Question 1

Does this device [llug into my thnerbolt port and then give me two tumderbolt ports to use for two different thunderbolt devices, i.e. one monitor and one thunderbolt backup drive?

Accepted Answer

I am not at my office but I beleive there are only two thunderbolt ports.  So one is good for your laptop/desktop and the other allows expansion.  I use this hub to allow me to consolidate connections to my backup drive, monitor (HDMI), and several USB devices.  I now have a single connection to all of these devices which saves me time to dock and cleans up the desktop of cables.

I have had good experences with this device.  It will sometimes drop the hard drive off but that is rare and I just click to reconnect.

Note that you can daisy chain thunderbolt devices so if the new device you attach has two ports you can add the next unit to it.

Question 2

Can this be used to connect an ultra book with HdMi out to an apple Thunderbolt Display?

Accepted Answer

Unfortunately I can't answer that as I am using it with an ASUS laptop but it works great there.  The only drawback being I can't chain the dual monitors since they don't have Thunderbolt ports and the docking station only registers the one TThunderbolt to HDMI connection and not the second HDMI to HDMI through the dock.  I had to run the second monitor from the laptop's HDMI port.

Question 3

I need two monitors plugged into my mid-2012 13" Macbook Pro, and it comes with only one Thunderbolt port. I have a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter that I have plugged in there now. I planned on plugging that and an HDMI monitor in simultaneously. One of the reviews of this product says that my mDP adapter wouldn't work in the Thunderbolt port of this dock. Is that true?

Accepted Answer

Not sure that it will work into the docking station. I believe you will be able to plug the HSMI into the docking station without any issues.  the second monitor will need to go into the display port on the pro.  I do not know if  the pro will see both monitors but that is a question to the apple folks.  It depends on the version of the Mac Pro you own, some have multiple mini displayports installed.  I want to add an second monitor to my desk system but have not tried it yet.  On my Mac Pro I have both a thunderbolt and a mini displayport next to each other.

Sorry to not give you a clearer answer but I have not tried what I am suggesting you yet.  note that this somewhat negates the advantage of the docking station in that you will have two connections to make in place of one.  I really like having all of my USB devices including my backup drive to connect to whenever I move my machine.  I will still do a docking station with two monitors since I have all three USB ports hooked up with a hub on one to branch off to 3 more devices.

Question 4

Does anyone know if the USB ports support the charging of peripherals?  The related Belkin Thunderbolt-based docking station does not, and if this does, then it's the clear must-have package.

Accepted Answer

Don't know what peripherals you mean, but if you mean iPhone 4s/5/5s, yes it does.  I tested it myself.

Brand	StarTech.com
Model	TBDOCKHDPBC

Color	Black & Silver
Compatibility	MacBook Pro, MacBook Air or Ultrabook
Ports Spec	1 - HDMI (19 pin) Female 1 - RJ-45 Female 2 - 3.5 mm Mini-Jack (3 Position) Female 2 - Thunderbolt (20-pin) Female 3 - USB 3.0 A (5V, 2A; 9 pin; SuperSpeed) Female

Dimension	7.4" x 4.9" x 2.8"
Weight	0.91 lbs.

StarTech Thunderbolt Docking Station for Laptops - Includes TB Cable - Laptop Dock - MacBook Thunderbolt Dock (TBDOCKHDPBC)

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Item#: N82E16834977437