Belkin removed eSATA support in anticipated Thunderbolt Express Dock, the price dropped to $ 299

In September 2011, Belkin unveiled a prototype of its Thunderbolt Express Dock offering users a wide range of connectivity options via a single Thunderbolt cable. By 2012 year, the product had been improved in design and got a launch date of September 2012 with a price tag of $ 299.

Last June, the Belkin chose to include USB 3.0 and eSATA support by raising the price to $399.99. But the firm delayed the launch date to the first quarter of 2013.

Belkin officially announced the changes to the Thunderbolt Express Dock, namely removing support for eSATA. As a consequence, the price dropped to $ 299.99. Belkin also reported that the launch should be early part of the quarter.

• Instant access to up to 8 desktop devices with one cable
• Cable-clutter-free design for a cleaner workstation
• 3 USB 3.0 ports
• 1 FireWire 800 port
• 1 Gigabit Ethernet port
• 1 3.5mm-out port
• 1 3.5mm-in port
• 2 Thunderbolt ports (1 upstream, 1 downstream for daisy-chaining up to 5 additional Thunderbolt devices)."

The Thunderbolt Express Dock device can be compared to the DS1 from Matrox costing $249, which was launched last month. For the extra 50 dollars, compared with DS1, Thunderbolt Express Dock offers three USB 3.0 ports as opposed to a single USB 3.0 port and USB 2.0 ports used on DS1.

May be it is important for some users, the device also includes two ports, allowing the Thunderbolt connect peripherals. Matrox's DS1 offers only one Thunderbolt, which means placing the device at the end of the chain.