Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 Element vs OWC Thunderbolt Dock

[Ladd]

Looking for opinions regarding the Caldigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub and the OWC Thunderbolt Dock for use with my new Mac Studio Max. The features are sufficiently similar for my perceived needs. I'm mostly interested in things like quality of construction, quality of included Thunderbolt cable (neither specifies which version of Thunderbolt the cable is), post-sale customer support, public forums where questions can be asked, etc.

I've read that the Caldigit runs quite hot, as in "can't keep your hand on it for more than five seconds" hot. I don't recall what was connected to these reviewer's Element hub; perhaps that makes a difference. Are they all like that or perhaps just a few?

Also, I've read that Caldigit's post-sale customer support is not stellar at best, with the word "atrocious" from some coming to mind.

OWC has been in the Mac game for quite some time. Their Thunderbolt Dock is slightly more expensive than the Caldigit Element Hub but has a few more features that I may possible use at some future time.

With either hub/dock, do devices connected to either the Thunderbolt ports or the USBA 10GPS ports disconnect when the Mac Studio Max goes to sleep?

Anything else?

 

[Killerbob]

I have the CalDigit Elements Hub, and it is a very solid built box. I like that the upstream TB4 port is on the side, as supposed to the front (which I hate), and I like the size of it. The TB cable is a TB4 cable.

The OWC Thunderbolt Dock on the other hand has the same ports, albeit the upstream port on the front, an SD card reader (which the Mac Studio also has), headphone plug (which the Mac Studio also has), and of course the Ethernet port (which the Mac Studio also has). So, all-in-all, I like the CalDigit Elements Hub better.

And with regards to support, it is a dock, and if I have any issues, I got it off Amazon, and will send it back.

 

[TTYS0]

I also have the CalDigit Elements Hub. I don't have a lot plugged into it, and mostly got it for the USB-A ports. For a while I did have a monitor hooked up via USB-C, and it worked just fine. It does get warm, but not overly hot. That may have more to do with my relatively light usage, of course.

As far as the ports disconnecting when the Studio sleeps, I have my mouse plugged into the Hub, and am able to use it to wiggle the Studio awake from its slumber. So there seems to be some kind of connection that is maintained.

 

[sn1p3r845]

I got the Elements Hub and it's been working well for me. I have four displays connected to my Studio so I needed some more ports for things. All the high priority stuff is plugged directly into the Studio and all the secondary stuff is plugged in through the Element hub. No issues yet.

 

[Ladd]

With both the Caldigit TS4 dock and the OWC dock being out of stock, I purchased the Elements hub this morning. Thanks everyone for all the help.