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picaman
Veteran Member
Joined: 16 Aug 2005
Posts: 1444
Location: NYC
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 Posted: Tue Mar 21, 2006 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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| devo wrote: | But... I know how we can get them to drop the price on it....
Have me order one!
They will lower the price next week. It happens every time!  |
You are confusing devo with picaman. It's me that happens to 
From the site:
New pricing for the NewerTech miniStack V2:
• 80GB Hard Drive w/2MB Buffer - $129 (was $135.99)
• 160GB Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer - $159 (was $169.99)
• 250GB Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer - $189 (was $199.99)
• 320GB Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer - $219 (was $239.99)
• 400GB Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer - $309 (was $329.99)
• 500GB Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer - $439 (was $449.99)
Jamie |
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bhagiratha
New Member
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
Posts: 14
Location: NY
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 12:57 am Post subject: |
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which type of hard drive is included with the miniStack V2?
if it is a good drive, I was thinking of buying the unit with HD ... if the HD is not that great, I was thinking of getting the unit without the HD and buy my own.
which is a better deal. |
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boatj
Junior Member
Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 47
Location: U.S.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2006 3:13 am Post subject: |
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| bhagiratha wrote: | | which type of hard drive is included with the miniStack V2? |
Standard Mechanism (from newertech website)
80GB model – Hitachi 7K80
160GB model – Hitachi T7K250
250GB model – Hitachi T7K250
320GB model – Western Digital Caviar
400GB model – Hitachi 7K400
500GB model – Hitachi 7K500
Last edited by boatj on Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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dakota650r
New Member
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 8
Location: West Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 11:56 am Post subject: Re: nice but... |
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| devo wrote: | | dakota650r wrote: | I have one of those except mine is just USB2.0 and Firewire 400!
snip
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snip
Do they run cool? |
yes they do run cool and they don't even have a fan. My ministack was quite warm after using it the first couple of hours but it was very quiet. Too quiet! I realized that the fan was not coming on. I took it apart again and fiddled around inside. I'm not sure what I did but when I turned it back on (without the lid on it at first - I wanted to actually see the thing) the fan came right on. I have it on high all the time now since I'm not convinced that the temp sensor works that well and I don't want to risk losing data. I have the ministack and mini elevated about 3/4inch (using two 6 inch squarish pieces of wood that match my desk that function like runners on a sled) and I slip my fingers underneath once in a while to feel the heatsink and it feels a little warm after a while but nowhere near the sizzling heat that was there before the fan started working. I bought the rosewill because it matched my PC case (LianLi V1000) and I've been happy with it. If you can't find it at Newegg you can order straight from rosewill.
Roy |
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devo
Veteran Member
Joined: 23 Jan 2005
Posts: 5273
Location: Dunwoody, GA
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:11 pm Post subject: Re: nice but... |
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| dakota650r wrote: |
yes they do run cool and they don't even have a fan.
Roy |
That's cool! 
Thanks for the report. I'm probably going to order two of them after I upgrade the memory in my new mini up to 2GB.
Got another question. How bright is the LED in person? |
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dakota650r
New Member
Joined: 09 Mar 2006
Posts: 8
Location: West Virginia
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| Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2006 4:48 pm Post subject: Re: nice but... |
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| devo wrote: |
How bright is the LED in person? |
Pretty bright. I don't think it's too bad though. It looks good. |
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Yvan256
Veteran Member
Joined: 18 Aug 2005
Posts: 541
Location: Quebec, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 9:07 am Post subject: Re: nice but... |
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| devo wrote: | | Got another question. How bright is the LED in person? |
It's brighter than the Mac mini's LED that's for sure. And it flashes when there's disk access. |
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boatj
Junior Member
Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 47
Location: U.S.
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 3:09 pm Post subject: Informal Temperature Test |
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| Yvan256 wrote: | | I'm still looking for temperature monitoring solutions... |
I got curious and ran a thermistor (heat sensor) into the Ministack, not unlike the one that controls the fan (i.e. taped to the HD).
Fan On: 104.8/40.4 (F/C)
Fan Off: 104.6/40.3
Minimum: 104.2/40.1
Maximum: 105.1/40.6
This was over an 8 hr. period while booted from the Stack.
During that time I occasionally looked at the Temperature Monitor Widget for the Mini's HD.
Minimum: 102.2/39
Maximum: 104/40
Last edited by boatj on Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:33 am; edited 1 time in total |
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devo
Veteran Member
Joined: 23 Jan 2005
Posts: 5273
Location: Dunwoody, GA
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| Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 5:39 pm Post subject: Re: Informal Temperature Test |
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| boatj wrote: |
I got curious and ran a thermistor (heat sensor) into the Ministack, not unlike the one that controls the fan.
Fan On: 104.8/40.4 (F/C)
Fan Off: 104.6/40.3
Minimum: 104.2/40.1
Maximum: 105.1/40.6
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Good stuff!
It doesn't look like the fan is doing much. What type of sensor were you using? |
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boatj
Junior Member
Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 47
Location: U.S.
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| Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 4:15 am Post subject: Re: Informal Temperature Test |
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| devo wrote: | | It doesn't look like the fan is doing much. What type of sensor were you using? |
That's what I thought at first, but I think it is probably better to keep electronics at a near constant temp. rather than constant heating/cooling cycles. This is one argument for keeping a computer on rather than shutting down/starting up repeatedly.
I suspect the Stack's sensor is set for 104 F - these sensors can have a sensitivity somewhere around ±.1-.5 degrees, don't know what mine is.
With the compu asleep overnight the minimum temps were:
Stack HD: 83.7/28.7 (F/C)
Mac HD: 80.6/27
As I understand it, the Mini only has a HD heat sensor and, of course, the Stack has a taped on HD thermistor so there is no way to get software values reported for the Stack or the Mini's CPU, so you need to run an external sensor.
You can buy thermistors, LCDs, etc. from companies like Digi-Key and build your own, or you can get a Min/Max Indoor/Outdoor digital thermometer like this one >>>
The outdoor readings are reported by a thermistor at the end of 10' or so wire, and if it's small enough, you could run it through one of the slots in the bottom of the Stack.
Like I said, this is an Informal Temperature Test
Last edited by boatj on Tue Apr 18, 2006 1:50 am; edited 2 times in total |
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aaron.c
Member
Joined: 12 May 2005
Posts: 104
Location: NEPA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 8:23 am Post subject: |
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Looks like I will be ordering a miniStack V2 before my Mac mini (Core Duo) after all.
I'm going to purchase the drive seperately.
I'd much rather have a Seagate drive than a Hitachi ..
_________________
1.42GHz Mac mini / 1GB DDR / 80GB HD / Panasonic UJ-845-B 8X DL DVD±RW / 10.4 "Tiger"
NewerTech miniStack v2 w/ 60GB HD
Klipsch Pro Media Ultra 2.0 Speakers
Elgato EyeTV 500
Sony MFM-HT75W 17 inch Widescreen HDTV Display |
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Yvan256
Veteran Member
Joined: 18 Aug 2005
Posts: 541
Location: Quebec, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 11:21 am Post subject: Re: Informal Temperature Test |
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| boatj wrote: | | [...]The outdoor readings are reported by a thermistor at the end of 10' or so wire, and if it's small enough, you could run it through one of the slots in the bottom of the Stack. |
The easiest way, IMO, would be to run the wire through the security slot.
| boatj wrote: | | [...]As I understand it, the Mini only has a HD heat sensor and, of course, the Stack has a taped on HD thermistor so there is no way to get software values reported for the Stack or the Mini's CPU, so you need to run an external sensor. |
I think a better overall test could be to measure the exhaust of the Mac mini and the miniStack. After all, both units are air-cooled, so measuring the warm air going out the back could tell us a lot about the difference between "sleep" and "heavy load" temperatures. We could also measure up those temperatures with the Mac mini on top of the miniStack vs the Mac mini aside the miniStack.
Another test could be to use an audio meter and measure the noise from the fans of the complete setup. But you'd need a quiet room, etc...
I also have both versions of the miniStack, along with the Wiebetech enclosure, though it doesn't seem to work anymore for some strange reason (maybe my drive isn't configured properly for it, i.e. master/single etc).
I just bought a Western Digital 250GB drive, but I'm not sure the miniStack v1 and the Wiebetech enclosures can use a drive that big.
| aaron.c wrote: | Looks like I will be ordering a miniStack V2 before my Mac mini (Core Duo) after all.
I'm going to purchase the drive seperately.
I'd much rather have a Seagate drive than a Hitachi .. |
I've seen my share of dead Seagate (and other brands) drives over the years. And since Hitachi were able to create perpendicular recording for hard drives, I don't see why you don't trust them at least as much as Seagate.
Last edited by Yvan256 on Sat Mar 25, 2006 11:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Fox
Veteran Member
Joined: 01 Feb 2006
Posts: 2629
Location: Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:49 pm Post subject: Re: Informal Temperature Test |
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| Yvan256 wrote: | | I just bought a Western Digital 250GB drive, but I'm not sure the miniStack v1 and the Wiebetech enclosures can use a drive that big. |
Yep, you can; I have a WD200 in my miniStack v1.
_________________
Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse |
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boatj
Junior Member
Joined: 17 Mar 2006
Posts: 47
Location: U.S.
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| Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2006 3:29 pm Post subject: Re: Informal Temperature Test |
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| Yvan256 wrote: |
I think a better overall test could be to measure the exhaust...
We could also measure up those temperatures with the Mac mini on top of the miniStack vs the Mac mini aside the miniStack.
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I tried measuring at the Stack exhaust at first and couldn't get a noticeable difference from ambient room temp. What I was after was what temp it takes to turn the fan on (I'll have to wait 'till summer to see what it takes to make the fan go to high - it's already warmer in here than I like it).
It wouldn't be fair to compare the two since the Mini is also putting out video and cpu heat.
Right now I'm not "stacked."
Oh yeah, I ran the Stack fan on high for an hour and it only went from 104.8F/40.0C down to 98.3/36.8
Last edited by boatj on Sat Apr 15, 2006 3:36 am; edited 1 time in total |
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desrod
New Member
Joined: 28 Mar 2006
Posts: 5
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| Posted: Tue Mar 28, 2006 5:50 pm Post subject: Ministack v2's arrived today |
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I bought two Ministack V2s a week ago, and eagerly anticipated their arrival. They showed up about 5 days later (after paying extra for 2-day overnight shipping, sigh).
I opened the first one, unplugged my IDE drive from its current enclosure and put it in the new Ministack, following the instructions clearly. I plugged in the power adapter, which glowed a nice green color indicating that it was at least receiving power... and then...
Nothing.
No power to the drive inside the enclosure, no pretty blinky lights, nothing.
I pulled the drive (which was just working in another enclosure) and tried another drive.. and another. A total of 4 drives in this one enclosure. None of them would spin up. I didn't even connect the signal cable at this point. The drive itself wasn't even getting sufficient power.
I unpacked the second Ministack and tried that with its own power supply and the 4 IDE drives (60GiB, 80GiB, 100GiB and a 250GiB drive). None of them would power up. I plugged each of these drives into their prior enclosures and they powered right up, so the drives themselves were ok.
I swapped cabled, power supplies, drives, and anything else I could think of. These two Ministacks arrived DEAD at my door. I called the vendor (who shall remain nameless) and they assured me that this kind of situation would be considered "astronomically rare", and agreed to ship me 2 more in a cross-ship situation.
So now not only do I have to pay to ship these back (along with having to pay extra for having them shipped overnight and arriving 3 days late), but I have to go another week or two without these enclosures.
Has anyone seen this before? The power supply for each Ministack lights up, but the drive itself doesn't seem to get power to the IDE drive. The little blue LED blinks once when I turn on the power switch on the enclosure, but thats it. Nothing beyond that at all.
I also tried using the 1394a setting on the enclosure, still no go. I didn't plug these into any computers at this point to see if they would power up in that situation, but I didn't think it was necessary.
They both arrived dead... sigh. |
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