Aral Tasher is a Front End Engineer based out of sunny Florida, USA. He gives us his insight on his experience with the TS3 Plus Thunderbolt™ 3 dock and the T4 Thunderbolt™ 3 Four-Bay RAID storage.

Could you give us a brief introduction about yourself and your profession?

Absolutely! I recently finished my graduate degree on Usable Security and Privacy which helped me combine my technical background with Human Centered Design methodologies.

As a UX Researcher and designer, how has the TS3 Plus helped to enhance your workflow? Which ports do you utilize the most, and what other extra features serve as a plus to you?

I utilize pretty much all the ports on the TS3 Plus, which is what I really like about it. Whether I’m using my webcam with legacy USB-A output, the T4 with Thunderbolt™ 3 for fast data storage or even hardwiring my laptop via the ethernet port for faster network connectivity.

Having a built-in SD Card Reader is also a plus for my social media workflow as well. I don’t go looking for adapters or dongles anymore.

In any industry, time is money. Spending less time transferring files and more time creating is important. How have you found the performance of the TS3 Plus’ ports?

I think it stands out against most of the competitive solutions out there. Most hubs use a USB-C input and don’t include a Thunderbolt™ 3, as an everyday consumer won’t necessarily tell the difference.

But for professionals, the speed difference between a Thunderbolt™ 3 and USB-C is pretty significant.

The TS3 Plus is capable of outputting a single 5K display at 60Hz, which makes it a suitable companion for your ultra wide monitor. Please reflect your experience on the overall performance of this particular feature, such as your level of satisfaction with speed and resolution.

Being able to edit on such high-resolution displays at 60Hz is extremely helpful especially during video or photo post-processing. I can run my LG UltraWide with no problem at all.

Judging from your Instagram page, design and visual aesthetics seem really important to you. What do you think about the aesthetic design of the T4 and TS3 Plus?

Yes, the look and feel of tools are as much important to me as its functionality. I do enjoy the industrial design both the TS3 Plus and T4 adopts. Though I do wish it came in matte black as well!

The T4 RAID features RAID 5, for a balance between performance and protection. Does having security whilst not compromising on performance give you piece-of-mind that your files are always secure?

When I was looking for a storage solution it was very important to me that it provided a RAID 5 option, as my work often requires rapid turn around times. But at the same time, I learned that you always need to keep a fail-safe option with your data through some unfortunate experiences. And from what I looked up, RAID 5 was the ideal method to provide this with minimal compromise on speed and storage space.

Both the T4 and TS3 Plus feature 85W laptop charing. How have you found this feature?

It’s really handy. I actually don’t think I pulled out my charger out of my bag for months now!

What makes the TS3 Plus different from other Thunderbolt™ 3 docks you have used? If you haven’t used any other docks, why did you prefer the TS3 Plus?

I kind of touched on this earlier, but I think the TS3 Plus packs all the Input/Output a professional needs in their daily life. Whether it is the legacy USB-A inputs or fast Thunderbolt™ 3 input. Most solutions out there either don’t offer Thunderbolt™ 3 or only offer Thunderbolt™ 3 with minimal legacy ports.

I think the TS3 Plus gives a nice solution that’s on the ideal sweet-spot of both approaches.

Would you recommend CalDigit to your friends and colleagues?

Absolutely. I try to be unbiased when I make recommendations–especially to my Instagram audience. But I’ve already been getting multiple positive feedbacks from people who looked up or bought a TS3 Plus already.

https://araltasher.com/
https://www.instagram.com/araltasher/