Opening the MicroNet miniMate

[admin]

Opening the MicroNet miniMate
Tuesday May 24, 2005

Brendan, a member of our forums has posted some pictures and information on how to open the Micronet miniMate. With the miniMate's case open you'll be able to upgrade or change out the internal 3.5-inch hard drive. The bottom of the miniMate is very similar to the bottom of the Mac mini's case and only requires a small screwdriver to open it. So there is no need for a putty knife this time! Brendan - "Insert small screwdriver into the vent and hook the small tab seen in the next photo. Push outward on the screwdriver while pulling apart the unit and repeat on the other side." Another tip is to make sure you route the wires around an internal post before pressing the two halves of the miniMate's case back together. This will prevent them from getting crimped or damaged.

We posted our initial impressions of the miniMate a few weeks ago and are working on a full review. It should be noted that opening the miniMate will void its warranty.



http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/309.html

[adavis]

Although it is a lot easier to get the miniMate open than the Macmini, it is easy to damage the miniMate. The plastic tabs are part of a pretty thin piece of plastic (has the vent holes) and the plastic can easily crack (although it won't create a real problem unless it cracks on both sides of tab, then tab is gone).
I was disappointed with the noise and vibration of the miniMate, so I pulled the drive and use it as a hub. If I am correct, the drive performance is limited by the Firewire 400 connection. If so, why it would be nice to have a 2.5" drive in there to keep things quiet.
_________________
Al

[blazer]

I think the vibration is worse than the noise. The noise is not that bad once you get use to it. But it does stick out like a sore thumb compared to the mini's relative silence. Is there a way to make the drive spin down with some kind of firmware upgrade? It runs all the time!
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1.42GHz Mac mini
2.0GHz Core 2 Duo Mac mini
2.0GHz Core 2 Duo Mac mini (2009)
2.5GHz Core i5 Mac mini (2011)
24" Dell LCD & 42" Sharp TV
EyeTV 250 Plus
1G, 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G iPod nanos
16GB 3G iPhone

[Brendan]

I replaced the hard drive in mine with a Maxtor 200G. It is definitely quieter than the supplied WD. The WS seemed to emit a constant annoying whine. The Maxtor has a much quieter whirring sound

[James T. Kirk©]

Thanks Brendan! I'll think I'll wait until the MacPower M9-DX will be available, which is designed to put your own drive in AND (Very important) "Smart power switch - M9 will power up and down in tandem with your Mac Mini automatically (no need to turn on/off power)" I will put my 160 GB, 7200 rpm/8 mb cache Hitachi drive which is reasonable silent, but also has a strong tendency to resonate (which drive doesn't?). I have a thick black rubbery foam under it, which works like a charm, but looks like shit.
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take care,
____________________________Jim
~ Registered Linux user #310054 ~
made in Xandros 3.0 (Linux)

[blazer]

[James T. Kirk©]

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