CalDigit has announced that its $199 Thunderbolt Station will be shipping as of November 4. Pre-orders are now available via the company’s online store. The Thunderbolt Station joins the Thunderbolt docking station party along with entries from Belkin and Matrox.
As laptops are becoming more portable and lightweight they are losing many of their interface options. The CalDigit Thunderbolt™ Station brings back those connections, and streamlines them into a portable aluminum device. By connecting the CalDigit Thunderbolt™ Station to a Mac you can add three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, Gigabit Ethernet, and Audio In/Out. All this for an MSRP of $199.
The HDMI port on the Thunderbolt Station supports resolutions of up to 2560×1600. It also supports HDCP playback to enable playing of iTunes content on an HDMI display. By daisy-chaining a Thunderbolt monitor alongside a HDMI monitor you can have up to a maximum of three displays including a laptop’s built in display.
The Thunderbolt Station also boasts USB 3.0 ports that support full 5Gbs transfer speeds.