Alternative to Henge dock for macbook
Alternative to Henge dock for macbook
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Sy1441

Original Poster:

1,283 posts

190 months

Sunday 17th May 2020
quotequote all
Looking to make my desk as clean as possible so like the idea of a henge dock which would mean I could hide all my cables and use a wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad along with my MacBook.

They seem to be out of stock though so is there an alternative? It's a 13" MBP with the Touch Bar and I've got a Samsung 49" ultra wide monitor coming to connect it to.

fistenburger

271 posts

220 months

Monday 18th May 2020
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Not sure of the spec of your monitor, but I have a Dell monitor that connects to my Macbook Air with a single USB-C cable.
No need for a doc at all - the single USB-C provides power and all peripheral connectivity. I have the USB dongles I need (jabra etc) all in the back of the monitor & out of sight.

JamieBeeston

9,294 posts

295 months

Monday 18th May 2020
quotequote all
Sy1441 said:
Looking to make my desk as clean as possible so like the idea of a henge dock which would mean I could hide all my cables and use a wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad along with my MacBook.

They seem to be out of stock though so is there an alternative? It's a 13" MBP with the Touch Bar and I've got a Samsung 49" ultra wide monitor coming to connect it to.
Virtually same setup as me.

I have a BlackMagikPro eGPU which I plug everything in to, and then one single thunderbolt cable to the Mac.

I looked at henge but they were out of stock also.

Monsterlime

1,557 posts

196 months

Monday 18th May 2020
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I have an older Caldigit TS3 dock, which again, does pretty much the same. One Thunderbolt cable into the dock, all hidden under my desk.

One thing though - I have 2 monitors running out of the Caldigit, if you try and plug a 3rd into the other Thunderbolt port on the same side, it won't work. You will need to use the other Thunderbolt controller on the opposite side, and is still the case if you close the lid.

Sy1441

Original Poster:

1,283 posts

190 months

Monday 18th May 2020
quotequote all
The Samsung is going back as it's terrible and the Dell 49" ultra sharp arrives tomorrow so single USB C it is.

JamieBeeston

9,294 posts

295 months

Tuesday 19th May 2020
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Sy1441 said:
The Samsung is going back as it's terrible and the Dell 49" ultra sharp arrives tomorrow so single USB C it is.
What didn't you like about it ?

Sy1441

Original Poster:

1,283 posts

190 months

Tuesday 19th May 2020
quotequote all
JamieBeeston said:
What didn't you like about it ?
Coming from an iMac 27" 2012 and a dell U2711 of the same era the lower resolution was quite noticeable. Should have went for one of the higher res screens in the first place but wasn't going to make the jump then seen that one for £700. I'm now almost £1100 in on the Dell one haha.

ZesPak

26,155 posts

226 months

Tuesday 19th May 2020
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Sy1441 said:
JamieBeeston said:
What didn't you like about it ?
Coming from an iMac 27" 2012 and a dell U2711 of the same era the lower resolution was quite noticeable. Should have went for one of the higher res screens in the first place but wasn't going to make the jump then seen that one for £700. I'm now almost £1100 in on the Dell one haha.
Called it in the other thread wink.

JamieBeeston

9,294 posts

295 months

Tuesday 19th May 2020
quotequote all
Sy1441 said:
JamieBeeston said:
What didn't you like about it ?
Coming from an iMac 27" 2012 and a dell U2711 of the same era the lower resolution was quite noticeable. Should have went for one of the higher res screens in the first place but wasn't going to make the jump then seen that one for £700. I'm now almost £1100 in on the Dell one haha.
Aaah were you not already on the Samsung Dual QHD one ?

Understand now.

ZesPak

26,155 posts

226 months

Tuesday 19th May 2020
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That monitor really shines in gaming though. One big screen with relatively low pixels to drive.
In (fast) moving images, the pixel density will be more than enough, and the immersives of such a big curved display will be welcome.

We accidentally bought a 27" FHD monitor once and it's pretty terrible to look at from anything closer than a meter. We used it in a small meeting room though where we'd have meetings of up to 4, it was ideal to have standing on the edge of the table where everyone could see it as the alternative was to pull out a beamer, pull down the blinds and set up a screen..

Sy1441

Original Poster:

1,283 posts

190 months

Wednesday 20th May 2020
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ZesPak said:
Called it in the other thread wink.
Well it turns out the issue wasn't the display per se, as my MacBook Pro 2019 can only output 3480x1080 on the Dell. It's a (not particularly) well known issue that arose with an update in OSX Catalina. My cheap work ThinkPad handles the 5120x1440 no bother at all. My MacBook can display 5120 x 2880 but somehow it doesn't pick up 5120x1440.

Bit of a dilemma now as the MacBook will be the main point of use for the monitor.

Sy1441

Original Poster:

1,283 posts

190 months

Wednesday 20th May 2020
quotequote all
ZesPak said:
That monitor really shines in gaming though. One big screen with relatively low pixels to drive.
In (fast) moving images, the pixel density will be more than enough, and the immersives of such a big curved display will be welcome.

We accidentally bought a 27" FHD monitor once and it's pretty terrible to look at from anything closer than a meter. We used it in a small meeting room though where we'd have meetings of up to 4, it was ideal to have standing on the edge of the table where everyone could see it as the alternative was to pull out a beamer, pull down the blinds and set up a screen..
I have a projector above my head in my office and the screen on the opposite wall from my desk. Main use of the monitor is running my MacBook for social media, Spotify and some spreadsheets and my work laptop for live chat and the customer systems from Vodafone.