Review: Macessity Stand By Mi

[admin]

Review: Macessity Stand By Mi
Monday, January 22, 2007

If you're looking to maximize the workspace on your desk and raise your monitor to a more comfortable height, we suggest you take a look at the Stand By Mi from Macessity. It's one of the nicest Mac mini stands we've seen in the last two years.

Our Stand By Mi came packaged neatly in plain brown box from Macessity. Included in the box was the stand itself, 9" Type A to mini B USB cable and a plug-type power adapter for the USB 2.0 hub.

The Stand By Mi stand is made out of a solid piece of 0.11" thick steel and measures 11" wide x 9" deep x 3.3" tall. The thickness of the steel and its unique design make it very sturdy. Macessity claims the stand can support a monitor weighing up to 60 pounds, but we think it could probably do better. This thing is solid!

The top of the stand is large enough to accommodate most monitors on the market. If the base of your monitor is wider than 11" or more than 9" deep, it will overhang from the sides. We can report that the 20" and 23" Apple Cinema Displays sit nicely on top of the Stand By Mi.

The stand also features a built-in front 4-port powered USB 2.0 hub. We tested the hub out with a wide range of devices including an iPod, digital camera, and bus-powered 2.5" SATA external hard drive. These devices were able to connect to our Mac mini through the hub without issue. We think users will appreciate having these ports up front. They really come in handy for making temporary connections.

We also appreciated having the small plug-type power adapter for powering the USB 2.0 hub instead of an oversized power brick. We would also like to applaud Macessity for including a proper length USB cable for connecting the hub to the Mac mini. It helped reduce cable clutter.

Our biggest disappointment with the Stand By Mi was its coloration. It's hard to see in our pictures, but the stand's power-coated aluminum finish is slightly darker and more bluish in color than the Mac mini and Apple Cinema Display. We were also disappointed with how the stand was able to slide around on our desk. The stand has four pads on the bottom, but they are made from a harder plastic. Therefore, they are really lacking in the grip department.

Overall, we can recommend this product to our readers and give it a score of 3.75 out of 4 stars. The Macessity Stand By Mi is available now, with a suggested retail price of $44.99. Macessity also offers the Stand By Mi in black for $34.99.

Pros:
- Sturdy steel design
- Built-in front 4-port USB 2.0 hub
- Small plug-type power adapter
- Includes proper length USB cable

Cons:
- Color match with Mac mini and Apple Cinema Display could have been better
- Hard plastic pads on bottom don't prevent stand from sliding



http://www.123macmini.com/accessories/reviews/124.html

[SOCOMRAIDER]

I've liked how Macessity keeps the USB ports up front. Though they should have used rubber pads instead of plastic.

Reminds me of an Elmer hat.
_________________

[Weee]

Why is the black model $10 less? Don't companies usually charge more for black paint? You know, like Apple does with the MacBook.

I like the USB ports on the front though.

[Bandit Bill]

[jhkingsr]

Would a Mini and miniStack sit side by side underneath this?

[devo]

[jhkingsr]

[devo]

[Bandit Bill]

I think those Allsop stands are very ugly. Sorry to those of you that own them I just think they look really cheap. You'd be better off making something yourself. IKEA has all the stuff you need to come op with a nice yet inexpensive design.

[James T Kirk]