I have been using Macbook Pro, but the hard drive is small, only 256G. Recently I feel that it is not enough. I want to buy a device with a docking station and a mobile hard drive. On the one hand, you can put some files such as videos and photos. It can be directly used as a docking station, so I searched the Internet and found that there are few devices that integrate this storage and expansion function. Only Seagate’s product basically meets the requirements, so Taobao flagship store started.

This is Seagate’s first Thunderbolt 3 expansion solution for notebook users. Built-in a 4TB mechanical hard drive, an M.2 SSD slot and various mainstream interfaces, so the Seagate FireCuda Gaming Dock is actually a laptop docking station with storage function.

Unboxing
The factory comes with a power adapter, four different power cords and a Thunderbolt 3 data cable.

Exterior
The appearance of Seagate FireCuda Gaming Dock is square, and there is no messy design on the front, and the overall is relatively simple. The appearance is a spliced ​​design. The skin-like material and metal material of the main body transition naturally. Except for the Seagate logo in the lower right corner, there is no other logo. Among them, the large black body has a built-in 4T mechanical hard drive, and the gray part is an M.2 SSD expansion bay. The SSD needs to be purchased by yourself. Because it is mainly used for storage, I bought a 1TB WD BLUE SN550 and inserted it. Go in.

In addition to the power button on the front of the docking station, there are also two USB 3.1 Gen2 ports and one 3.5mm audio input and one output port.

The main interfaces are all placed on the back. From left to right, there are power interface, two Thunderbolt 3 interfaces (one for host and one for peripherals), DP 1.4 interface, three USB 3.1 Gen2 interfaces and one RJ45 network cable interface, power supply The existence of the interface indicates that this game docking station needs independent power supply.

The connecting part of the black main body and the SSD expansion compartment and the outside of the SSD expansion compartment adopt a hollow design to facilitate the display of lighting effects. There are two contact points inside the protective cover, which are designed to control the light. Light control can be performed through Seagate’s Toolkit software, which is to allow notebook users to also experience the fun of “light pollution”.

The highlight of this docking station is the addition of an M.2 interface, and it can only be used by connecting the Thunderbolt 3 interface. If it is connected to the ordinary USB interface, only the built-in 4TB mechanical hard disk can be used, so users who do not have the Thunderbolt 3 interface need it. Consider it. The SSD and built-in storage space connected through this interface can be used as two independent hard drives. This M.2 interface supports NVMe, and the expansion compartment is designed for tool-free plugging and unplugging, which is more convenient for disassembly and assembly, and can be disassembled by plugging and unplugging. There is a hard disk interface inside, and comes with hard disk protection. The protective cover has a hollow design to help heat dissipation.

Setup software
Seagate has specially developed a Toolkit software for this docking station, which can perform lighting settings and data backup. However, without installing the Seagate Toolkit software, lighting settings cannot be performed. The default lighting is Seagate’s representative color orange, and MAC The built-in TimeMachine is very easy to use, so I didn’t try the backup function.

Experience
Read and write test of mechanical hard disk

WD sn550 read and write test

After a simple test, Seagate’s docking station performs well both in terms of its own storage and after inserting an SSD. It is still very good for users like me who use it for storage expansion.

Disadvantages:
To say a thousand times, I can’t charge my laptop, I’m so stupid.

Frankly speaking, in my opinion, this FireCuda gaming docking station is not a popular desktop device. It mainly brings some laptop users to basic, high-performance storage expansion based on the comparison. Abundant expansion ports further facilitate the use.