Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock pre-orders go live

We first heard about Belkin’s Thunderbolt Express Dock in June when the company announced a redesigned low-profile docking station for Thunderbolt-equipped Macs. As Matrox released its own $249 Thunderbolt Dock this winter (Amazon), Belkin pushed back the product’s original September launch date and showed us a completely redesigned Thunderbolt Express Dock last month at Macworld. Today, the company has finally launched the product and started accepting pre-orders. Available through Belkin’s website, the redesigned Thunderbolt Express Dock will lose the eSATA port Belkin originally included and gain an additional Thunderbolt pass-thru port. It’s also selling for $299, which is $100 less than Belkin originally announced:

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The Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock features 3 USB 3.0 ports, 1 FireWire 800 port, 1 Gigabit Ethernet port, 1 Thunderbolt port (daisy-chain up to 5 additional Thunderbolt devices), 1 3.5mm AUX-out port, and 1 3.5mm-in AUX port. Note the following specs:

• -20 times faster than USB 2.0
• -12 times faster than FireWire 800
• -Transfer an entire HD movie in 30 seconds
• -Sync a year’s worth of continuous music in 10 minutes
• -Daisy chain up to 5 Thunderbolt-enabled devices