What is Thunderbolt technology
I am sure you must have heard of and used a USB port before (unless you are still using a 486MHz PC). A USB port allows you to plug in a device to your computer and instantly access it from the system. Each USB port only allows one device (while you can use a USB hub to extend it to support multiple devices, it is still theoretically a one-one connection) and everytime you buy a new laptop, you have to wonder how many USB ports it comes with. Thunderbolt eliminates all these problems and adds a new dimension to how you connect your external devices to your computer. Thunderbolt technology is a new breakthrough technology that work like (much better than) the USB port, but allows you to daisy chain multiple devices (up to 6 devices) together. All Thunderbolt devices use the same connector (unlike USB technology that uses a male – female type of connection), so you can connect one device to another with interoperable cables. You just need one Thunderbolt port to chain them all, and you don’t have to worry how many USB ports your computer comes with, and whether you need a USB hub or not.
The true advantage of Thunderbolt technology
The ability to daisy chain multiple devices together is only a small part of what Thunderbolt can do. The true advantage of Thunderbolt technology is the communication speed between itself and the connected devices. The Thunderbolt technology can transfer data at the rate of 10Gbps (compared to USB 2.0 – 120MBps and USB 3.0 – 400MBps). To illustrate how fast it is:
it take a mere 30 seconds to transfer a full-length HD movies (around 1.5 – 2.5 GB in size), or a mere 10 minutes to transfer a year of continuous MP3 playback.
That is how fast Thunderbolt technology is. What makes it even better is that it is bi-directional, which means that you can transfer and receive data at the same time, both with the same 10Gbps bandwidth. Best of all, the last device in the daisy chain will enjoy the full bandwidth as well. Imagine the massive library of music and videos you have in your computer, you can now transfer them in/out at lightning speed.
Using Thunderbolt port for your monitor?
In today’s technology, you still need a dedicated port to connect your monitor to the computer. Be it the obsolete VGA, or DVI or the latest HDMI connection, there is still no way you can connect your HD-capable monitor to the USB port. The Thunderbolt port utilizes the DisplayPort protocol to deliver high display performance on your PC. With the use of adapter, it can also support the existing VGA, DVI, DisplayPort and HDMI interface. This means that you can now hook up your monitor onto the Thunderbolt port and enjoy HD performance.
How will the Thunderbolt Technology benefit you?
End user will definitely benefit from the fast transfer speed that comes with Thunderbolt. You can now backup your terabytes of data in seconds, or even do video editing and get it to sync on the fly. In today’s technologies, the more powerful your computer is, the bigger is the size of the computer terminal. With Thunderbolt technology, a powerful computer can now come in small-form factor. You no longer need dedicated slots for graphic card, sound card or even a Gigabit ethernet card. All these hardware can now exist as external devices and hook up via the Thunderbolt port. Your next netbook, or mobile device could just be the most powerful computer in the world. Imagine a dual-core (or quad-core) iPad with a Thunderbolt port; you could hook it up with an external graphics card and HD-capable monitor and use it as a high end gaming machine. How does that sound to you? Image credit: Eli Hodapp
