The Elgato Thunderbolt Dock really is a desk-changer! It’s not often I write blog posts about hardware but this little gadget has eased my worklife considerably over the past few weeks and I’d like to sing it’s praises, perhaps it can help ease yours too. It’s a simple, elegant little box that allows you to connect multiple devices to your laptop or desktop computer via one Thunderbolt cable. Simply connect your chosen machine to the back of the box using the supplied Thunderbolt cable. The back has HDMI for connecting your external monitor. I use this to connect my NEC MultiSync PA271WB 27 inch LCD and get the full 2560 x 1440 resolution display fed from my humble 15″ Macbook Pro. It also adds an extremely useful Gigabit ethernet port to my MBP so I don’t have to rely on wireless for networking – this is invaluable for me as I live in an area where we still have ADSL broadband – frustratingly slow and unreliable. thunderbolt-thunderboltdock-plentyofpower There are also other thunderbolt ports and a couplf of USB ports on the back fro connecting other devices. The box has power too so can be used to charge up your iPod or iPhone as well as powering bus-powered devices such as hard drives. There’s also a free utility that, when installed, provides your Mac support for high-powered USB. At the front end is another USB port and Stereo audio in and out ports. These are useful for conference calls but I can alos use these to do some quick screen captures for my tutorials. Just attach a decent pair of headphones and my Countryman mic and I’m off! If I need more control over my audio its easy to connect my USB Pre 2. Sometimes the simple things are the best and this little unassuming box is really the best. Previously I had a spaghetti-pile of cables running from the desk to my Macbook Pro. Each time I went there I had to plug and unplug various peripherals. Now my life is simpler and uncluttered, just one simple elegant cable is all I need. I’m a happy geek!