Well it took a little while, but someone finally made a hub/external hard drive to match the Mac Mini perfectly. It looks exactly the same as the Mini, and has a 160gb hard drive as well as a USB 2.0/Firewire hub with 3 plugs each. It can sit on top of or below your Mac Mini, and of course works with any other type of Mac or PC as well.
I love it and might buy one, but I wish at least some of those port were on the FRONT of the thing. I’d really like a place to stick my iPod shuffle that didn’t require me to reach behind my computer.
Yeah that would be handy. But that would compromise the appearance I guess. :-\
If your Mini has Bluetooth and/or Airport Extreme, this thing needs to be UNDERNEATH the Mini, not on top of it as shown in your photo. The signals for these systems pass though the plastic top of the Mini, but are reduced or blocked by any metallic object placed over it. (Signals can’t get in though the bottom or sides because of the steel chassis and thick aluminum walls.)
Who says what the front side is? Couldn’t you simply turn it around to make front-mounted USB ports? Also I have to agree that it should be on the bottom.
How does it connect?
Slightly updated photographs of the “Mini Stack” can be found here: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ministack/
The iPod connection can be made on the side, allowing you to not have to reach behind your iPod and still not compromise the appearance. That is, its clean and clutter-free when you see these photos without all the cables attached. :)
Connections include a USB 2.0 “B” connector and Firewire 400 connectors. I doubt it does cross-compatability between the two types, so you would want to hook up both if you wanted to use it as a hub. Either will work for simply the external hard drive access (toggle switch on the back).
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