NewerTech Releases miniStack MAX Hard Drive/Blu-Ray Burner/SD Card Reader/USB Hub

[guzhogi]

Originally Posted by incoherent1

I know nothing about Bluray. Past discussions have talked about how OS X lacks Bluray codecs, so even if you plug a Bluray in, you can't watch them as you would a DVD. Is that right? If so, are there third party codecs you can download and/or purchase?

I hope you could play Blu-Ray movies with it without any additional software. Considering the resolution of Mac displays now, you can watch HD videos. Plus, Blu-Ray movies seem like higher quality to me plus you get all the special features, and other spoken languages & subtitles, unlike most movies I've seen on iTunes.

I'd also like Thunderbolt as well. USB & Firewire hub + hard drive + Blu-Ray. Sounds pretty good.

Anyone know the speed of the hard drive that's included? 5400 or 7200 RPM. And what connection? SATA II or III?

[el-John-o]

Be kind of neat for backups. You could use it for your backup solution, and create off-site copies with the Blu-Ray burner, all in one place!

Also, one more futile attempt to remind people that even USB took YEARS to take off, thunderbolt will have it's day, though it will always be a small market share product for certain pro level hardware. It's not nor ever will be a consumer grade port, this is for enthusiasts and pros. It's like saying the 7xxx series AMD cards will never take off because not everyone on the entire planet uses them... well not everyone needs that level of performance!

[brownpaw]

From the manual:

The USB hub, card reader and optical drive all function exclusively over USB so if another cable is connected, they will continue to function over USB. If either a FireWire cable or an eSATA cable is plugged in, the hard drive will function over that interface.

The manual also mentions that it "requires" USB3, with no mention of backwards compatibility. Kind of disappointing.

Source: http://www.newertech.com/downloads/NWTMANMSTKMXOM.pdf

[Mr Dobey]

I would love to see:

1) Bus power via dual thunderbolt ports so there would only be two connections placed neatly on one side of the rMBP. Right now my portable Blu-Ray player needs two USB cables to be powered so I have to have one cable going around to the other side of my rMBP (not very clean looking)

2) A 2.5" hard drive version for a much thinner form factor and no need for an adapter for SSD's.

[roland.g]

Originally Posted by GeekLawyer

I have always had a strong feeling I should keep my iTunes library externally - could you say more why you believe as you do? A product like this might be very useful for that indeed.

1. External drives mean that if your internal drive fails, you still have that data separate.

2. Your internal drive is usually smaller and is more expensive to upgrade. An external can easily be upgraded. And I have always bought an enclosure and a bare drive but deals at places like Costco make either option viable.

3. As you upgrade your machine, you simply copy the iTunes data library file to the user folder on your new machine and point iTunes to the external drive.

4. And while I use Time Machine to back up my internal drive, I use a second external drive along with Carbon Copy Cloner to backup my iTunes drive. So that I only need a backup as large as my media drive and don't weigh down my Time Machine backups. I also use CCC to clone in incremental backups, so that if anything gets accidentally deleted, I don't lose it. Which is why for this I think a mirror is a bad idea. I had originally looked into a Drobo, but they have poor performance and reliability from what I have read, at least they did when I was considering options a few years ago.

It may sound like a lot, a media drive, and media backup and a Time Machine backup, but after years of not backing up, I chose to get realistic about my needs and didn't want to lose all that data, from music and movies to iPhoto libraries with family photos.

Now iTunes match and iCloud do make it very easy to not need a physical backup of your data as the match and Cloud make it so you can redownload anything that goes missing, but not if Apple stops carrying it in their catalog, or in my case, a large part of both my music and movie libraries are from old media and not purchased through iTunes. I also don't currently use iTunes match.

[kobyh15]

How much heat is this thing going to put off? I doubt I would stack a mini on top of it. Slick idea though.

[nagromme]

The Mac Mini already comes with an SD reader built-in. This gives you dual SD readers. Do we want that?

I guess it's front-facing--good if you use it a lot.

I like the idea of a matching Blu-Ray drive. For HT purposes, I wouldn't care whether it was Lightning or not.

I'd certainly be tempted to get this instead of Apple's thin SuperDrive, if I ever decide I need an optical for my Air. I'd never travel with it, so thinness wouldn't matter. And it would make a docking station of sorts for my external HD, gamepad controller and mouse.

Or, I wonder if anyone makes a small Blu-Ray player that works standalone (video-out) AND works connected to a Mac? That could be tempting.

[designgeek]

Feels like that Ron White joke, the Beaumont Airport, Haircare and Tire Center. Why not throw in an electric pencil sharpener while you're at it?

[travis.jennings]

I was thinking dock / base station for my MBA 11", but it has no thunderbolt.

Fail.

Shouldn't thunderbolt kill firewire in the end? I dont see any firewire on my Air...

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Originally Posted by treyjustice

not horrible pricing

If you say so. I got a Memorex Blu-Ray/DVD/CD USB 3.0 burner for $69 on sale and my 3TB USB 3.0 external drive for $110 for a grand total of $179.

My Mac Mini already has the card reader on it (why would I need another one?). That leaves the extra two USB 3.0 ports which are nice, but not worth the $261 difference in price (i.e. $440 for a Blu-Ray Burner with 3TB; $400 for read-only Blu-Ray and 3TB).

I suppose it'd be nice to have the FW800 OPTION (theoretically it could come in handy if I had to use it with another computer), but the computer I'm using it with has USB 3.0 so I don't really then NEED the slower FW800 option.

[Verbatim Cookie]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

FTFThem

[Fatalbert]

It can stack onto the Mac mini... I wonder if one day, the Mac mini will be the pro computer. One module for the 10TB SSD, one for a motherboard and 10GHz CPU and 256GB RAM, and... oh wait, none for optical media

[APlotdevice]

Originally Posted by roland.g

Now iTunes match and iCloud do make it very easy to not need a physical backup of your data as the match and Cloud make it so you can redownload anything that goes missing, but not if Apple stops carrying it in their catalog, or in my case, a large part of both my music and movie libraries are from old media and not purchased through iTunes. I also don't currently use iTunes match.

Which inevitably is going to happen with a lot of media. Contracts do eventually expire, resulting a the publishers' losing their distribution rights.

[deannnnn]

Originally Posted by Glassed Silver

I think I haven't seen such ridiculously overpriced HDD options in a long time...

Glassed Silver:mac

Overpriced? Those prices seem more than reasonable to me.
That said, I will still not be purchasing one.

[phoenixsan]

a good solution for many people, me included.... Hope that thing have a good price and be reliable....

[skellener]

Originally Posted by incoherent1

I know nothing about Bluray. Past discussions have talked about how OS X lacks Bluray codecs, so even if you plug a Bluray in, you can't watch them as you would a DVD. Is that right? If so, are there third party codecs you can download and/or purchase?

You can stream bluray movies from Make MKV without ripping right to VLC. I've done it. I don't think it works for every disc. But it does work on ones I've tried.

Follow Method 1
http://themacfeed.com/2010/08/steve-...edia-on-a-mac/

Here's a MacRumors forum about it
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=841318

Frankenweenie works and that's a pretty new disc. Using older VLC 1.1.11 for playback

Even with the time it takes to set up, seems to get to the movie faster than the lame Sony consumer BD player I had - and now ads. Just the movie!

[mdriftmeyer]

Originally Posted by themanfromvlad

Lack of Thunderbolt gives me little hope of that small plug ever taking off.

Just buy the Thunderbolt to Firewire 800 adaptor by Apple. Good to go, especially since that drive doesn't need bus power from the computer as it has its own.

[macs4nw]

Originally Posted by travis.jennings

I was thinking dock / base station for my MBA 11", but it has no thunderbolt.....

I'm also disappointed that, for the price, it doesn't sport a pair of Thunderbolt ports. Wonder if the units with built-in HDDs are Time Machine compatible. The NewerTechnology as well as OWC sites don't mention this.

[nagromme]

I'd be inclined to install a bare drive on my own--look for the best deal, and until I found that deal, just use it for the optical drive.

Originally Posted by macs4nw

I'm also disappointed that, for the price, it doesn't sport a pair of Thunderbolt ports. Wonder if the units with built-in HDDs are Time Machine compatible. The NewerTechnology as well as OWC sites don't mention this.

As far as I know, any old external HD is fine for Time Machine. I know people using various different random brands of USB drive, for instance.

Originally Posted by APlotdevice

Which inevitably is going to happen with a lot of media. Contracts do eventually expire, resulting a the publishers' losing their distribution rights.

If you get iTunes Match, it will store music even if Apple doesn't have the right to sell it: it uploads it to the cloud from your computer. (Also, I'd hope Apple negotiated to make music sales permanent, even when cloud-delivered, so they could keep serving a song to you even if they had to stop selling it to new buyers. If the labels agreed to redownloading and iTunes Match in the first place--which is kind of amazing--then that doesn't seem like much of a leap.)

[gwest]

I just had to return 2 of OWC's MiniStack drives due to interference with both WiFi and Bluetooth signals. The drives are designed to be stacked but the proximity to the computer itself renders the mouse useless and puts a halt to wireless internet connections. OWC sells a kits to fix the problem and has a video showing how apply it- you have to completely tear down the Mini, voiding its warranty, to apply the shielding.

I hope that this new MiniStack has been designed to address the issue, otherwise you'll be purchasing long cables distance it from the Mini, not stacking it as it's designed to be used.

[GeekLawyer]

Originally Posted by roland.g

1. External drives mean that if your internal drive fails, you still have that data separate...

Thank you for that. I may just pull the trigger on an external drive of some variety for my iTunes/media library.

[Glassed Silver]

Originally Posted by deannnnn

Overpriced? Those prices seem more than reasonable to me.
That said, I will still not be purchasing one.

Excuse me, but a device that costs 150 bucks shouldn't have a 3TB HDD version that costs as much as two base models and 100 bucks spare cash.

If you think that's sound pricing for adding maybe some additional board a slightly bigger housing maybe and a drive that costs in the rang of 90-110USD (and that is retail)... Well, then I guess I don't need to further try to explain it to you.

Glassed Silver:mac

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Originally Posted by incoherent1

I know nothing about Bluray. Past discussions have talked about how OS X lacks Bluray codecs, so even if you plug a Bluray in, you can't watch them as you would a DVD. Is that right? If so, are there third party codecs you can download and/or purchase?

There's *one* app that can play BluRay media, but it requires internet access, as it fetches something something that is required to decrypt the disc. So not very awesome. Other than that, you have to rip the discs.

Originally Posted by kobyh15

How much heat is this thing going to put off? I doubt I would stack a mini on top of it. Slick idea though.

It has less than half the power using equipment that a mini has, in a bigger enclosure, and you are worried about heat? O_o

I'll be getting one, as soon as I've read reviews of it.. Absolutely perfect for my 2011 Mini HT!

Edit: Funny. USB port 1 us power only, no connectivity. So you can only use it for charging iPhones!
Edit 2: As I see it, for my HT I have to run the harddrive via the Firewire800 port, but the rest over USB... woot

[segura]

I guess I am in for a bare drive for $150. I have a headless Mac Mini Server with 2 x 1TB. Can pop in a 3TB in this baby and have my 5TB space. Pick up a BD Drive for $50 to put in . . . and I'm cool with the front loading SD Card Slot. Wish it was TB, but this will work fine for me.

[Muscle Master]

So guys... Lets just say I know someone who uses CAD, and I also know some a computer engineer.. And we are just looking for the next best thing

If we made a sexy aluminum external drive with say 2 2.5 HDD/SSD slots, an optical drive that read and write BD\DVD\CD, make it as thin as possible without compromising thermal management

Lets see, give it a couple of thunderbolt ports, couple of USB 3.0 ports.. Maybe four, Esata port, *Maybe run it on AC power and maybe wifi.. Give it that HUB functionality everybody wants and also Give it a little LED\LCD that displays drive activity, etc


Will you buy it? I'm sure this has been done before but we are just looking to get our foots in the door