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Showing posts with the label Mark Pickavance

HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 Dock review: An imperfect docking station that's built to last with one feature that might surprise you

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HyperDrive Next TB5 Dock: 30-second review While docking stations are rarely the most glamorous pieces of hardware on a desk, they do offer a generation shift in connectivity that can completely transform a professional workflow. That’s the thinking behind HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 Dock. Take a single Thunderbolt 5 uplink cable, and with it convert a premium laptop or professional mini PC into a modular, desktop-class powerhouse. Historically, compact Thunderbolt docks forced users to accept a hierarchy of compromises-sacrificing networking speeds, capping host charging, or forcing external storage enclosures to occupy precious downstream ports. Hyper systematically eliminates these constraints. Built around Intel's newest Barlow Ridge controller, the dock shifts dynamically between a symmetrical 80Gbps bidirectional layout and an asymmetrical 120Gbps downstream pipeline for monstrous mu...

8849 Tank 5 review: A fast-charging, heavyweight rugged phone with an incredible projector

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8849 Tank 5: 30-second review The Tank 5 represents the most complete version of a concept that 8849 has been refining for several generations. Where earlier models asked buyers to accept trade-offs between size, battery and projector quality, the Tank 5 attempts to resolve all three at once. The result is something that genuinely has no mainstream equivalent. There is a very specific kind of person the 8849 Tank 5 is made for. They work far from mains power. They need a phone that survives punishment. And occasionally, they want to project something onto a wall, a tent, or the side of a cliff face. For that person, no mainstream smartphone comes close. Where previous models asked buyers to accept mid-range processors and modest projection quality, the Tank 5 brings flagship silicon to the category for the first time. The MediaTek Dimensity 9400e is a genuine top-tier chip in 2026 terms, and find...

Ugreen Maxidok 17-in-1 Dock review: A Thunderbolt 5 docking station with more ports and features than you'll know what to do with

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UGREEN Maxidok 17-in-1 TB5 Dock: 30-second review The Ugreen Revodok Maxidok 17-in-1 arrives as the brand's flagship Thunderbolt 5 dock, and it makes a strong case for that title. It sits at the top of UGREEN's new Maxidok range, above two 10-in-1 siblings, and it earns the crown through sheer specification depth rather than marketing bravado. At its core, the dock delivers a full Thunderbolt 5 host connection rated at 120Gbps and up to 140W of laptop charging, paired with two downstream TB5 ports running at 80Gbps each. That is the kind of bandwidth that makes a real difference with high-resolution multi-display setups and fast external storage. The headline party trick is the built-in M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 slot, which accepts drives up to 8TB. For video editors and creative professionals who burn through storage, that alone justifies a serious look. The form factor is a neat 133 x 133 x...