Top all-time · #4829
Dan S. Charlton
Personal blog · dancharblog.wordpress.comhardwaresystems
Dan S. Charlton's personal blog at dancharblog.wordpress.com covers hardware and systems. Since 2020, 16 different Hacker News readers have linked it 18 times. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-03-04, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (14) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Dan S. Charlton's blog for detailed comparisons of Thunderbolt and USB4 docks and SSD enclosures. Commenters point to its dock list and chipset overviews as useful references.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 14 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Tech Blog
Most-linked posts?
- /2021/02/05/usb4-tb4-docks/4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2022-03-04
- /2024/01/01/list-of-ssd-enclosure-chipsets-2022/3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2024-04-15
What Hacker News says?
I've found https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/05/usb4-tb4-docks/ has a nice comparison of the many very similar (only slightly differentiated) thunderbolt 4 docks. It notes that the Kingston, Sonnet, and others are rebrands of the Goodway DBD1100.
Comment linking /2021/02/05/usb4-tb4-docks/
on “USB-C hubs and my slow descent into madness (2021)”Submitted Why do USB-C hubs still have USB 2.0 ports? (2021) as a story · 324 points
HN discussionDon't bother with thunderbolt 4, go for USB 4 enclosure instead - I've got a Jeyi one. Any SSD will work, I use a Samsung 990 pro inside. It was supposed to be the fastest you can get - I get over 3000MB/s. Here is the rabbit hole you might want to check out: https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/list-of-ssd-enc...
Comment linking /2024/01/01/list-of-ssd-enclosure-chipsets-2022/
on “M4 MacBook Pro”Submitted Microsoft Surface Pen Compatibility / Interoperability FAQ (2024) as a story · 47 points
HN discussionThat's pretty cool. I wonder how hard it would be to add USB-C docking capability to an old server in my homelab. Seems like a graphics card with Virtual Link USB-C [0] would be ideal, but maybe overkill. There are some other options [1] but it's not clear to me how much graphic horsepower you need. Definitely a VGA-only motherboard is not gonna cut it... [0] https://uploadvr.com/every-virtuallink-gpu/ [1] https://d…
Comment linking /2020/07/20/add-usb-c-with-dp-alt-mode-to-your-desktop-pc/
on “DevTerm - An Open Source Portable Terminal for Every Dev”Submitted Caldigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock Teardown as a story · 33 points
HN discussionCheck https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2021/07/05/usb-c-gen2-bi-d... end of post links to DP and HDMI 2.1 switches
Comment linking /2021/07/05/usb-c-gen2-bi-directional-switch-with-pd/
on “Display-switch: Turn a $30 USB switch into a full-featured multi-monitor KVM”Submitted MS Surface connect to USB adaptor as a story · 2 points
HN discussionSee https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/05/usb4-tb4-docks/ I use a Gorilla Creek-based Razer Thunderbolt 4 Dock in front of the USB-C monitor, which provides the additional convenience of easily swapping out the source device (Windows laptop with Thunderbolt, Intel NUC11 with Thunderbolt, MacBook Pro M1) while keeping all other peripherals connected. In this setup, the webcam and the USB conferencing headset c…
Comment linking /2021/02/05/usb4-tb4-docks/
on “Thunderbolt, Displayport and Docks”Or a dock. Not disputing the DP MST, just noting there are docks that can drive 2 x 6K. CalDigit's new dock takes a single TB4 cable to drive, and can do: - 2x TB4 - 1x DP 1.4 - supporting - 2x 5K60 OR - 1x 8K60 OR - 1x 4K144 OR - 1x 1440p240 According to https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/05/usb4-tb4-docks/ Or, as CalDigit puts it (see final paragraph): Single 8K or Dual 6K Monitors Users on Windows can conn…
Comment linking /2021/02/05/usb4-tb4-docks/
on “M1 Thunderbolt ports don’t fully support USB 3.1 Gen 2”Highly recommend this site: https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/list-of-ssd-enc... It's key to get an enclosure with a chipset that will support whatever interface your computer actually provides, otherwise a lot of these enclosures will fall back to USB-3 speeds for compatibility and things will be slow. This site gives a pretty good overview of the chipsets out there and pros/cons of each one. I've had go…
Comment linking /2024/01/01/list-of-ssd-enclosure-chipsets-2022/
on “SanDisk launches dongle-like Extreme Fit USB-C flash drive with up to 1 TB”Or, for the techy detail and practical advice, the first enclosures which make use of USB4 and are faster are based on a ASMedia ASM2464PD controller chipset. USB4 ASM2464PD SSD ENCLOSURES [1]: These enclosures sustain higher throughputs compared to older Thunderbolt 3 designs which reserved bandwidth for DisplayPort and legacy USB . Real-world peak throughput is ~3.1-3.8GB/s with the latest Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSDs. Many…
Comment linking /2024/01/01/list-of-ssd-enclosure-chipsets-2022/
on “Why good external SSDs are faster with Apple Silicon”Your assumption is correct. Those docks are all based on the Goodway DBD1100 [1]. When I was researching which dock to purchase myself, I came across this comprehensive list [2] of Thunderbolt docks which was super informative. [1] http://www.goodway.com.tw/prodimg/edm/DBD1100.pdf [2] https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2021/02/05/usb4-tb4-docks/
Comment linking /2021/02/05/usb4-tb4-docks/
on “My journey for dual displays with my M1 Pro Mac (2021)”I use an inexpensive USB dock with a single HDMI port for my M1 air, on a single 27 inch 4K monitor. It works with a single port and also provides gigabit network and power, and works at 60Hz. It’s one that supports DisplayPort 1.4 for the link between the laptop, so it can fit 4k60 over the available lanes, but then HDMI to the display. There are many like it, but this is mine: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SLS9W72…
Comment linking /2021/01/03/4k60-monitor-plus-usb-devices-from-single-usb-c-laptop-port/amp/
on “Ask HN: How on earth are you using your Apple computer with external displays?”Yes, I count at least 35 on: https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/usb4-tb4-docks/
Comment linking /2024/01/01/usb4-tb4-docks/
on “StarTech Unveils 15-in-1 Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Dock with Quad Display Support”Not sure how this is newsworthy, there are many quad display thunderbolt 4 docks on the market and some have been available for ages: https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2024/01/01/usb4-tb4-docks/...
Comment linking /2024/01/01/usb4-tb4-docks/
on “StarTech Unveils 15-in-1 Thunderbolt 4/USB4 Dock with Quad Display Support”I've always suspected Thunderbolt (and USB-C with a thick, inflexible cable attached) is a terrible port for a dock. This guy tears down and analyzes docks with incredible detail, he might like to hear about your experience https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/category/surface/
Comment linking /category/surface/
on “Surface Laptop Ultra: Made for World Makers”> apparently, the protocol allows for building bidirectional DP devices, which is certainly idea-provoking https://dancharblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/10/bi-directional-...
Comment linking /2020/05/10/bi-directional-usbc-dp-cables/
on “DisplayPort: Taming the Altmode”
