A few dumb docking station questions

canderson

Mr. Brightside
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
39,306
Harrisburg, Pa.
I've never used a docking station for anything more than plugging a laptop into it at work and it feeding a monitor. That station let me put the actual laptop into it, no chords.

But I am looking to redo my home desk as my current iMac is getting long in the tooth and will buy a Mac Mini to replace it. With this, I want to do have one dock for three different machines (the Mac Mini, my wife's Macbook Pro and my work Dell ThinPad).

The Dell connects via USB C. Am I correct I can have the doc run into a monitor and just unconnect whatever machine is connecting and plug the USC C (or Thunderbolt for the Macbook Pro) into the other machine?

I'd like to have a SSD or two run off the docking station as backups for my Mac Mini, too. What happens to those when another machine is plugged in?

Will one Bluetooth magic mouse/solar-powered keyboard be able to work for all three machines, even the PC?
 

MuzzyField

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
I use a CalDigit TS 3+ with my 2018 Mac mini and I have multiple SSD's running off it for multimedia editing/creation without issue.

The TS 4 was just released https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/ and appears to have most of the connectivity you seek. There isn't HDMI connectivity, only DisplayPort and thunderbolt for monitors. They have other docks and hubs to take a look at. I've been happy with the performance and reliability, it's been plug and play without issue for me. So I have a positive view of the brand.

OWC is another popular brand to check out, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

Bluetooth question... in theory yes, but the paring and un-pairing game can be fun, particularly when the various machines are all in close proximity.
 

canderson

Mr. Brightside
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
39,306
Harrisburg, Pa.
I use a CalDigit TS 3+ with my 2018 Mac mini and I have multiple SSD's running off it for multimedia editing/creation without issue.

The TS 4 was just released https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/ and appears to have most of the connectivity you seek. There isn't HDMI connectivity, only DisplayPort and thunderbolt for monitors. They have other docks and hubs to take a look at. I've been happy with the performance and reliability, it's been plug and play without issue for me. So I have a positive view of the brand.

OWC is another popular brand to check out, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

Bluetooth question... in theory yes, but the paring and un-pairing game can be fun, particularly when the various machines are all in close proximity.
I was eying that one. What about the SSD drive with another machine you plug in instead of the “main” one? Do they just not get recognized (which is actually what I need)?
 

MuzzyField

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
If you want to plug in SSD's to the hub and keep them connected while other users/machines are plugged in I think you can require log-in or limit access individually via the security features of the SSD software. The mini is the only machine using my hub so I haven't had the opportunity to try that kind of a setup.
 

TenCentBeerNight

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 11, 2009
520
UK
I use a CalDigit TS 3+ with my 2018 Mac mini and I have multiple SSD's running off it for multimedia editing/creation without issue.

The TS 4 was just released https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-station-4/ and appears to have most of the connectivity you seek. There isn't HDMI connectivity, only DisplayPort and thunderbolt for monitors. They have other docks and hubs to take a look at. I've been happy with the performance and reliability, it's been plug and play without issue for me. So I have a positive view of the brand.

OWC is another popular brand to check out, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

Bluetooth question... in theory yes, but the paring and un-pairing game can be fun, particularly when the various machines are all in close proximity.
I also have the TS3+ and have had great luck with it. I use it with a macbook pro and connect to two monitors, tablet, external SSD, phone charger, webcam and USB microphone. Zero problems in the last 3-4 years. Being able to connect to all of that with a single thunderbolt cable when I get to my office is very nice.

If you want to plug in SSD's to the hub and keep them connected while other users/machines are plugged in I think you can require log-in or limit access individually via the security features of the SSD software. The mini is the only machine using my hub so I haven't had the opportunity to try that kind of a setup.
If you encrypt the SSD drive using Filevault then it will just ask you for a password to the drive every time you connect a machine. The main annoyance is that you need to remember to unmount the drive before disconnecting from the hub.
 

canderson

Mr. Brightside
SoSH Member
Jul 16, 2005
39,306
Harrisburg, Pa.
Thanks. I might connect the SSD directly to the new Mac Mini so I avoid that, then just use the dock/hub itself for various USB charging cables, webcams, etc.