmosphere; leakage; acceleration; shock and transport shock; gunfire vibration; and random vibration. "
  • DanNeely - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    because the full set consist of things that are more or less gimmies for anything (thermal/air pressure/etc) things that are useful for accident mitigation (drop/spill testing) and ones that become gimmies once you have the group in the middle in place (eg waterproof is generally dust proof). And because MIl-STD-810 is what various better known protected notebooks (eg Panasonic Toughbook) use, doing the same testing lets the OEM imply they're as good as the gold standard. (Even if not necessarily the case, there're multiple levels of protection defined in the standard.)
  • BrokenCrayons - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    There's nothing much to be done about it. Reducing laptop thickness has been a popular and commonplace objective of OEMs for decades. Yes, in recent times there's been a lot more momentum behind that effort that'd driven it to the point where it's reasonable to argue that we've give up a lot of utility and durability to achieve a nearly meaningless goal, but these things wouldn't exist if they didn't attract buyers.
  • BedfordTim - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    Luckily business laptops such as Dell's Latitude 5000 range still give you a full size chassis with plenty of ports etc.
  • qap - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    No, real solution is to standardize connectors (preferably only one), that can fit thinner laptops. Not because everyone needs thinner laptop, but because some people do and such connector can be used even on thick notebooks.
    USB-C/Thunderbolt has potential to replace almost every connector out there. And i really hope that it will one day. Until then, you can either buy laptop with lots of different connectors or buy hub/port replicator. That's up to you to make a choice, what fits your (and only your) needs.
  • GhostOfAnand - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    Beware, I've had issues where Aukey shipped me a product different from that indicated on their Amazon page, and they wouldn't issue a refund without me going through an Amazon return process. I guess it's not a matter of money, but it is a matter of principle, and of course, my time.

    I've had better luck with Anker, but thb I'm growing wary of these Chinese companies. I remember the days when Belkin sold you a solid product at a good price. What happened to those days?
  • CharonPDX - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    What bugs me about these is that nearly all of them provide only one USB Type C port, meant to be the "power in" port. While it's great to have a dongle for "backward compatibility", it WOULD be nice if they ALSO had the current/future port as well. Especially for the MacBook, which only has the one port. What if you want to plug in a USB type C peripheral *AND* a USB type A peripheral *AND* power?
  • bill44 - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    +1
    As I said it earlier.
  • damianrobertjones - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    "Apple’s MacBook laptops and other computers "

    Would you, by any chance, mean 'Windows' computers? Obviously Windows computers have FAR more market share than Apple machines but it's nice to know.
  • uhuznaa - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    Why have all these things such a short cable? It's totally annoying to have a brick with half a dozen cables sticking out of it in all directions a few inches next to your laptop.

    Being able to put the hub somewhere at the back at the desk and having only one cable running to the laptop would be great. But this way you have all that stuff snaking around the desk from right next to the laptop. This already was annoying with Apple's DP-to-DVI adapters, which gave you a huge lump of male/female DVI connectors a couple of inches from the Macbook.
  • DanNeely - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    I'm pretty sure I couldn't use it with my work laptop at all because of the cable length. It'd be dangling down from my laptop which is sitting on a pile of books to lift its screen to the height of my external monitors.
  • gregounech - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    StarTech have a very similar product (2 USB-A, 1 ethernet, 1 usb-c PD, so no VGA) and I got that for 70GBP, it works very well.

    https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB-Multiport-...
  • Shadowmaster625 - Thursday, March 30, 2017 - link

    Well it certainly has Apple type pricing.
  • ciparis - Friday, March 31, 2017 - link

    For me, this is too compromised for the price. Not enough power delivery, too slow, and too expensive for something with the previous two limitations.
  • Meteor2 - Monday, April 3, 2017 - link

    The Anker unit is less than half the price, and Anker make good products. https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/USB-Hubs/Anker-Premium-...
  • Meteor2 - Monday, April 3, 2017 - link

    Oops https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/USB-Hubs/Anker-Premium-...
  • SaolDan - Wednesday, April 5, 2017 - link

    What about the Huawei matebook dock? How does it compare?

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