TS3 Plus

About three years ago, after a bad experience with a competitor's docking station, I realized the CalDigit TS3 Plus was what I should have purchased in the first place and ordered one. I am a professional software developer using a 2018 MacBook Pro 15-inch to create iOS apps. For me, that means using lots of screen real estate and having lots of phones connected at once for testing. My main screen is a 30" 2560 x 1600 Dell U3011, with Dell 20" 2007FP 1200 x 1600 screens on either side, rotated to portrait mode. The TS3 Plus drives the 30" screen directly via DisplayPort and one of the 20" screens via a Uni USB-C to HDMI adapter. I'm also using the gigabit Ethernet port, most of the USB ports, and even the optical output port to drive an NAD D 3020 digital integrated amplifier that I use for audio.The TS3 Plus never ceases to amaze me in that all of this just works, with no fuss whatsoever, and all through a single cable, leaving the three other Thunderbolt ports on the computer for whatever else I can come up with. The screens go to sleep when they should and wake up when they should. The battery in the computer charges when it should and doesn't discharge when it shouldn't. The various USB devices charge and communicate. This was not true of the competitor's device, which would lose connection to the screens and periodically drain the computer's battery when it was actually plugged in. In fact, it works so well, I tended to forget exactly what was connected and moved my USB-C Time Machine backup drive from the TS3 Plus back to being directly connected to the computer. Why? Because I would forget to eject it before unplugging that one cable (!) to take my computer on the road, prompting a curt reminder from MacOS that I had committed a no-no. Of course, I could use a Post-It note as a reminder, but why bother when I have so many ports still available?The device also looks good, is solidly built from anodized aluminum like the computer itself and the ports are thoughtfully arranged to reduce cable clutter, with most of them out of sight on the back, where they belong, while retaining just what's needed on the front, where they are easy to reach, for devices that tend to be connected and disconnected frequently, such as headphones, memory cards and a few extra USB ports for anything else that might be needed.I recently had an opportunity to deal with their technical support when the power supply gave up the ghost after years of glitch-free service, and they were easy to reach and provided first rate assistance. In fact, it was so easy to contact them, with zero hold time and instant answering, it made me wonder if they were sitting around bored like those mythical Maytag repair people in the old TV commercials? If so, they are clearly doing something right with their products on the inside as well as the outside.

For my "work" MacBook Pro, I had an OWC TB3 docking station for a long time. It was... okay. It worked but was a bit finicky, better than almost anything else available when I got it in 2020, but also more expensive than almost anything else back then. But it eventually died due to poor design - the power supply connection was not solid enough and started shorting out inside the unit.My needs are: External monitor (while internal is also on), USB support/power for keyboard, speakers and HD for TimeMachine, and 1Gb or better ethernet. I figured I should be able to get a cheap hub or dock to replace the OWC. But every passive unit (those without their own power supply) and even the powered odd-brand docking systems (Hyrta and Hagibis) were flaky when driving an external monitor and network during zoom calls.By then, I already had on my "personal" 2023 MacBook Pro a CalDigit TS4 (ThunderBolt 4), which is the successor to this model. That is a very very expensive, but super good, docking station.Most of the name-brand docking systems are basically clones of one reference design, including the OWC ThunderBolt 3 unit, but this CalDigit TS3 is, like the TS4, different. And since the "work" Mac doesn't have ThunderBolt 4, I got this.Like the TS4, this excludes build quality. And it works. No drama. Which is all I wanted.It is a LOT more expensive than the passive units (non-powered) I tried, but it hasn't glitched out at all in the two months I've been using it heavily.

I recently purchased an Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max, and was using this dock on a Mac mini but decided to start using it for the Macbook as I could just connect 1 port and it would charge my laptop and use the display port for my monitor and use the device in clamshell mode with just connecting 1 cable!!!Unfortunately I noticed that the ethernet wasn't working. Everything else worked perfectly fine but not sure what was going on. I tried everything from CalDigit's support website but nothing so I decided to reach out to support directly.I did all the troubleshooting steps CalDigit support instructed with no success! They then asked me to provide them with proof of purchase for a warranty replacement. I bought this thing back in February of 2021 so I told them I doubt it has support/warranty and that it had served me very well for many years! I provided the information and to my surprise they offered a 1 time replacement!I have used many of CalDigits products and I love them and the quality is great, I had never dealt with their support in the past, this is my first time and they were prompt and like I said, to my shock they offered to replace it even though I bought this early 2021!They're definitely getting 5 stars from a happy customer and I will be recommending them to anyone/everyone that needs docks!