review of owc's mercury elite pro dual mini link

[philiparcario]

Okay I did a lot of tests and photos of this piece of gear:


http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/EliteALmini/RAID/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB


I used an empty version;

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEQMH0GBK/


with two samsung ssds

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147062&cm_re=samsung_series_470-_-20-147-062-_-Product



and with two hitachi 500gb hdds 7200 rpm


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145361&cm_re=hitachi_500gb_7200_rpm-_-22-145-361-_-Product


the review links are here


http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=12866490#post12866490

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1178755



very simply put a pair of samsung 64gb ssd's in this unit giving you a 128gb osx hdd are very impressive.

in sata mod there are very fast but in fw800 they are fast. for those of you that want a lower cost osx drive that is faster then the internal and don't want to open the machine up

2010 mac mini or 2009 to 2011 iMacs both come to my mind.

Now by lower cost it will be about 285 for a 128gb ssd but instant hookup and for a lot of people it works.


it is about 200 for a 1tb raid0 hdd setup and about 300 for a 2tb raid0 setup. either of these are faster then any internal 7200rpm hdd.
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station

[macmanmacman]

Nice i am getting ready to get a new hard drive enclosure and after seeing this one i'm sold

[philiparcario]

yeah they run really nice very solid piece of gear.
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station

[Squid3660]

This Elite Pro Dual Mini is interesting. I've got it added to my OWC cart, but I am a bit hesitant to check out.

Yea, its time for me to replace my old 1TB ministack, so I am in the market for a new HD and enclosure. Ive got the ministack drive backed up to a WD passport. The WD is just to hold me over until I can find a suitable replacement for the ministack. The ministack just runs too hot... I ended up ripping out the useless fan (too noisy) and ripping out the blue LED light (too bright). The nice thing about the ministack is that it doubles as a HD enclosure and a frying pan, so I can cook eggs over easy on the ministack while I'm waiting on a handbrake encode. Yea yea yea, you've all heard me bitch about the ministack for a few years now. Surprisingly, as hot as the HD got, it still works. I'm just paranoid about it now that it is 3 years old and with the heat it generates, Im sure it will fail soon. I come home from work in astonishment sometimes that the fire dept isn't there putting out a fire in my room caused by the ministack. I mean, wouldn't you feel paranoid if you left the house but didn't turn off the iron or you left the stove on? Its the same thing with the ministack. The drive gets THAT hot.

Ok, enough of my paranoid delusions and back to the elite pro dual mini. I don't know. I've had great experience at the office with the Elite Pro Dual Drive Raid, so I am not questioning the performance of the Elite Pro series. Its just that, well, I am a bit disappointed in the lack of proper form factor external enclosures for the 2010/2011 Mac Mini. There are NONE. The Elite Pro Mini is nice, but it would look odd with a Mac Mini on top of it. I know... that's a bit superficial.

What I think is needed is something that looks like a 2010 Mac Mini case with a blu-ray drive reader/DVD writer and up to 2TB of hard disc, and a powered USB/FW hub on the back AND the front. Am I the ONLY one who is sick and tired of fiddling with the back of a Mac Mini to try and plug in a USB thumb drive? Anyway, this type of design would be PERFECT. All it has to do is match the footprint of the new Minis. If it was taller than the mini in order to accommodate the HD drives and the optical drive, then fine, just as long as the Mini could sit on top of it and the footprint matches, I AM GOOD. And I would buy it without hesitation.

Anyone else think this is a good idea? Anyone think its a bad/stupid idea? Should I continue to wait until the product I want comes to market or should I just quit my bitching and just buy the Elite Pro dual mini or maybe even another ministack and an external blu-ray reader?

[philiparcario]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Apple-Mini-Mac-PC-Computer-Intel-Desktops-Case-Only-/320749372428?pt=Apple_Desktops&hash=item4aae27040c#ht_2534wt_1049


it is empty this would fit this


http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/EliteALmini/RAID/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

inside it
_________________
2010 Mm 2.4 C2D oem 320gb hdd 8gb ram
2012Mm base 2.5 with 16gb ram diy fusion drive
2012Mm quad with 8gb ram oem 1tb hdd

promise pegasus r6 3x 3tb + 3x 4tb =21tb hdds
lacie little big disk 2x 512gb ssds
synology 2tb disk station

[Squid3660]

Thanks for the links, Phil! I'll take this conversation over to that topic.