NewerTech miniStack

[admin]

Product: NewerTech miniStack
Category: Hard Drive Enclosures

Summary:
The sleek miniStack is designed to perfectly complement the size, shape and color of Apple's demure Mac mini. But owners of other Macs or PCs needn't feel left out. NewerTech's miniStack is compatible with any computer with an available FireWire or USB port. Each miniStack features a smart power switch so the drive turns on with your mini; a thermal probe that automatically regulates and varies fan speed according to the temperature; and provides an integrated 2-Port FireWire and 3-Port USB 2.0/1.1 hub for additional devices.

The dimensions of the miniStack are 6.5 inches x 6.5 inches x 1.5 inches. The miniStack line utilizes the latest Oxford911+ chipset in a custom FireWire/USB2 bridge for unrivaled performance and reliability. And, if one miniStack isn't enough, you can add more to your ‘stack’ for all the storage space and ports desired. [List Price: $99.95 - $499.99]

[Zeibin]

Does anyone know which Seagate Barracuda models do/don't fit in this enclosure? NewerTech says "some 7200.7 and 7200.8 drives" won't physically fit, but they don't say if it's the drive size or locations of connectors, or what have you.

Here's a full list of Seagate drives: http://www.seagate.com/products/details/0,,4,00.html

I can't see any difference in the dimensions of these drives to others at Western Digital or Maxtor...

Thanks!

[devo]

I have the Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823A in mine. It's a real tight, but it does fit in. The back of the ATA and power connectors are literally touching the inside wall of the miniStack. I think you should be all right with 7200.8. I can't vouch for 7200.7, but it's likely they will work.

[agprimatic]

Josh from OWC told me that the Seagate 7200.8 drive would not fit.

devo, how'd you do it? Is the case bulged out? Or, maybe there are some 7200.8 drives that won't fit, but the ST3250823A is ok?

I have the drive already, but I was reluctant to buy the case if it didn't fit.

[Texark]

I installed a Seagate ST3160021A 7200.7 in my miniStack. The power connector is right up against the plastic wall. The ATA cable has a little more room. I would guess around a 1/8 of an inch. The dimensions for most of the 7200.7 and 7200.8 drives are 146.99mm deep x 101.6mm wide. Devo's drive is the same size as mine. I'm not sure why OWC says 7200.7 and 7200.8 drives won't fit. They do!

[stavrosbezas]

I am considering purchasing this but have a few concerns. I currently have two firewire enclosures attached to my Mini (one with a DVD-R burner and the other with a 300 gig HD). I had to play around with the way they were daisy chained in order for them to work properly. I was finding I would get time-outs and other problems. Things went well until I plugged my ipod in (power only) to be charged and it repeated the problem.

So in order to maintain the peace I am looking for a hub to add another enclosure and preferably power my ipod (but not necessary) without daisy chaining. My question is how does the hub in this product work? Does it just act as another enclosure and daisy chain like the others or is it a true hub that adds the number of connections?

I appreciate all responses!

Thanks,

R. Stavros Bezas

[Texark]

[devo]

[stavrosbezas]

[biophilia]

I am a greenie on her first adventure with her beloved mac mini 1.25hz. I am using my mini for video editing and want to boost my computers speed and memory as much as possible on a ~$350USD budget (on top of the 1GB of RAM already in the mail). I have a couple of questions:

- Some folks have been talking about using their external HD as their primary drive and their internal as back up. Is this hard to do?
- Will the MiniStack's actually speed up my computer?

Cheers and thanks,
Theresa

[stavrosbezas]

[Fox]

[tiv]

[quote="Zeibin"]Does anyone know which Seagate Barracuda models do/don't fit in this enclosure? NewerTech says "some 7200.7 and 7200.8 drives" won't physically fit, but they don't say if it's the drive size or locations of connectors, or what have you.


I can't see any difference in the dimensions of these drives to others at Western Digital or Maxtor...

I just tried to fit a Seagate 7200.9 in one of these enclosures in place of the WD drive that was in there and it would not fit though I could perhaps have forced it. When I compared the drives the Seagate had noticably sharper corners than the WD and it was the corner that sits right into the case corner that was fouling. I took a mini hacksaw and cut a small piece off the corner of the drive, cleaned it up with a file and it now fits without any problems.

Hope this helps.

Alec

[Jens24]

When is there going to be a HD enclosure for the Mac Mini that allows more than one drive, SATA, and Ide, DVD dual layer burners etc. I asked several Mfgs and they say not yet, more need to ask. I asked about a 4 bay 2 SATA2 bays and 2 IDE bays. I want to use this with my Mac Mini. I was thinking of developing a product line for the mini. Have inputs at the top where the mini would sit in a indented area for the Mini. These would be Firewire and USB. Then farther down have hub of six USB outs and 3 or 4 Firewire outs. Allow the SATA2 to be raid workable and the IDE able for DVD dual layer burners. All this in a brushed aluminum rounded corner case. With power and quiet fan, and you would have a hot seller!! If you could do all that I think you could sell it for $300 or 350 without any drives! I was refered a couple of times to a mfg in Tiawan, www.macpower.com.tw , and wrote (email) them. But more people need to email them if their are others that would like to see this built. I don't want stacks of MacMini stacked HDs cases and 5 or 6 power bricks stacked up. I would like to keep the clean lines of the Mini with a clean HD unit.

[Borealys]

My question is this: What kind of drive CAN you put in the miniStack? Is it IDE or SATA? Or both?