CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 2: The Best Thunderbolt Dock Gets Even Better!

I’ve owned the original CalDigit Thunderbolt Station since it first shipped in October of 2013. I instantly fell in love with the device with its driverless Mac connectivity and wide array of ports. Having owned a MacBook Pro since 2006, I’d resigned myself to the fact that my Dell days of sliding my Latitude into the docking station and all my peripherals working instantly were gone forever. I used to joke that my MacBook Pro looked like an octopus sitting on my desk with an external hard drive, monitor, network cable, audio out and multiple iOS devices using every available port on the machine. The CalDigit Thunderbolt station reduced the myriad connections to two, the MagSafe power and one Thunderbolt cable right next to it. The Thunderbolt Station handled everything else. Aside from the aesthetic improvement this produced, it greatly reduced the time it took to get my MacBook up and running on my desk.

Well, when CalDigit sent me an email last year announcing their imminent release of the Thunderbolt Station 2 (TS2) with Thunderbolt 2 support and the addition of two eSATA ports, I didn’t hesitate to pre-order one. It wasn’t that I particularly needed the eSATA ports or the increased speed of Thunderbolt 2 (yet), but CalDigit did cure the only beef I had with the original Thunderbolt Station. It took up a bit too much desktop space. The new TS2 is designed to stand vertically, reducing its footprint by a factor of five or six. My new MacBook Pro does have two Thunderbolt 2 ports, but the two external drives I use for backup and media storage are both USB 3 devices so I haven’t experienced any speed increase on either drive (nor did I expect to). I do plan to upgrade my external storage to Thunderbolt in the near future and CalDigit’s T3 RAID is at the top of my list. It’s there because of how well both Thunderbolt Stations have worked for me. I have to believe the same quality extends to all their products. I’ve always been skeptical of hardware vendors’ claims of “zero configuration”, but CalDigit delivers. The total setup for my MacBook Pro consisted of two steps: 1.) plug in the power and 2.) plug in the Thunderbolt cable. That’s it! Everything works and everything I plug into the Thunderbolt Station works without a single visit to the System Preferences app.

Just like its predecessor, the CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 2 delivers true “plug-n-play” configuration, rock-solid performance and reliability. I you’re looking to rid your Mac desktop of an unwieldy octopus, the TS2 is just the ticket.

iPhone 6 Plus: Crazy Big, Just Right!

By now you've probably read more news and reviews of the iPhone 6 a d 6 Plus than you need. So, my keen sense of understanding about what my readership wants tells me to add my two cents to the myriad drivel. What can I say? It's like a sixth sense.

So, why did I decide to buy this ridiculously large iPhone? Was it the extra screen real estate? Was it the exceptional keyboard extras when in landscape mode? Was it the very viewable movie experience? Was it the need to be blatantly obvious about owning the newest Apple flagship?  Well, yes to all, but the real clincher for me was the extra battery life afforded by the much larger size. With virtually identical innards as the iPhone 6, the 6 Plus has a lot more room for lithium. And boy can I tell the difference.

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Blast From the Past

My first computer was an original IBM PC. I paid over $2000 for the 8088 machine equipped with two 360K floppy drives, a 10” amber monochrome monitor and no hard drive. Looking back, the technology is almost laughable, but one thing the system came with that wasn’t quickly outdated was an authentic 84-key IBM “Model M” mechanical keyboard. In fact, as I went through several hardware upgrades over the next few years, the only piece of the original system that survived was that keyboard. I cycled through 286, 386, 486 and Pentium machines. Each new machine came with whichever clone manufacturer’s default keyboard which I would try for a time then inevitably revert to my old IBM “clicker”.  After 10 years, the old keyboard just got too worn and ugly to use with a shiny new computer. Plus, the old 9-pin keyboard plug got to be a hassle to convert to PS/2 and then USB. But, it never failed to work flawlessly even after multiple spills, drops and general abuse. The thing was built like a tank.

Fast-forward 20 years.

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Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB: One Mic Fits All

I was listening to MacBreak Weekly a few days ago when Alex Lindsay recommended the ATR2100-USB as his “pick of the week”. He accurately described the mic’s features and when I heard about its dual USB & XLR connectivity I knew I had to have it. I’ve been looking for a good mic that’s versatile enough to use in-studio and/or on the road. It was too late to ask for one for Christmas so I did what I often do, went to amazon.com and bought it for 40 bucks. Am I ever pleased!

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