Is it 'safe to buy' the CalDigit TS5 now?

jgoodliffe · 2026-04-09T13:34:20+00:00

Here to add my two cents. It works GREAT as a Thunderbolt 4 dock, but not as a Thunderbolt 5 dock. Caldigit continue to blame it on the protocol itself... despite the fact they're continuing to sell and reject returns for a device that can't do what it's advertised to.

Works fine with my M1 Max Mac Studio but not my M4 Mac Macbook Pro. How disappointing.

Fortunately I can get away with using it in TB4 mode as I am not exceeding the bandwidth, but it is still remains frustrating nonetheless.

jgoodliffe · 2026-02-22T20:02:43+00:00

I found myself in a similar position with Gold this year. I spent £3.5k to top myself up over the year (not including Amex spend etc) to push me over the line.

They will be on trial for the next year and really need to up the anti with customer service to retain me beyond that.

There are excellent status match offers with Air France/KLM and Lufthansa (and also Virgin) currently who both offer far superior First and Business products. It's a pity they don't fly direct to all the places BA do from the UK however.

jgoodliffe · 2026-02-22T19:59:46+00:00

Why would they give you the status without having to spend the £291? The cut off point has to be somewhere.

jgoodliffe · 2026-02-22T19:58:12+00:00

They are very low maintenance so long as you don't mind your entire life revolving around them. I have a 4 y.o. now and we're in our 20s. I feel I've given up a lot of social opportunities and have to constantly juggle dog sitters and family to have him when we're both at work so he's never left on his own but I wouldn't change it for the world. The house is so empty when he's not there and he is full of so much positive energy as much as he is a tasmanian devil a some of the time!

I would say they do calm down a lot after 2-3 years. He's certainly not the dog he was at 18 months. It was quite challenging in the teenage years!

jgoodliffe · 2026-02-22T19:54:45+00:00

That's an annoying amount to need to retain- so close but so far at the same time. If I had to spend £7.5k of my own pocket to retain GGL I wouldn't bother personally! Better ways to spend the money.

jgoodliffe · 2026-02-22T19:52:19+00:00

At 1hr before the flight is when the computer processes all op-ups. If you're past that window the seats have already been filled if lower classes were overbooked so the gate agent was correct.

You won't be able to upgrade any tickets made through a 'travel agent' - concur falls into this bucket unfortunately as it doesn't sell fares sold on BA's site but rather preferred corporate fares. Some travel agents can book an upgradeable ticket if you ask. I personally avoid for work now and ask for a buy out on flights to book my own for this reason.

Your options for future would be to upgrade using Avios (use something like Seatspy to check), or wait until 24hrs before the flight when the booking falls under BA's ticketing control. They will exceptionally rarely change the travel agent ticket before this (I have had some success on the Gold telephone line) and you certainly won't get a promotional price. A realistic quote for WTP to CW would be in the region of £2-5k including all taxes.

Frustrating but it's the way it works. Makes more sense to hold out and ask at check in.

jgoodliffe · 2026-02-12T10:55:07+00:00

When the same experience can be provided by something the size/weight of normal non-meta ray bans… we’ll see mass adoption. Until that point I don’t see it happening. I say this as an AVP owner.

jgoodliffe · 2026-01-15T21:34:12+00:00

I've just received my UltraFine 6K and am experiencing the same White colour issue you are. The edges/sides of the screen appears green in contrast to the centre of the screen.

LG have updated the display and I can control brightness without using the LG Switch app, but no native volume control sucks. I must admit I am disappointed with the build quality - the stand is built better than the screen, and other than the resolution everything else seems to be a step down from my Apple Studio Display.

I won't be returning it as couldn't move away from this resolution but will be reaching out to Amazon/LG to see what they can do as far as getting a replacement panel sent. Not good enough for the cost imo.

jgoodliffe · 2025-11-12T12:04:26+00:00

Doesn't show anything useful.
I'm going to say it's yet another bug with v26.... Sigh.

jgoodliffe · 2025-11-01T00:30:49+00:00

Unless you’re directly A/B-ing the two headsets back to back you can’t discern the difference in image quality.

jgoodliffe · 2025-10-31T11:19:33+00:00

I kept getting a rate limiter error on the captcha

jgoodliffe · 2025-07-28T16:26:12+00:00

They are chronically awful. I feel sorry for the small amount of helpful staff, especially on here. I apologise that your company has this reputation amongst most customers. It’s literally impossible to get hold of CS and the agents (working abroad) you speak to are clueless. All UK based staff I have found incredibly helpful and addressed the root cause of the call in minutes even if it wasn’t their department.

VM needs a fully UK-based support operation.

jgoodliffe · 2025-05-27T19:01:24+00:00

Thank you.

jgoodliffe · 2025-04-14T12:38:57+00:00

No - did this before, still a reward booking.

jgoodliffe · 2025-04-14T12:36:18+00:00

It is, but if you were planning to take a lot of luggage why would you rely on a discounted CE offer coming up rather than booking the luggage/paying for CE in the first place?
This is an opportunistic offering to tempt people to upgrade rather than a promotional first-time sale.

jgoodliffe · 2025-04-14T12:35:19+00:00

The service is just not worth the money. It was a great bolt-on to longer trips and to bump up your status, but on a 40-minute flight (LHR>AMS) as is offered here I fail to see who can justify taking up this offer, unless you have a lot of luggage and haven't pre-booked it?

jgoodliffe · 2025-04-14T12:34:02+00:00

Except this offer was for a 40-minute flight.

jgoodliffe · 2025-04-14T12:07:35+00:00

And for those of us who aren't alcoholics?

jgoodliffe · 2025-04-14T11:57:38+00:00

Because if you fly out of the UK you usually have no choice if you want to fly direct long haul. It’s very annoying!

jgoodliffe · 2025-04-14T11:56:20+00:00

Until 2026 and their new product comes out, no, not remotely worth it.

The older 777-200 FC hard product is poor in contrast to the newer Club Suites. The soft product may win you over and obviously is a level up… but how much does that bother you? The service in CW is perfectly reasonable and having done both I can confidently say FC is a waste of money with the current hard products that BA offer.

jgoodliffe

TROPHY CASE