Clawing back more desk space for the design savvy
For me personally I can’t work with a cluttered, untidy desk, with little space and more cables visible than a train station; which is why I thought about docking my Macbook Air and connecting it to my Dell monitor.
Having spent some time researching the best on the market I decided to try Henge Docks vertical docking station for the Macbook Air which had the overall best reviews. You can view the model I purchased here. This then allowed me to access it using my Apple Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse when working at my desk with no cables. You can read more about my developer setup here.
The easiest way of accessing your Mac without the fuss of messing about with cables; whilst making an artistic design statement on your desk.
Features
The main features of the docking station are:
- Allows you to use a laptop like a traditional desktop machine when it’s convenient. When you need your Macbook Air on the go simply slide it out of the docking station.
- Saves desk space and reduces visible cables very well.
- There is no setup required as it is simply plug and play.
- The docking station keeps your power cable clipped in at the side which makes it easily accessible.
Advantages
- The most convenient way of accessing your Macbook Air while on the go; and the quickest way to get it reconnected when working at your desk.
- Keeps all cables tidy including the power cable.
Disadvantages
- No additional connectors which would have been nice; for example extra USB ports.
- No ethernet connection port. This would have been useful when working with existing power-line adaptors.
- Lack of extra connectors for other monitors.I actually needed to purchase an additional DVI cable to get my setup working.
Conclusion
Overall the Henge Docks Macbook Air Vertical Dock does exactly what it sets out to do; save desk space, look visually appealing, and keep cables tidy – and it does all of these things very well.
It seems that Henge Docks will soon be introducing horizontal docks to the market which look to plug the gap with some of the key features most reviews think are missing; however possibly at the expense of the artistic design. The Horizontal Dock for the MacBook Air will be able to connect two external displays, Thunderbolt 2 and HDMI, six USB 3.0 peripherals, two audio devices, an Ethernet connection, an SD Card, Kensington Lock, and power.
(Photo source https://eu.hengedocks.com/pages/vertical-macbook-air image by Henge Docks)
Lee James 