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Lenovo's latest pro laptops pack 4K and Xeon processors
There are plenty of workstation laptops that claim to deliver on the promise of heavy-duty computing on the road, but they're not usually that much different on the inside than a garden variety portable. You can't say that about Lenovo's monster new ThinkPad P50 and P70 systems, though. The two not only offer things you'd expect in this class, such as color-accurate 4K displays and pro NVIDIA Quadro graphics, but Intel's first-ever mobile Xeon processors (specifically, the E3-1500M) -- you won't have to settle for an ordinary Core i-series chip here. If you need to crunch 3D models or video when you're out of the office, one of these rigs may be your best bet. That CPU upgrade also brings the kind of perks normally limited to desktops, including support for a whopping 64GB of memory and Thunderbolt 3 ports that can handle dual 4K displays.
The one-cable future of gadgets: simpler, but still confusing
For such a quiet tech show, this week's Computex in Taiwan may have been a watershed moment that will affect nearly every PC, phone and tablet you'll see in the next few years, if not decade. The new USB Type-C port may have debuted on flagship devices like Apple's single-port new Macbook and Google's Chromebook Pixel, but the new, smaller, reversible kind of USB is shaping up to be the connector of the future. This week ASUS joined the USB-C party, and in a reassuring vote of confidence, Intel announced that its newest iteration of Thunderbolt will take the same shape. Thunderbolt 3.0 will, at a minimum, double the data speed found on USB-C cables. It might not work wirelessly just yet, but the single-cable future is coming. However, change isn't always easy.
Thunderbolt 3 is twice as fast and uses reversible USB Type-C
The next laptop you buy with a USB Type-C port could be even more useful than you thought. Intel today unveiled Thunderbolt 3, which uses an identical port design as its USB brethren. So if Apple sticks with its new MacBook design, for instance, it could adopt the port and enable both Thunderbolt and USB Type-C without any adapters. It's a step toward simplifying the messy sea of ports often found on laptops and PCs, and could make Thunderbolt accessible to a larger group of people than before. Thunderbolt 3 offers more than just port convenience, however. It'll support a 40 Gbps connection over Thunderbolt, which is double the speed of Thunderbolt 2, 10 Gbps USB 3.1 and DisplayPort 1.2.
OS X Yosemite update tackles 'surprise' Mac security flaws
You know those unpatched Mac security exploits that Google revealed a few days ago? You probably won't have to worry about them any more. Apple has released OS X Yosemite 10.10.2, a hefty update that fixes those vulnerabilities, which let an intruder hijack your system in the right circumstances. There's also a solution for Thunderstrike, a nasty (if unlikely) attack that would compromise your computer through a malicious Thunderbolt device. Most of the other 10.10.2 tweaks aren't huge, although you'll probably like having access to iCloud Drive storage in your Time Machine backups. You'll definitely want to grab the upgrade, even if you don't need some of the smaller perks -- it should go quite some distance toward safeguarding your Mac.
LaCie's latest artist collaboration is a hard drive wrapped in Gorilla Glass
For the past two years, LaCie has revealed at least one new artist collaboration at CES, and this year is no different. Keeping with the reflective theme of last year's device, the 2015 edition is wrapped in Gorilla Glass and appropriately called Mirror. After teaming up with Philippe Starck and Christofle for previous releases, the company tasked French designer Pauline Deltour for a shiny 1TB hard drive that's covered in Corning's durable glass material and powered through a USB connection (no Thunderbolt here). To properly show the thing off on your desk, a stand of ebony wood provides a resting spot. If you're looking to keep the collection going, or just nab this particular entry, Mirror will arrive later this month for $280. What's that? You were hoping LaCie would have a new Rugged portable hard drive, too? Well, read on.
Thunderbolt vulnerability leaves Macs at risk, researcher finds
A known flaw in Mac firmware could leave it open to attacks via Thunderbolt devices, security researcher Trammel Hudson has found. This unpatched hole has been known for at least two years, though it remains completely unaddressed thus far. "It is possible to use a Thunderbolt Option ROM to circumvent the cryptographic signature checks in Apple's EFI firmware update routines," Trammel writes in the essay for his upcoming lecture at the Chaos Communication Conference in Germany. "This allows an attacker with physical access to the machine to write untrusted code to the SPI flash ROM on the motherboard and creates a new class of firmware bootkits for the MacBook systems." Trammel also notes that the vulnerability could be fixed with "a few byte patch to the firmware," but goes on to say that hammering out the security issues with Apple's EFI is a larger issue on the whole. via AppleInsider [Photo via Marckvision]
CalDigit T4 RAID: Big, fast storage in a compact enclosure
Speed and storage capacity are the qualities that creative professionals look for in a RAID array, and they're willing to pay a lot for the ability to store huge amounts of video or photographs on a fast and redundant unit. CalDigit is now shipping a very affordable 4-bay storage solution called the T4 RAID that comes in a variety of capacities: 4 TB (US$899), 8 TB ($1,199), 12 TB ($1,399), 16 TB ($1,699), 20 TB ($1,999) or 4 TB SSD ($3,299). I had a chance to put a T4 through our standard benchmarks and found it to be a speedy, quiet and sturdy high-capacity RAID array. Specifications Weight: 7.2 lb. (3.3 Kg) with 4 SSD installed, 12.5 lb. (5.65 Kg) with 4 HDD installed Dimensions: 5.8 x 5.3 x 9.5 inches (148 x 135 x 242 mm) Interface: Two Thunderbolt 2 ports with transfer rates up to 20 GB/s RAID: Supports RAID 0,1,5 and JBOD, auto disk failure detection, hot swappable disks Design The T4 is surprisingly small for a 4-disk RAID array. The entire case is machined out of aluminum, with an appearance similar to that of the T3 3-drive array that I reviewed earlier this year. As with the T3, the drives (either SSDs or HDDs) come in proprietary drive modules. Those drive modules come in a variety of sizes: hard disk drives in capacities of 1 TB ($129), 2 TB ($179), 3 TB ($229), 4 TB ($299), 5 TB ($399), and a 1 TB SSD ($799). These drive modules are also compatible with the CalDigit T3 and the AVPro. There are some tiny keys that are included to lock the drive modules into place for extra security, and there's a Kensington lock slot on the back of the case. Both are nice physical security features that aren't commonly found on other RAID arrays. The small size comes at the cost of a good-sized external power supply; usually, that's going to sit under your desk with all of the other power supplies. Although the T4 has a built-in fan to keep those drives cool, it's surprisingly quiet. During testing the drive was about two feet away from me at ear level and all I could hear was a faint white noise. This was an 12 TB HDD configuration that was tested, and there was absolutely no drive noise that I could discern. With a quiet drive like this, you'll want to have some indication that it's actually working and a set of tiny blue LEDs on the front of the array perform that task without being too bright or distracting. CalDigit includes a monitoring app that's also useful for setting up your array. That app includes some useful tools for benchmarking video throughput to the drive. Functionality/Benchmarks Like the T3, the CalDigit T4 is easy to set up. You simply plug a Thunderbolt cable into your Mac and into one of the two Thunderbolt 2 ports on the back of the T4. Plug in the AC adapter, then plug the cable from the power supply into the T4. Turn on the T4 with the front-mounted power button and it spins right up. The array can be set up as RAID 0 (stripe set), RAID 1 (mirror set), RAID 5 (block-level striping with distributed parity) or in a JBOD ("just a bunch of disk") array with no RAID functionality. Our benchmarking was done with the array set up in RAID 0 with a total volume size of 10.914 TB (four 3 TB drives installed). For the purposes of testing external drives and RAID arrays, we traditionally use the Intech SpeedTools QuickBench 4.0.6 app to run multiple cycles of read/write tests. The T4 was directly connected to a MacBook Pro with Retina display using an Apple Thunderbolt cable. This MacBook Pro was equipped with Thunderbolt 2 ports. To ensure accuracy in testing, I performed a 100-cycle complete test. This subjects the drive to sequential and random read and write tests with file sizes from 4K to 100 MB, then graphically or textually displays that information to show the "sweet spots" for a specific drive or array. For example, if your work involves shuffling around a lot of very large files, you'll probably want a drive that has peak read/write speeds for files around your average file size. Here are the test results for a RAID 0 stripe set, compared with the T3 using a Thunderbolt connection: Sequential Read: 324.063 MB/Sec (313.917 MB/Sec for CalDigit T3 connected via Thunderbolt) Sequential Write: 303.615 MB/Sec (279.731 MB/Sec for CalDigit T3 connected via Thunderbolt) Random Read: 92.613 MB/Sec (69.402 MB/Sec for CalDigit T3 connected via Thunderbolt) Random Write: 74.876 MB/Sec (62.263 MB/Sec for CalDigit T3 connected via Thunderbolt) Large Read: 906.819 MB/Sec (538.599 MB/Sec for CalDigit T3 connected via Thunderbolt) Large Write: 1045.913 MB/Sec (763.516 MB/Sec for CalDigit T3 connected via Thunderbolt) Extended Read: 739.724 MB/Sec (552.096 MB/Sec for CalDigit T3 connected via Thunderbolt) Extended Write: 671.629 MB/Sec (553.392 MB/Sec for CalDigit T3 connected via Thunderbolt) Now the CalDigit T3 was our previous speed demon for RAID arrays tested by TUAW, and the T4 blows right past it. The first four results - done with extremely small files - show an improvement over the T3 of up to about 33 percent in the case of random file reads. But it's with the large (2 - 10 MB) and extended (20 - 100 MB) file sizes that we really see the T4 take off. The large read test was 68 percent faster than the T3, large writes were 36 percent faster. The average large write test result was 1045.913 MB/sec, the first time we've seen a RAID array result in this range. Extended file reads and writes were also improved over the T3, with a 34 percent improvement in read speeds and 21 percent faster writes. What does this mean? Well, the T4 is perfect in those situations where you're going to be reading and writing large files a lot; not so much with those smaller files. For professionals who do a lot of video or photographic work, connecting the CalDigit T4 up to a Mac Pro or MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt 2 makes a lot of sense and can speed up almost any workflow. CalDigit is targeting the T4 for those who are working on 4K video production, and I can see where it would be perfect for those large files and big data streams. Conclusion CalDigit has outdone itself with the T4 RAID, creating a fast RAID array at a price point that isn't out of the realm of any creative professional who needs big storage. The addition of Thunderbolt 2 to the new array improves throughput for those who have Macs with the new interface built in. I was impressed by the CalDigit T3 earlier this year, but the T4 surpasses its smaller sibling in every way. Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible
Belkin intros new Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock HD
Mac users who have those speedy Thunderbolt 2 ports on their MacBook Pro with Retina display or Mac Pro now have a wonderful new way to increase the connectivity of their devices. Belkin today released the Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock HD (US$299.99), which allows up to eight separate devices to be connected to a Mac through a single Thunderbolt cable. Thunderbolt 2 is twice as fast as Thunderbolt, four times faster than USB 3.0, and a whopping 25 times faster than FireWire 800. The Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock HD features two Thunderbolt 2 ports, one HDMI port, three USB 3.0 ports with charging support, one audio port, another audio out port with mic support, and a gigabit Ethernet port. There's also one AC/DC power input. The dock will support dual displays when one display is a Thunderbolt display, and can support 4K cinema resolution on one display. Up to five Thunderbolt devices can be daisy-chained from the Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock HD. If the Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock HD sounds like it's right up your alley, it's available for pre-order today and should be in Apple Stores in October. Belkin expects the dock to be available in other retail stores in November.
LaCie's popular portable drive adds more convenience and durability
Who hasn't misplaced an accessory cable at one time or another? We've all been there. Well, to combat that issue with its popular orange-draped Rugged portable drive, LaCie has built it right in. A Thunderbolt cable is now attached to the mobile storage unit, wrapping around the edge of the device for safekeeping. What's more, there's a cap that protects the jack and an additional USB 3.0 port with IP54-rated dust and water protection. This means that not only are the drives capable of taking a fall of up to two meters (just over 6.5 feet), but it can also keep debris and moisture out whilst in the field.
Intel's next Thunderbolt port can handle two 4K displays at once
There's a good reason why the Mac Pro has six Thunderbolt 2 ports: current Thunderbolt tech isn't powerful enough to drive more than one 4K display per port. Future computers shouldn't face that limitation, though. VR-Zone has leaked a presentation which suggests that Intel's next Thunderbolt controller chip, Alpine Ridge, has enough bandwidth (40Gbps) to drive two 4K screens at the same time. That could prove a big help to video pros who want multiple ultra-sharp displays without filling up all their expansion space.
Elgato Thunderbolt Dock provides ports aplenty
It's a great time to be the owner of a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac! A number of manufacturers have released Thunderbolt-based docks that make it possible for you to plug in one thin cable and have access to a world of ports. The latest company to jump on Thunderbolt is Elgato, with the US$229.95 Thunderbolt Dock. Specifications Dimensions: 7 x 3.2 x 1 inch (17.8 x 8 x 2.5 cm) Weight: 9 oz (260g) Two Thunderbolt ports (10 Gb/s, bi-directional Input/Output) HDMI 1.4 Output (up to 2560x1600 pixels resolution, HDCP compliant) RJ45 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet Three USB 3.0 ports (5 Gb/s, support for bus-powered devices, UASP & USB 2.0 compatible) 3.5mm Audio Output (analog stereo, via built-in DAC) 3.5mm Microphone Input (mono, via built-in DAC) Power Input (DC 12V 5A) Design Highlights If you're one of those "a place for everything and everything in its place" OCD types, then you're going to love the Elgato Thunderbolt Dock. The back of the dock has widely-spaced and neatly arranged ports. From left to right as you look at the back of the device (see image at the top of this post), there's a pair of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports, a pair of Thunderbolt ports, an HDMI port, the Gigabit Ethernet port, and a place to plug in the power cable. The front is clean, with a minimum of ports -- just one SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port, a 3.5mm stereo output jack and a 3.5mm mic input jack. While the front and back are black matte plastic, the rest of the dock is encased in a matte finish aluminum that matches the finish of your Mac ... except for that Mac Pro you just bought. No problem, you'll want a Thunderbolt 2 dock for it anyway. There are four rubber feet on the bottom to ensure that the dock stays in place regardless of how recalcitrant cables might want to move it around. Elgato provides a Thunderbolt cable to connect your dock to your Mac; surprisingly, not every dock manufacturer does this. Elgato says that a $199 MSRP version of the dock will be available without a cable for those who have already have one. The entire dock is light and compact enough to take with you if you need extra ports on the road. Sadly, the power supply for the dock weighs 13 ounces (with cord) and is almost as large as the dock. I honestly wish manufacturers would put a little more thought and effort into design of the power supplies. You'll want to use the Elgato Thunderbolt Dock as intended -- in one place, like your office desk. Functionality Highlights There's not a lot you can say about the functionality of a dock other than how easy it is to set up and whether or not the ports do their job. As you'd expect with a Thunderbolt peripheral, the dock is entirely plug and play with no drivers required. I connected the dock to a MacBook Pro with Retina display, then drove an HDMI-based monitor from it along with a handful of USB 2.0 and 3.0 bus-powered drives I own. Everything came up as expected, and although I did not perform benchmarks, it appeared that those drives were communicating at full speed. The Gigabit Ethernet adapter became visible on the Mac once I plugged in the dock, and I was able to connect the MacBook Pro to a Gigabit switch successfully. Price-wise, the Elgato offering is towards the lower end of the pack. Other devices we've tested include the $199 CalDigit Thunderbolt Station, the $299 Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock (available online for less than $199), and the $249 Matrox DS1. All offer similar functionality, although not all include one of the pricy Thunderbolt cables. Conclusion Elgato has created a solid, functional, and good-looking Thunderbolt Dock for use with your favorite MacBook or other Thunderbolt-equipped Mac. While it has no special features to set it apart from the other offerings on the market, its pricing and inclusion of a Thunderbolt cable put it solidly towards the top of my list in this category. Rating: 3-1/2 stars out of 4 stars possible Giveaway So, do you have a Thunderbolt-equipped MacBook Pro or Air that needs a dock companion? That's great if you do, because we're giving away one Elgato Thunderbolt Dock. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before April 15, 2014 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected and will receive an Elgato Thunderbolt Dock valued at US$229.95 Click Here for complete Official Rules. Loading...
Thunderbolt 2 Networking enables 10 Gbps Ethernet connection, supports Macs and PCs
Intel's Thunderbolt 2 connectivity standard is getting an update here at NAB 2014 with the addition of Thunderbolt Networking. Put simply, this new feature will let you pair computers with a Thunderbolt cable, with throughput of 10 Gbps between the two machines for super-fast file-sharing. Additionally, thanks to a driver currently available on OS X Mavericks, you'll be able to connect a Mac to a PC (or Mac to Mac) with the new technology. Of course, the ability to quickly transfer data between PCs is important to filmmakers and photographers -- especially those working with 4K footage. Intel's on hand here with a demo that will likely mimic the workflow of the media types at this show. Update: We dropped by Intel for a transfer speed demo, which you'll find after the break. Additionally, Intel clarified that Thunderbolt Networking has been available in Mavericks for some time, but this upcoming update will enable connectivity between Macs and PCs, as well as two Windows machines.
WD unveils a truly portable Thunderbolt drive for performance junkies
There are already a few portable hard drives that take advantage of Thunderbolt's brisk performance, but they have to plug into a wall outlet -- not very convenient when you're in the field. Western Digital is fixing that discrepancy today by unveiling the My Passport Pro, the first dual-drive Thunderbolt storage that takes its power solely from Intel's high-speed port. The drive isn't the fastest we've seen at about 233 MB/s, but it's still quick on its toes; it can copy that giant video project to your MacBook Pro in roughly half the time it would take on USB 3.0. If you're the sort who would rather not go hunting for power sockets while editing outside of the office, you can grab the My Passport Pro right now for $300 with 2TB of capacity, or $430 in 4TB form.
LaCie's hyper-fast 1TB Thunderbolt 2 disk now on sale for $1,300
Though 1,375 MB/s' worth of disk speed might seem extravagant, applications like 4K RAW video need to squeeze every byte. Luckily, you'll get all of that with LaCie's 1TB Little Big Disk with Thunderbolt 2 packing two 500GB SSDs, now available for $1,300. If even that isn't enough -- and you happen to have a new Mac Pro with six Thunderbolt 2 ports -- you can put two in parallel for an eye-watering 2.5 GB/s (capital 'B'). That'll let you transfer 1TB of footage in under seven minutes or run more than 10 streams of 14-bit RAW 4K video simultaneously. Overkill? Sure, but we don't need a 949 HP car, either.
CalDigit T3: Lightning-fast Thunderbolt RAID
Back at the end of 2012 I purchased a pretty well-equipped iMac and naively believed that the 1 TB Fusion Drive was going to be all the storage I would need for a long time. Less than 18 months and a lot of video editing later, I'm watching as the last 200 GB dwindle away. That's why it's great that products like the CalDigit T3 exist. It's a Thunderbolt RAID box with space for three hard drives or SSDs set up in either RAID 0 (striped set) or RAID 1 (mirrored) configuration. Pop three 4 TB HDDs into this sleek box and you can have a 12 TB striped set or 4 TB of mirrored storage. You can also set up your T3 as JBOD (just a bunch of disks) if you wish. Specifications Price: From US$449 (three 1 TB HDD) to $2799 (three 960 GB SSD). Available in hybrid (SSD + HDD) configurations as well. Price as tested: $749 Dimensions: 4.5" x 5.3" x 9.5" (116 x 135 x 242 mm) Weight: 6.1 lb/2.76 kg (3 SSD), 9.98 lb/4.53 kg (3 HDD) Ports: 2 Thunderbolt ports Power: Proprietary power supply adapter, 100-240V, 2.0A, 50-60 Hz input; 12V, 7.5A DC output Material: Aluminum Enclosure Specifics: Not rack-mounted, the CalDigit T3 is a self-contained unit Design Highlights CalDigit makes some really fine products, and the T3 is no exception. I was impressed with the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station earlier this year, a Thunderbolt-based expansion dock that offers a variety of ports in a compact size. The T3, of course, is really something you'll want to keep in a desktop environment due to the sheer weight of the device. The three drives -- you can mix or match hard disk drives or SSDs -- come in proprietary drive modules that must be purchased from the company. While I'm not a fan of proprietary modules, I have to commend CalDigit for making these affordable. A 1 TB HDD module in an archive box runs $129, while a 4 TB module is $339. There's a single SSD module capacity available at 960 GB for $799. Made of aluminum with special keys used to lock the drive modules in place, the T3 is one of the most solid pieces of equipment I've had the pleasure to use in quite a while. CalDigit's other products also have that solid, well-built feel and look to them, and it's great to see a manufacturer that takes the time and effort to create products that look like they'll last for years. Functionality/Benchmarks Setup of the CalDigit T3 is a piece of cake: Just plug the Thunderbolt cable into a port on your Mac and then into one of the two Thunderbolt ports on the back of the device. Plug in the AC Adapter, and plug the appropriate end into the T3. Turn on the T3. That's it. You can choose to set up the drive in RAID 0 or RAID 1 configurations using OS X's Disk Utility. For the purposes of testing external drives and RAID arrays, we traditionally use the Intech SpeedTools QuickBench 4.0 app to run multiple cycles of read/write tests. The T3 was directly connected to a MacBook Pro with Retina display using an Apple Thunderbolt cable. To ensure accuracy in testing, I performed a 100-cycle complete test. This subjects the drive to sequential and random read and write tests with file sizes from 4K to 100 MB, then graphically or textually displays that information to show the "sweet spots" for a specific drive or array. For example, if your work involves shuffling around a lot of very large files, you'll probably want a drive that has peak read/write speeds for files around your average file size. Here are the test results for a RAID 0 stripe set, compared with a Drobo 5D also using a Thunderbolt connection: Sequential Read: 313.917 MB/Sec (140.504 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D connected via Thunderbolt) Sequential Write: 279.731 MB/Sec (93.245 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D connected via Thunderbolt) Random Read: 69.402 MB/Sec (116.435 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D connected via Thunderbolt) Random Write: 62.263 MB/Sec (70.410 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D connected via Thunderbolt) Large Read: 538.599 MB/Sec (341.327 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D connected via Thunderbolt) Large Write: 763.516 MB/Sec (282.060 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D connected via Thunderbolt) Extended Read: 552.096 MB/Sec (255.953 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D connected via Thunderbolt) Extended Write: 553.392 MB/Sec (262.864 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D connected via Thunderbolt) In just about every benchmark, the CalDigit T3 blasted by the speeds provided by a five-port competitor, the Drobo 5D. The exception to the rule was in random read/write tests performed with smaller file sizes (4KB to 1024 KB), where slow throughput on the very small files really slowed down the results. Get into large files, though, and it's tough to beat the T3. These files are in the 2 - 10 MB size range, and the T3 chewed 'em up and spit them out at high speed. The write throughput of 763.516 MB/Sec is incredible -- this would be a perfect drive to use for capturing video. Extended files in the 20 to 100 MB range were also written and read quickly at over twice the speed of the Drobo 5D. For RAID 1 (mirroring), the results were not as fast as those for RAID 0 -- but that's expected. While a stripe set basically writes your data once across the three drives in the T3 array, the mirrored set is writing three copies of the data. Without a comparison, here are the throughput numbers for the mirrored T3: Sequential Read: 132.220 MB/Sec Sequential Write: 128.190 MB/Sec Random Read: 20.684 MB/Sec Random Write: 22.327 MB/Sec Large Read: 291.590 MB/Sec Large Write: 181.604 MB/Sec Extended Read: 330.083 MB/Sec Extended Write: 165.950 MB/Sec One final environmental note: the T3 is really quiet in operation. Although there is some fan noise, it's truly white noise that doesn't get on your nerves and there is no drive "clicking" to be heard at all. This would be a really good unit to use even in a quiet office. Conclusion CalDigit's T3 is the fastest Thunderbolt RAID array we've had the opportunity to test so far. If you have a need for large, fast storage or multiple mirrors of your data, this is the device to look at. You'll be able to store your data on an external drive without it becoming a bottleneck to throughput, thanks to the speed of the Thunderbolt connection. Ease of setup, solid design, and exceptional speed make the CalDigit T3 a top choice for anyone who needs fast and reliable storage. Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible
CalDigit Thunderbolt Station expands your MacBook options
Now that the entire Mac line has been blessed with Thunderbolt (or in some cases, Thunderbolt 2) ports, more manufacturers are beginning to make accessories that allow a single port to perform many duties. That's the case with CalDigit's Thunderbolt Station (US$199), a compact docking station that gives Mac users a hand when it comes to getting connected to peripherals and the world. Specifications Dimensions: 6.85" long x 3.15" wide x 1.02" high (17.4cm x 8cm x 2.6cm) Weight: 0.4 kg / 0.88 lbs. Power: AC Power Adapter Full range, Output is DC 12V, 5A Max Interfaces: 2 x Thunderbolt, 3 x USB 3.0 (1x Front), 1 x Gigabit Ethernet, 1 x HDMI Out, 1 x Headphone Out, 1 x Microphone In Case Material: Aluminum Amazon Buyer Ratings: 4 stars out of 5, 16 customer reviews Similar Products Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock, $299 Matrox DS1/HDMI, $249 Design Highlights Probably the most notable differences between this and the original Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock are that the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station includes a HDMI port, provides UASP and Bus Power support, and also supports USB charging. CalDigit's offering also has an MSRP that's $100 less. Functionality Highlights During my testing, I connected the Thunderbolt Station to a MacBook Pro with Retina display, an external HDMI monitor, an USB 2.0 external hard drive, an iPad mini (through a USB to Lightning cable), and a set of headphones. In addition, I used the Thunderbolt Station's Gigabit Ethernet port to connect the MacBook Pro to the network. This is truly a plug-and-play solution, as there was no configuration required, no drivers installed, anything. It just worked, and worked quite well. The Ethernet connection once again made me wonder why I don't have my office wired for Ethernet, and the iPad mini charged right up as it should have. The bus-powered USB 2.0 drive? Started right up. Note that the no-driver installation is only for OS X Mavericks users; if you are using an older version of OS X, there is a driver to install to enable the Ethernet port. Size-wise, the Thunderbolt Stations is just small enough to be portable, if you don't mind lugging another pound of weight in your computer bag. But it's meant as a desktop "dock" to allow for easy external expansion of your MacBook, and that's where it really excels. I appreciated the placement of the headphone, microphone and one of the USB ports on the front of the device, as they're always at your fingertips. My two "complaints" are really quite minor. First -- and realize that this is a pet peeve of mine -- I dislike generic power bricks. I'd gladly pay $50 more for a dock that had a built-in power supply, and with some of the advances being made in switching power supplies, it could probably be built in without increasing the size or weight of the Thunderbolt Station drastically. I mean, seriously, look at the size of the brick in one of the gallery photos... Second, I heard a high-pitched sound that could be a bit distracting. Unplugging the Thunderbolt cable eliminated the sound, but that also kills the functionality of the device. Conclusion I honestly can't think of any reason not to purchase the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station rather than one of the other two options listed above. Those who are still tied to DVI monitors might want the Matrox DS1/DVI, but for the rest of us, this dock is just as powerful and less expensive. Rating: 3-1/2 stars (out of 4 stars possible)
G-Technology G-DOCK ev: Thunderbolt and two removable drives for ultimate flexibility
G-Technology's new G-DOCK ev ($749.95 with two 1 TB G-DRIVEs) is a different animal. Think of having two removable, portable USB 3.0 drives that you can take into the field with you, and then being able to plug those drives into a Thunderbolt dock for high(er) speed transfer of data when you're back in the office or studio, and you've figured out the idea of this device. Unfortunately, the concept and reality of the G-DOCK ev are two separate things. The G-DOCK itself isn't exactly portable, measuring 7.87" x 5.12" x 3.54" and weighing 4 pounds, 5 ounces. The removable drives, however, are little self-contained units that are perfect for popping into the pocket of a jacket or a computer bag. The G-DRIVE ev USB 3.0 drives are quite a bit more compact, measuring just 5.14" x 3.29" x .65" each and tipping the scales at 10.2 ounces each. Those drives have a USB 3.0 port on the back of them for use in the field, as well as a SATA port covered by a small removable (and easily lost) plastic door. To use the drive in the G-DOCK, you remove the door and then slide the drive in until it locks. To remove the drive(s), there are two large buttons on the front of the device next to the drives. It should be noted that you don't just push the button to safely eject the drives, something that isn't immediately obvious. One would hope that G-Technology would have figured out a way to safely dismount the G-DRIVE ev drives automatically with a push of the button; instead, you need to be sure to drag the drive icons to the OS X trash to dismount them first. Likewise, G-Technology doesn't include any utilities for setting up the two G-DRIVEs as a RAID pair, instead pointing users in the direction of Apple's OS X Disk Utility. The G-DOCK can be set up as two individual drives or as one RAID 0 or RAID 1 array. For the purposes of testing, I used it as two individual drives for initial testing and then set it up as a RAID 0 (a stripe set of two 1 TB drives) for the final benchmark. Benchmarks Benchmarking of the G-Technology G-DRIVEs and G-DOCK ev was done with Intech Software's SpeedTools QuickBench 4.0 software. To ensure accuracy in testing, I performed a 100-cycle complete test. This subjects the drive to sequential and random read and write tests with file sizes from 4K to 100 MB, then graphically or textually displays that information to show the "sweet spots" for a specific drive or array. For example, if your work involves shuffling around a lot of very large files, you'll probably want a drive that has peak read/write speeds for files around your average file size. I first tested an individual G-DRIVE connected via USB 3.0. The standard tests (first four results) use nine different file sizes between 4 KB and 1024 KB. The large tests use transfer sizes between 2 and 10 MB, while the extended tests look at file sizes between 20 and 100 MB. These test results were not compared to any other devices, as TUAW has not recently tested any non-RAID devices with the QuickBench software. Sequential Read: 110.628 MB/Sec Sequential Write: 113.286 MB/Sec Random Read: 21.857 MB/Sec Random Write: 28.756 MB/Sec Large Read: 131.540 MB/Sec Large Write: 125.343 MB/Sec Extended Read: 135.542 MB/Sec Extended Write: 135.014 MB/Sec Next, I performed the tests on a G-DRIVE in the G-DOCK ev through a Thunderbolt connection: Sequential Read: 117.730 MB/Sec Sequential Write: 120.449 MB/Sec Random Read: 22.769 MB/Sec Random Write: 28.896 MB/Sec Large Read: 134.485 MB/Sec Large Write: 130.679 MB/Sec Extended Read: 135.313 MB/Sec Extended Write: 134.928 MB/Sec I found it odd that the differences in speed between USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt connections were negligible. Next, the two G-DRIVEs in the G-DOCK ev were set up as a RAID 0 volume approximately 2 TB in size, and benchmarks were run using a Thunderbolt connection: Sequential Read: 189.675 MB/Sec (140.504 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D) Sequential Write: 197.831 MB/Sec (93.245 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D) Random Read: 22.432 MB/Sec (116.435 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D) Random Write: 38.360 MB/Sec (70.410 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D) Large Read: 272.062 MB/Sec (341.327 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D) Large Write: 262.744 MB/Sec (282.060 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D) Extended Read: 266.927 MB/Sec (255.953 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D) Extended Write: 264.170 MB/Sec (262.864 MB/Sec for Drobo 5D) The RAID 0 benchmarks showed some interesting results. Random Read/Write of smaller-sized files was surprisingly slow, while the G-DOCK ev performed admirably when reading and writing larger files. This indicates that the RAID configuration would work well for use cases involving large file sizes. It should be noted, though, that once you create a RAID array (either mirrored or striped) with the two G-DRIVEs, you can no longer pop them out for portable use. Essentially, you need to decide ahead of time whether you want a pair of portable drives that you can pop out of a Thunderbolt dock or a Thunderbolt RAID 0 or RAID 1 array. That's why I think the G-DOCK ev is kind of an odd duck. For portable Thunderbolt drives, it's possible to get two 1 TB drives for about $300 -- much less expensive than the G-DOCK ev with its two 1 TB removable drives. If you're looking for Thunderbolt RAID setups, you can buy one of G-Technology's own 8 TB G-RAID arrays for about the same price as the 2 TB RAID 0 (or 1 TB RAID 1) G-DOCK ev -- but of course you lose the portability. Conclusion The G-Technology G-DOCK ev provides fast read/write of large files as a Thunderbolt RAID array and the removable USB 3.0 G-DRIVEs are reasonably fast as well. However, most users would be better served by selecting their most common use case -- need for large RAID storage or need for portability -- and purchasing a single solution that fits that need. The users would save money and most likely gain capacity over this odd "portable / RAID" hybrid solution. Pros Excellent construction, sturdy devices made of aluminum Relatively fast performer when reading and writing large files, although no faster than competing devices Cons Expensive compared to dedicated RAID arrays or separate portable drives Doors for removable drives are small and would be easy to lose No speed advantage of putting the removable USB 3.0 drives into the Thunderbolt dock Drives do not perform well with small file sizes Removable drives should dismount automatically when the drive button is pushed; instead, the drives need to be dismounted manually Who is it for? Due to the cost of the G-DOCK ev, it's relatively common performance, the fact that the removable USB 3.0 G-DRIVEs aren't any faster when placed in the Thunderbolt dock, and the fact that it's really an either/or solution (RAID or portability), we cannot recommend purchasing this product.
Elgato Thunderbolt Drive+ SSD earns its 'plus' tag through USB 3.0 and brisk speeds
Elgato was on the vanguard of external storage when it launched its Thunderbolt SSD early last year, but flash drives have clearly evolved since then. To catch up, the company has just released its much improved Thunderbolt Drive+. What does that plus sign get you? USB 3.0 support, for a start -- you can now plug into just about any Mac or Windows PC, not just those with Thunderbolt ports. The Drive+ is also much faster than its ancestor, transferring data at up to 420 MB/s, and bakes in resistance to both dust and water. The new SSD isn't cheap when it starts at $500 for 256GB, but it may be just the ticket for those who want compatibility, speed and toughness in one box.
HP launches ZBook mobile workstations with Ultrabook model, 3,200 x 1,800 screen option
HP's 2012 mobile workstation range was powerful, but would we have called it exciting? Not exactly. The company may just liven things up with its new ZBook line, however. The three-laptop series is based on a thinner and lighter design template that includes a 14-inch Ultrabook variant, the ZBook 14 (pictured above). Basically, Dell's Precision M3800 now has a big-name competitor. Those willing to trade some portability for power will also get a few welcome additions. The mid-size ZBook 15 (after the break) has a 3,200 x 1,800 display option, while both the ZBook 15 and the flagship ZBook 17 carry Thunderbolt ports. All three PCs ship with Haswell-based Intel processors as well as the latest pro graphics from either AMD or NVIDIA. Mobile workers can order the 15- and 17-inch ZBooks today, or wait for the 14-inch system's arrival in late October. You'll find more details of HP's workstation updates after the break, including a more conservative refresh to the Z desktop line that brings Ivy Bridge-based Xeon processors and Thunderbolt 2.
MacBook Air gets gaming credentials through home-built external GPU (video)
The MacBook Air's integrated graphics all but rule it out as a serious gaming machine. However, Larry Gadea at the Tech Inferno forums has found a way to make the Air a powerhouse through an ad hoc external GPU. His design mates a PCI Express video card to the Mac's Thunderbolt port through a combination of two adapters, a Boot Camp installation of Windows 7 and third-party software. The performance improvement is appropriately dramatic, leading to frame rates up to seven times faster than what Intel's HD 5000 can manage. Just don't expect to buy a pre-assembled version anytime soon -- the peripheral needs a desktop-class power supply just to run, and Intel won't issue the licenses needed to commercialize Thunderbolt GPUs. If you're absolutely determined to get a Crysis-worthy ultraportable, though, you'll find Gadea's instructions at the source link.
