OWC Mercury

When I read from OWC's site that this was the same stock drive that Apple uses, I was VERY hesitant as all the stock drives from Apple in the past for me were at best bad and I heavily debated just buying a new mac and not waste time and money by getting a new drive shipped to Japan then installing it to only have it confirm my fears.

Enter the new drive from OWC. I watched their video on-line on how to pop my Mini open. (I had to buy a putty knife and I couldn't find my computer screw driver set so I used a bobby pin and a pair of pliers to get enough torque on the bobby pin to loosen the screws.) It took about 45 minutes of mucking about but I got the job done (bobby pins are not only good for holding up hair, opening locks and handcuffs, but apparently on minis, too).

The moment of truth arrived and I popped in the Snow Leopard install disc as my old drive had refused to read it and I was forever stuck with Tiger. It read the disc no problem and had no problem booting from the disc although the odd time you'd hear the drive trying to find various sectors. 30 minutes later and Snow Leopard was installed. I was very happy. The next day some CDs arrived in the mail and it ripped them fast and very, very quietly.

I have nothing but praise for this drive (the one I received was a Sony) and I HIGHLY recommend it to others. In addition, it is just about the quietest drive I've ever heard. Barring the odd seek, and when popping discs in and out, you can't hardly hear it unless you really listen for it. 10/10

I would recommend this item to a friend!