LaCie or Ministack?

[itcheroni]

I want to add an external hard drive to my mini and can't see any real different between the ministack and the laCie drive. My only requirement is that it fits well under my mini and I think both of them do. Anyone have either of them and can offer some advice? Do they both need to be plugged into an outlet or can they get their power through the firewire drive?

[deebster]

Both will need their own power source. Only 2.5" hard drives can draw their power direct from a firewire port.

For my money the ministack is much better. It offers extra USB and firewire ports, which will come in handy if you start connecting other stuff.

Take my mini (no, not literally :D ). I connect an external firewire burner and HD to it, as well as an iPod and an iPod shuffle. However, with only one firewire port I have to daisychain the HD through the DVD burner, and must unplug them to connect the iPod.

More ports is good, plus I think the ministack might even be cheaper. At least I think it is here in the 51st state.

[Gordy]

I've got the lacie mini and its great. Its a perfect match for the mini and I like the fact it seperates the heat from the mini itself.

Plus you can easily upgrade them, I've replaced the 80gb drive with a 500gb one.

[i.Feature]

I like the fact it seperates the heat from the mini itself.

That space is a deal breaker!

[itcheroni]

Thanks for the input. I just went to LaCie's website and it looks like they've got an update to their HD that has extra ports, except it doesn't seem to be for sale yet. But the ministack has a 2 year warranty(I think). Tough choice.

By the way, does your DVD burner fit with your mini the way the HD does? That is, under it, making it almost like one unit?

[itcheroni]

That space is a deal breaker!

Why's that?

[deebster]

My DVD burner is a standard internal (Pioneer 110) in a plain old firewire box. Fugly, but cheap and cheerful.

Don't think I've ever seen a matching case to go under a mini as it wouldn't be big enough to fit anything than a laptop or mini-sized burner in it, and if you did that you'd probably end up paying more than a mini with an internal burner anyway.

[deebster]

This (http://eshop.macsales.com/Item_XLR8YourMac.cfm?ID=7926&Item=NWTFWU2MS) deal for the older version of the ministack takes a bit of beating. You can then put in any HD you like, with the exception of a couple of Seagates that are apparently a bit too large (physically) to fit inside.

It's essentially the same as the new version, but all the ports are on the back.

Check out www.xlr8yourmac.com for their special deals at OWC, assuming of course you are in the US.

[i.Feature]

Why's that?

Having that extra air space really does help keep things cooler... Very simple but very effective.

[itcheroni]

Having that extra air space really does help keep things cooler... Very simple but very effective.

Oh, I thought it was a deal breaker against it!

[weg]

Oh, I thought it was a deal breaker against it!

I wasn't aware that "deal breaker" can be interpreted that way...

[itcheroni]

I wasn't aware that "deal breaker" can be interpreted that way...

Well, whenever I've heard the term "deal breaker" it usually meant that specific thing breaks the deal, as in, the deal won't be happening. So when he said it was a deal breaker, I thought that was the primary reason he would NOT buy it. Am I just being pedantic?

[lord patton]

Well, whenever I've heard the term "deal breaker" it usually meant that specific thing breaks the deal, as in, the deal won't be happening. So when he said it was a deal breaker, I thought that was the primary reason he would NOT buy it. Am I just being pedantic?

I think you're right.

If a feature is essential and welcome, then it "seals the deal."

Edit: For example:

"Well I fell in love with the script... that, coupled with my recent troubles with the IRS, sealed the deal!"
-Troy McClure

[Artful Dodger]

Is this something you were looking at or would like?
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ministack/

[itcheroni]

Oh, one more question for those of you with an external hard drive. I'm planning on eventually replacing my mini with an intel mini. Can I just switch the drive over without a problem or will the files not be compatible?

[deebster]

The drive will work, but it must be erased and reformatted in an Intel-friendly format before you can use it to boot your Mac mini.

I can't remember the format offhand, but I understand Disk Utility on an Intel Mac will choose the correct format by default.

[Gordy]

The drive will work, but it must be erased and reformatted in an Intel-friendly format before you can use it to boot your Mac mini.

I can't remember the format offhand, but I understand Disk Utility on an Intel Mac will choose the correct format by default.


Pretty certain that the drive will be HTFS on either systems... Shouldn't require and changes.

[StealthRider]

The filing system is the same on PPC and Intel Macs- HFS+ (Journaled).

[itcheroni]

Pretty certain that the drive will be HTFS on either systems... Shouldn't require and changes.

What's HTFS?

[Gordy]

What's HTFS?

typo sorry hfs :)

[timswim78]

Any reason that you don't want a Mini Pal? I've got a couple of them, and I like them for these reasons:

- Adds 2 firewire and 4 USB ports to my mini
- Is identical to the mini in terms of dimensions and finish
- Is very quiet
- Is fast

[itcheroni]

typo sorry hfs :)

haha, I still don't know what that is.

[Gordy]

The filing system is the same on PPC and Intel Macs- HFS+ (Journaled).

haha, I still don't know what that is.

Its a type of format for a hard drive its one of the options for a new drive on a mac..

[deebster]

"Currently, there is no method to enable one external drive to boot both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs."

Taken from this (http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=08405) article.

I don't have an Intel Mac yet, but from reading this and other articles it seems you must reformat the volume you intend to boot from in the correct format.

Whatever, it can be done and your hardware will work for sure. Bottom line is you might have to repartition (and thereby erase) your external HD.

I think :D

[itcheroni]

Hey, you guys, thanks for all your advice. I read another thread about hard drives crashing on people and got completely paranoid!

Now when you say "boot from" does that mean I might not have to erase it if I start up from the internal hard drive and then access the external hard drive after it's on? I just want to know if, let's say my mini's internal drive breaks, I can use the external drive to transfer my old files(from the external drive) onto the new computer.

[Spanky Deluxe]

I just thought that I'd post here that there will be three mac mini matching stackable models coming out in the Summer of this year. I contacted the manufacturer a few months ago:

Yes, we have 3 models for SATA drives, which should be available in the
market this summer. Have a look at
http://www.macpower.com.tw/products/hdd3/. You can see the M9 case with
its different versions for IDE and SATA drives.

[deebster]

Yep, you're right.

You can transfer files to and from your mini regardless of how the external drive / volume is formatted, but it makes sense to have the internal HD of whatever mini you have (PPC or Intel) cloned to the external to serve as a backup, and so that you can boot from it to run repair and diagnostic apps should you need to.

The only possible problem I see is if you have stored files on your external drive and you then switch to an Intel mini and want the external to be able to boot the mini. In this case you may have to repartition / erase the external so it using the correct parition format to allow it to boot the Intel mini.

Obviously, should you have any files that live only on the external HD then you are going to have to back them up somewhere else before you reformat and copy them back.

Do you have a DVD burner?

[janey]

The only possible problem I see is if you have stored files on your external drive and you then switch to an Intel mini and want the external to be able to boot the mini. In this case you may have to repartition / erase the external so it using the correct parition format to allow it to boot the Intel mini.
No.

All you need is a hard drive that has system files the Mac can use to boot OS X from. You just need to figure out some way to boot from the drive, and if it's possible, I think all you need to do is hold down Option. Will show you all options for booting. (Well, that's what it is for PPC macs, and Intel Macs have that option too but I don't know if USB2.0/Firewire devices are included)

Simply put, you need to install OS X on there, or make a clone of the internal drive (not always guaranteed to work, especially if you don't clone it right) to be able to boot from it.

Then again, I haven't had the pleasure of figuring out a way to boot the Intel Macs like that, if there even is one, so take it with a grain of salt.

But considering how both PPC and Intel Macs use HFS+ Journaled as the default filesystem, I don't see what you're trying to say.