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Thinking About the Landing Zone Pro Dock

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For sometime, I’ve been looking for ways to expand the ports on my MacBook Air. Mainly, I need a way to get wired Ethernet along with connecting an external monitor. Currently, the MBA’s single ThunderBolt port serves both functions so it’s either wired Ethernet or an external display.

There are Thunderbolt expansion docks by Matrox and Belkin, but these are expensive! Both of these docks offer what I need but at a prohibitive price and the need to buy an expensive Thunderbolt cable. Enter the LandingZone 2.0 PRO. You need to buy the Landing Zone dock that matches your MacBook Air model otherwise the dock simply won’t fit.

Seems like physically docking the Air takes some getting used to, but the Landing Zone includes its own gigabit Ethernet port which then frees up the Air’s Thunderbolt port for an external display. You’ll get some extra USB 3.0 ports as well, but having wired Ethernet along with an external display at a reduced cost makes for a compelling solution.

Taking Stock: MacBook Pro

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Next up, taking a look at my Late-2008 MacBook Pro to help figure out which Mac to get.

  • 15-in display running at 1440×900
  • 24-in external display running at 1920×1200
  • 320 GB internal drive, 68 GB used
  • 8 GB of RAM
  • SuperDrive
  • GigEthernet
  • MagSafe 1
  • MiniDisplay Port, connected to DVI adapter for external display
  • FW800, unused
  • USB2 (2 ports)
    1. Hub 1
    2. External USB hard drive

The latest MacBook Air can have a 13-in screen running at 1440×900 so only loss is in screen real estate. With a 256 GB SSD, I’d still have room to grow, especially if I want to throw a virtual machine or two on the Air.

The single Thunderbolt port would be used up by the Mini Display Port adapter to my external display. Both my current MBP and the Air has two USB ports. Since I’m not using my FW800 port, the lack of FW and a single Thunderbolt port on the Air isn’t a factor (or is it?).

If I want to run some Windows VMs on a limited basis, I’d want to bump up the processor to the dual i7 and the max out the RAM at 8 GB. I may need a USB SuperDrive just because burning discs is still a viable method.

Aw dang, now this could be a problem. I’d want a wired Ethernet connection, but the Air uses a Thunderbolt adapter for this. But the Air has a single Thunderbolt port which I’d use for the secondary monitor. Could I live off of Wifi? I’m happy with my external display and don’t really want a Thunderbolt Display just to break out additional ports.

Or there’s this fluctuating option – the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock. The updated (and unreleased) version includes these ports:

  • 2x Thunderbolt (daisy-chaining supported)
  • 3x USB 3.0
  • 1x FireWire 800
  • 1x eSATA
  • 1x Gigabit Ethernet
  • 3.5mm audio in and out

But the cost of this well designed device is an eye-popping $399 and is not yet available (expected September 2012). There is another option, the Matrox DS1 Thunderbolt Docking Station. There are fewer ports, but it costs fewer dollars as well ($250).

  • 1x USB 3.0
  • 2x USB 2.0
  • 1x DVI
  • 1x GigEther
  • 3.5mm audio in and out

No extra Thunderbolt, no Firewire, no eSATA compared against Belkin’s product. Seems like one of these Thunderbolt-based docks/hubs would be needed to alleviate the paucity of ports. While the Belkin dock is cool, the Matrox product is good and cheap enough for me.