Newer Technology, Inc. announced today its miniStack external storage solution is now available with an OWC Mercury Solid State Drive in four capacities from 120GB to 960GB priced starting from $199.99. Specifically designed to match the appearance and size of Mac mini models from 2010 to the new 2012 machine introduced this week by Apple, the miniStack ‘stacks’ on top of the mini to conserve precious desktop workspace. With the new SSD-based models, the miniStack can be used as a boot drive for faster OS loads as well as for dramatically faster processing with intensive graphics and A/V applications.
Proven SSD Performance Made Convenient
With hundreds of thousands of units in the field, the OWC Mercury SSD brand is the time-proven choice for highest reliability, quality, and performance. The 2.5″ Mercury SSD comes installed in miniStack via a NewerTech AdaptaDrive and is ready to run and deliver SSD performance advantages straight from the packaging. Now, mini owners seeking to eliminate the performance ‘bottleneck’ of their internal drive don’t have to spend valuable time swapping out the factory drive. With miniStack, SSD performance offering data rates up to 300MB/s is Plug and Play easy while the mini’s internal drive remains useful for media/archive storage and/or backups with Time Machine.
Stackable Design Complements Macs, PCs, Networks, Entertainment Systems
While it features the same 1.4″ H x 7.7″ W x 7.7″ D dimensions and aluminum finish of the Mac mini, the miniStack is also an ideal space-saving, high-performance external drive for additional uses. Its multi-interface flexibility (FireWire 800/400, USB 3.0/2.0, and eSATA) enables use among multiple Macintosh computers and laptops and virtually any Windows or Linux-based computer with a USB or FireWire port. miniStack can also be added to an Airport Extreme wireless network via USB to wirelessly share files, perform Time Machine backups, and share other devices like printers. Plus, miniStack is A/V rated for high-performance home entertainment systems and sharing content with Apple TV.
Maximum Features in a Mini Footprint
- Ideal for storing or backing up large music, photo, and video libraries: up to 4 million JPEG photos, 1.4 million MP3 songs, or 2000 hours of video footage with data transfer rates up to 300MB/s
- Choice of 120, 240, 480, or 960GB OWC Mercury Solid State Drive or 7200RPM hard drive up to 4.0TB storage capacity and up to 64MB of data cache
- FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 3.0, and/or eSATA bootable
- Durable aluminum body is designed to match the finish of the Mac line
- MagLev fan (same as used in the Mac mini) offers frictionless, whisper-quiet operation
- Integrated Kensington Security Slot for theft prevention
- Identical footprint to 2010 and later Mac mini (1.4″ x 7.7″ x 7.7″)
- USB 3.0 and FireWire 800 connection cables included
- Preconfigured solutions include $100 retail value disk utility software bundle
- Up to three-year solution warranty
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I know the MiniStacks can be daisy-chained via FireWire, but if I connect the first unit to a Mac via USB 3, can I connect additional MiniStack drives to that first one via FireWire? Or must the entire chain be FireWire? Thanks.
The entire chain must be FireWire.
If you released this with Thunderbolt (with Pass thru) and a Gigabit ethernet (even better), then i could purchase quite a few of these for co-locating hosting facilities that charge per mac mini form factor. That would allow for 28TB of online storage in the cloud!
Oh please OWC, do it, do it now!
DON”T BUY ONE.
I just bought a mini stack to go with a new Mac Mini/fusiondrive and it interferes with the all the MacMini bluetooth connections.
Unless you have a USB keyboard and mouse (like who does?) don’t buy one.
Thank you for your comment. It has been documented that most USB 3.0 hard drives (not just ours), depending on your particular setup (which and how many devices are being used at once), cause some degree of noise interference with Bluetooth signals. We’re currently researching and testing the effectiveness of different solutions and will be reporting back in a blog post with our findings.
In the meantime, while these quick fixes are not ideal, there are a few things that you can do that may help:
* As you already mentioned, utilizing a wired keyboard/mouse if you have them could eliminate the need for the constant bluetooth connection – which bypasses the noise issue entirely.
* This issue only effects drive usage over USB 3.0 – so utilizing FireWire or USB 2.0 if available instead of USB 3.0 can be an option as well.
* Also, putting some distance between the USB 3.0 hard drive and the bluetooth receiver in the Mac mini itself can resolve the issue in some cases – so physically moving the Mac mini and the USB 3.0 drive away from each other will reduce the noise intensity.
Wish I had known about this problem before I installed my drive into the enclosure. As soon as I turn on the miniStack, it kills my Bluetooth AND WiFi. Using wired mouse/keyboard/wifi aren’t possible for my setup and using other bus besides USB 3.0 is stupid since that is the reason I bought this thing! I’ll see if I can move it away from my Mini, but the thing is designed to be stacked with the Mini, soooo frustrating!
Michael, has this issue been already addressed? I was about to jump the gun but now I just won’t unless OWC confirms this problem is solved. Thanks
http://blog.macsales.com/15990-shielding-resolves-usb-3-0-conflict-with-bluetooth
Can these ministacks be daisy-chained via Firewire 800? I have a MacMini 2011 model and while I would love to see a TB option, I’d settle with FW800 for now. I would like to stack about 3-5 of them. Thanks.
Yes, FireWire 800 is daisy-chainable.
Still waiting for that ministack max!
Would be great if there was a bare bones kit that did not include the optical drive. Having a 2.5 drive and a 3.5 drive in a single enclosure would be great for a DIY “fusion” drives.
I know everyone is asking for thunderbolt, but even seeing a USB 3.0 option would be nice.
Yup, external SSDs are crying for Thunderbolt connectivity.
Any chance of a Thunderbolt-based enclosure or Thunderbolt to USB3 hub/adapter, in this or other OWC product lines? I am shortly going to purchase external storage and right now the chances are that OWC is out of the running due to the lack of Thunderbolt even as an option. I have two computers to support, one with both TB and USB3 but the other a Sandy Bridge model with TB and USB2. So TB is important.
We really can’t speak as to specifics on future products here on the OWC Blog. That said, we do have several more Thunderbolt compatible products in the pipeline.
One of these with a thunderbolt and breaking out to the other ports would be awesome!
Too bad you don’t have an AdaptaDrive that supports a pair of SSD 2.5″ drives.