NewerTech Announces Availability of miniStack MAX

[admin]

NewerTech Announces Availability of miniStack MAX
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Posted by: Staff

Newertech today announced the immediate availability of their miniStack MAX, an all-in-one external storage solution for the Mac mini, with a built-in hard drive, Blu-ray/CD/DVD optical drive, SD card reader and powered USB Hub. The miniStack MAX also features a durable aluminum finish and USB 3.0/2.0, FireWire 400/800 and eSATA ports for connectivity. And if that wasn't enough, it also sports a single high-powered USB port on the back for charging up other devices.

"The original miniStack was introduced eight years ago and it instantly became an industry best-selling product because of its stackable design and useful feature set," said Larry O'Connor, President, Newer Technology Inc. "We introduced the new MAX concept at CES last year to great interest and have since worked diligently to perfect its design and functionality. We want to thank customers that have waited patiently for its release and are we are confident miniStack MAX will exceed all their expectations."

The miniStack MAX is available in capacities of 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 3TB and 4TB, with prices starting at $259.99. The company also offers a barebones kit for $149.99 if you would like to bring your own drives along for the ride.



http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/1975.html

[Grasshopper]

About time! I've been waiting on thins thing for a long time. I was sort of hoping the delays might have meant they were adding Thunderbolt, but I still think it's a compelling product. It should most definitely look pretty sweet sitting underneath my server.
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2011 Mac mini with 8GB of RAM
2012 Mac mini Server with 16GB of RAM
46" Sony TV
24" HP LCD
Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse
2 x 1TB MiniStacks
1TB MiniStack Max

[WheelSpinners]

I'm in for one after I get another MacBook Air. I do wish like Grasshoper that it was Thunderbolt though.

[PipZippy]

I wish the full power of that Blu-ray drive could be unleashed on the Mac.

[geeji]

[Backpacker]

I also wish it had Thunderbolt. The other thing I would like to see is the ability to order the unit with a Blu-ray burner and no hard drive so I can install my own drive.

[Japius]

[Squid3660]

There appears to be an option to order the bare bones kit (add your own hard drive) with blu-ray burner/reader, for $159.99. The bare bones with blu-ray READER only is $149.99.

Is that what you are talking about?

VERY happy to see this product finally come to market. Patience pays off. Lets just hope the fan is actually as quiet as the mini's fan and not like previous incarnations of the ministack. I think I'll go with the 4.0 TB model with BR reader... as soon as my IRS refund arrives.

Yeah, TB would have been really great... but, just happy to have an all in one with the same footprint.

THANK YOU NewerTechnology!!!!!!!!!! Happy Camper here!

[Backpacker]

Nope. Those two bare-bones kits do not include a hard drive or optical drive. The $10 price difference is for the SpeedTools software suite.

[dataman69]

I have installed the miniStack MAX on my 2012 Mac Mini and I can report that it does work, but for the price I'm somewhat disappointed.
I purchased the base unit with 0 TB from OWC.
OWC support was very helpful when I had issues.

The unit is pretty and matches the size of the 2012 mac mini
It works with 4 TB hard drive and connects with USB 3 with good performance. The hard drive was easily installed with no issues.
Optical drive is a bit more difficult to install with tiny screws.
All connections and cables fit well.

However

• FireWire and eSata ports can only used for uplink connections.
• USB 3 ports don't work with some peripherals. (example EyeTV HD, drawing 400 mA is not recognized in unit but is found by Mac)
• HD in the MiniStack reports the wrong sector size (512 vs 4k) (probably caused by the USB chipset used ).
• Only has 2 USB 3.0 ports (3rd port is worthless)
• Unit does not support DVD drives only BlueRay drives
• Top is slick, mini won't stay in place when on top,
( I used a piece of plastic between to keep mini in place. the unit does get hot)

The unit could have provided…
More usb ports. The Mac mini and laptops are poor with USB ports and this unit is being sold to address this issue.
Allow using internal optical bay for regular slot load DVD drives or a 2.5 drives (SSD)
Correct problems with USB hardware (voltage?) Chipsets...
Provide a better USB 3 connection cable.
Add front USB port, drop the sd card slot, drop the rear powered usb connection and add two for a total of 5 USB 4 ports. Raise the price by $10 if necessary for this.....

I would think that the best course of action would be to purchase the regular miniStack model with only hard drive and a good USB 3 hub (like the $50 'Plugable 7 Port USB 3.0 Hub with 4A Power Adapter' on Amazon)
And the USB Super drive for DVD's or other external DVD drives.
Mac's don't natively support BlueRay's so why does this unit only support them?

If they really wanted something special they could add two thunderbolt ports but of course that would probably raise the price by $100.

My 2 cents on this unit.
I'm now going to need to purchase a $50 USB hub...

Buyer Beware...... javascript:emoticon('')
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Mac Mini 2012, iMac 2010, iPad 3