Whoa! It’s been quite a while since we’ve seen a price drop on the NewerTech miniStack V3. It’s a pity, too, because this highly-rated little drive is probably one of the best storage buys out there, especially if you’re in a situation where you need maximum storage with a minimal footprint.
The miniStack’s design allows it to stack seamlessly with any of the pre-2010 Mac minis, as well as the AirPort Base Station, letting you increase the amount of storage available without increasing the space required.
Of course, it’s stackability isn’t the only great feature of the miniStack:
- “Quad” Interface – Whether you wan to connect via eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 or USB 2.0, the miniStack v3 can oblige, offering connection speeds of up to 150MB/s via eSATA.
- Fully Bootable – Whether you clone your system over to it as a backup like I do or you use it as your main drive like my dad does, the miniStack v3 is fully bootable, so you can work off of it just like you would work off of the internal, without missing a beat.
- High-Performance Oxford924 based bridge – This is the highly-regarded, A/V certified bridge chipset found in the highest quality storage devices. Speed, stability, and compatibility are all hallmarks of this chipset.
- Versatile for all your storage needs – The miniStack v3 is great for general data storage, backups (it’s Time Machine Ready), video capture, Music storage, Photo work, and more.
- Built in powered FireWire and USB hubs – This is a big one. You never seem to have enough FireWire or USB ports, and they’re almost always inconveniently located around the back of your machine. The miniStack v3’s built in powered hubs not only provide you with extra FireWire and USB ports, but if you happen to have a newer Mac that lacks a FireWire 400 port, the miniStack v3’s hub includes a FW400 port, allowing you to connect your FireWire 400 peripherals without the need for an adapter cable.
- All the cables are included – Nothing honks me off more than getting a new peripheral, only to have to go back out to the store and pick up the appropriate cable for it. The miniStack v3 comes with all the cables that you may need – USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and even eSATA! Its ready to go right out of the box.
- Software included – Even though the miniStack v3 doesn’t require any special software to use, you also get copies of Intech Hard Disk Speed Tools (Mac), ProSoft Data Backup (Mac), NovaBackup (Windows), and Carbon Copy Cloner (Mac) to help enhance your drive’s functionality.
- 3 Year NewerTech Warranty – As reliable as the miniStack v3 is, sometimes the unthinkable happens. Fortunately, NewerTech stands behind their products, with an industry-leading 3-year warranty for their storage solutions.
That’s a whole lot of features packed into such a small package!
I mentioned before that we’ve had some nice price drops on the miniStack v3. Here’s a list of the current soutions available and their new prices:
- 500GB 7200RPM 16MB Buffer – NOW $139.99
- 750GB 7200RPM 32MB Buffer – NOW $165.99
- 1.0TB Intellipower 64MB Buffer – NOW $169.99 (a $30 drop!)
- 1.5TB Intellipower 64MB Buffer – NOW $199.99 (a $30 drop!)
- 2.0TB Intellipower 64MB Buffer – NOW $249.99 (a $50 drop!)
- 0GB ‘Add Your Own Hard Drive Kits’ available starting from $42.99.
Prosoft Drive Genius 3 Bundle Offer
Purchasing Prosoft Drive Genius 3 along with an NewerTech miniStack Storage Solution (or any OWC or NewerTech external storage solution) can save you $60 off the retail price of that award winning disk utility.
Check our Web site for more details.
Add eSATA capability to your desktop or laptop
Benefit from data rates up to 3X FireWire 800 – Add eSATA capability to your desktop or laptop starting from under $20!
I have my miniStack v3 connected to my MacBook Pro 2010 and don’t seem to be able to get it to recocognise either the printer, scanner, cameras or usb storage devices when connected via the miniStack.
Is there something I am overlooking or a special way to set it up?
Any suggestions appreciated.
Graham, do you have the Ministack connected to your machine via USB or FireWire? You need a USB connection running from the miniStack to your machine for the USB hub on the miniStack to activate. It’s fine if you have the miniStack plugged in to your machine with both FireWire and USB (as this will activate both the FireWire and USB hubs on the miniStack) but it will not work through JUST FireWire – a USB connection is necessary.
Can the mini stacker v3 handle a 3tb?
No, the Oxford 924 chipset inside accepts drives up to 2.2TB in capacity.
How can you get 2.2TB? I appear to be limited to 801GB of a 3TB drive…
I’m sorry to hear that. When an enclosure that cannot handle large volumes (ie: greater than 2TB) is given a large volume, you get the difference instead. In this case a 3TB drive is seen as 801GB, the difference between 2.2TB and 3TB. You will need to use a 2TB drive or smaller to make proper use of this enclosure.
Finally the price is drop. I can buy it for greater good. All my data will be safely stored.
This is my most-recommended drive to clients, family, and friends. They love the multiple ports.
Thanks for the referrals Ralph. What kind of clients do you have? Maybe readers here can benefit from your services!
Ah, that explains the price difference. :-)
Now that the Mac mini’s have a ton of ports and many printers & scanners are wifi, there’s not much need for the hub feature in the miniStack anymore.
And I state that from actual use. My users needing the hub feature with their PPC Mac mini’s (2 USB ports) after upgrading to Intel Mac mini’s (5&4 USB ports) they no longer needed the hub in the miniStack. Especially the users who also upgraded their printers/scanners with wifi models.
The MiniStacks are still my favorite backup hard drives. With it’s extra firewire & USB ports. The looks don’t hurt either. Thanks for the price drop!
Hopefully someday you’ll be able to get the price of the V3 down into the same price range as your other quad interface SATA enclosures. The $109.99 price is a bit steep for my Mac mini users.
Ah MacRat…so good to have you here again. Now, when the price of powered hubs come down…or we remove that functionality/port config from the v3, then it might be closer in $ to our other quad solutions…which mainly only have one USB port…