- Nov 5, 2023
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Trying to simplify the clutter on my desk AND downsize/eliminate MOST of my various PCs. I am planning to purchase a 2-in-1 since I do occasional field work and travel a bit but it will mostly form the core of my home office computer. Not many 2-in-1 devices include a DVD reader/writer these days but I still need one for my occasional desktop work (but don't want to haul one around on the road). I want to stay in the Win ecosystem and not move into Mac/Linux/Other. In my home office I mostly see the 2-in-1 as the compute/storage core driving my normal desktop displays/mouse/keyboard/connectivity.
I saw the Sonnet Echo 15+ Thunderbolt 2 Dock and it was intriguing to me but I see that it is legacy/obsolete. I have an email in to them about a successor but no answer yet. I know that I could just purchase a Thunderbolt 3/4 (or USB-c) hub and a separate external USB DVD but all the extra cords/power and form factors will just litter my desk once again.
Three options I have explored:
a) An alternative enclosure similar to the Sonnet Echo 15+... but I have done a fair amount of searching and haven't found a small enclosure that would support a DVD tray. I certainly don't need something like a rack-mount or huge raid enclosure. Anyone seen such a thing these days?
b) Find a Thunderbolt hub/dock AND separate external DVD that comes from the same vendor and have similar form factors - so that I can at least stack (vertically or horizontally) both together so that they visually look like a pair.
c) Just go with 3 separate components (2-in-1, TB hub, and external DVD) and wire the "glob" together - probably standing on edge in a 3-slot vertical stand. That is the default at this point but it just feels like a bit of a cop-out not to find something a bit more refined.
I don't need a lot of connectivity/speed for the dock side of things... I am driving two HD monitors, GigEthernet, and a small number of USBs of various kinds. Obviously the DVD reader/writer is not going to consume a lot of bandwidth or power either.
I suspect that someone will just say that I should skip the 2-in-1 in favor of a desktop and separate pad but that isn't really what I am going for. Nor is a bulkier/heavier laptop with in-built DVD.
I saw the Sonnet Echo 15+ Thunderbolt 2 Dock and it was intriguing to me but I see that it is legacy/obsolete. I have an email in to them about a successor but no answer yet. I know that I could just purchase a Thunderbolt 3/4 (or USB-c) hub and a separate external USB DVD but all the extra cords/power and form factors will just litter my desk once again.
Three options I have explored:
a) An alternative enclosure similar to the Sonnet Echo 15+... but I have done a fair amount of searching and haven't found a small enclosure that would support a DVD tray. I certainly don't need something like a rack-mount or huge raid enclosure. Anyone seen such a thing these days?
b) Find a Thunderbolt hub/dock AND separate external DVD that comes from the same vendor and have similar form factors - so that I can at least stack (vertically or horizontally) both together so that they visually look like a pair.
c) Just go with 3 separate components (2-in-1, TB hub, and external DVD) and wire the "glob" together - probably standing on edge in a 3-slot vertical stand. That is the default at this point but it just feels like a bit of a cop-out not to find something a bit more refined.
I don't need a lot of connectivity/speed for the dock side of things... I am driving two HD monitors, GigEthernet, and a small number of USBs of various kinds. Obviously the DVD reader/writer is not going to consume a lot of bandwidth or power either.
I suspect that someone will just say that I should skip the 2-in-1 in favor of a desktop and separate pad but that isn't really what I am going for. Nor is a bulkier/heavier laptop with in-built DVD.
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