New Macbook Pro Retina user.....

[HawkTX]

I went to MAC after 20 plus years on Windows PC. Love this thing so far. Any other Mac users? What docking stations are you using?

 

[GiddYupJoe]

When I pull up"find my iPhone" app it sickens me how many of their products I have! Couldn't be more happy!
I have a Mac book pro from 2011 that was getting somewhat sluggish so I just completely wiped the hard drive and reinstalled OSX. wow. It's as if I just pulled it out of the box 3 years ago.

Have fun with the new purchase.

 

[HawkTX]

This thing is so much faster than my PC. It's crazy! The accessories are endless. I'm looking at a Startech docking station to hook it to this 34 inch monitor I just purchased. It's like Christmas all over again. LOL!!!

Monitor: http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-34UC97-S-32-7-Inch-LED-Lit/dp/B00OKSEWL6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421362495&sr=8-3&keywords=lg+34+inch+monitor

 

[Bruce]

Does the monitor use one Thunderbolt / mini display port connection or two?

If it is only one connector you may not find the docking station useful.

I used a Macbook Pro Retina as my main workstation for a few years and still use it outside the office. My upgrade is a used Mac Pro that I bought, added 32GB of ram, replaced the storage with SSD, added an NVIDIA GTX 770 display card and a 4K monitor.

 

[HawkTX]

Does the monitor use one Thunderbolt / mini display port connection or two?

If it is only one connector you may not find the docking station useful.

I used a Macbook Pro Retina as my main workstation for a few years and still use it outside the office. My upgrade is a used Mac Pro that I bought, added 32GB of ram, replaced the storage with SSD, added an NVIDIA GTX 770 display card and a 4K monitor.

It actually has two thunderbolt connections, but the reason I want the dock is to only have one cord to connect and disconnect to the laptop vs having to hook the eithernet cable, HDMI cable, and other USB stuff I have in it. Here is my set up currently.

Here is my current setup:

The entire setup - LOL!!!!:

Here is the one I am looking at: http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Thunderbolt-Docking-Station-TBDOCKHDPBC/dp/B00GQSBP90

 

[HawkTX]

So the docking station is basically just to have one cord that goes in and out of your laptop everyday, which is not a big deal because I work from home and leave the laptop in my office most times anyway. I have an iPad in the bedroom. Man...I have to much technology crap! lol

 

[Bruce]

What about something like this? http://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Bus-Powered-Converter-Ultrabooks-Compatible/dp/B00IJU0K2Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1421367866&sr=1-3&keywords=usb+hub+with+gigabit

 

[0627Devildog]

I went to MAC after 20 plus years on Windows PC. Love this thing so far. Any other Mac users? What docking stations are you using?

Once you go MAC, you never go back. . . . I first bought a MacMini for my office then got the wife a MACBOOK Pro w/retina last year. Loving it. Enjoy.

 

[HawkTX]

What about something like this? http://www.amazon.com/Inateck-Bus-Powered-Converter-Ultrabooks-Compatible/dp/B00IJU0K2Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1421367866&sr=1-3&keywords=usb hub with gigabit

It has the USB and the ethernet, but no Thunderbolt or HDMI slot to hook to the monitor. By buying this one I can hook my monitor through thunderbolt or HDMI, hook the ethernet, any USB devices, plus speakers, etc. Basically everything hooks up through it and then you run a thunderbolt cable from it to your laptop and just have one plug to hook and unhook every day.

 

[Bruce]

The dock has two thunderbolt ports and one will be used to connect your laptop. So I believe you would have to run half of the monitor off of DP and the other half off of HDMI if you want to have single cable connect and disconnect capability.

My suggestion was to do away with the Thunderbolt ethernet connection by bringing ethernet in via USB. You would have four connections then; power, two thunderbolts and one usb.

It is too bad that the monitor does not support DisplayPort 1.2 allowing you to drive the whole monitor with a single cable.

 

[HawkTX]

The dock has two thunderbolt ports and one will be used to connect your laptop. So I believe you would have to run half of the monitor off of DP and the other half off of HDMI if you want to have single cable connect and disconnect capability.

My suggestion was to do away with the Thunderbolt ethernet connection by bringing ethernet in via USB. You would have four connections then; power, two thunderbolts and one usb.

It is too bad that the monitor does not support DisplayPort 1.2 allowing you to drive the whole monitor with a single cable.

I believe it does because I am running just strictly off of HDMI right now. I actually have an Apple consultant coming tomorrow morning to help me set up some things with the network so I'll ask him. I will report back.