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Drill Mac mini?

iMarvin

iMarvin

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Hey everyone, i had a crazy idea. Is it possible to drill the bottom case of the mac mini? If i were to screw the mac mini bottom to the wall and then attach the mini to the bottom, would the screws clear the internals?

Thanks, Marvin.
 
Even if you could, which I don't think you could do, I wouldn't. Get some sort of stand for it and hang it on the wall- no damage involved.
 
MisterKeeks said:
It would be a pretty tight fit, and it would dramatically lower the resale value if that matters to you.
Click to expand...

Don't really care and if i wanted i could just buy a replacement cover, since the aluminium chassis is still intact.
 
Yes you can drill it and yes you can hang it on a wall. But Plastic can get brittle (from the heat) in time and if it starts to crack and it falls off the wall ... mac mini's don't drop well.

As someone suggested... they make brackets designed to mount your mac mini to a wall.

Just sayin'
 
fa8362 said:
You'll care if it short circuits.
Click to expand...

That's why i started this thread, to see if anybody has done this before. And if they succeeded or not.


xlii said:
Yes you can drill it and yes you can hang it on a wall. But Plastic can get brittle (from the heat) in time and if it starts to crack and it falls off the wall ... mac mini's don't drop well.

As someone suggested... they make brackets designed to mount your mac mini to a wall.

Just sayin'
Click to expand...

That's a valid point, i will take that into consideration.
 
Yes. Do it. Use a large one-inch bit for drilling wood. This will have a *dramatic* impact on performance. You simply won't believe it.
 
hayduke said:
Yes. Do it. Use a large one-inch bit for drilling wood. This will have a *dramatic* impact on performance. You simply won't believe it.
Click to expand...

Very funny, while you are here. Do you have anything useful to contribute with?
 
I'm not saying that getting a bracket is a BAD idea, its not.

However, there is absolutely NO reason not to drill the bottom if that is what you want to do. People act like their Macs are cars. "Oh, it will effect the resale value." Are you planning to resell it? I'm sure some people are. I plan to use most of my computer until they are valueless.

You won't short anything out if you're smart. Just take a look at where you have room and use fasteners that won't come close to anything inside.

If you want better short protection once you drill the bottom cover use some Plastidip to cover any bare metal on the fasteners.

And if you're doing it right, the heat produced by your Mac mini isn't anywhere near your bottom cover. It would take a lot more heat than the mini produces to effect the plastic. If you plan to resell it, buy a new cover. Easy. The mini weighs just over two and half pounds. It isn't an anvil. Its not going to heat up and cool down so much over the next 5 years that it falls off the wall.

I laugh and people who think this is the end of the world, or even a bad idea.
 
iMarvin said:
Very funny, while you are here. Do you have anything useful to contribute with?
Click to expand...

Of course. As others have stated, don't drill into the case. The tolerances are too tight. The risk of striking a component that renders the unit unusable is too high. The thread pitch likely will be insufficient to hold the screws for long, so if you insist on drilling the case, then I would drill from the backside, but counter sinking will probably be necessary. Alternately, you could try using a nut+bolt with the nut inside the case to prevent the plastic threads from stripping. Overall I think this is a very bad idea, so I wouldn't consider it. If you need to mount it, then get a case. But all of this is obvious and has mostly been covered.
 
hayduke said:
Of course. As others have stated, don't drill into the case. The tolerances are too tight. The risk of striking a component that renders the unit unusable is too high. The thread pitch likely will be insufficient to hold the screws for long, so if you insist on drilling the case, then I would drill from the backside, but counter sinking will probably be necessary. Alternately, you could try using a nut+bolt with the nut inside the case to prevent the plastic threads from stripping. Overall I think this is a very bad idea, so I wouldn't consider it. If you need to mount it, then get a case. But all of this is obvious and has mostly been covered.
Click to expand...

Offcourse i wouldn't drill into the case from the outside, i'm not a lunatic.

Other than that, thanks. Your input is valuable. 🙂

I will probably do this mod tomorrow, will post some pictures if anybody is interested. 😛
 
drill it here is a link for a spare.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mac-Mini-Bo...219?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58993f536b


here is another link

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Mac-Mini-Bottom-Cover-for-Model-A1347-p-22505.html


consider velcro and no drilling but it has to be the better velcro

http://shop.vetcosurplus.com/catalo...cts_id=12274&gclid=COvU6vHF-rMCFcuZ4Aod5HIA0w


3 strips should work. if you go this route the cabling must be done correctly as a backup to the velcro.



I used this mount below for my mounting


http://store.h-sq.com/HSQ-MINI+MOUNT-X.html

amazon had it for 55



it is a PITA to mount and the apple looks dumb on its side.

of course if I had it under the 32 inch tv I would be fine. can't be done that way in my setup. as that is a 2010 mini with a dvd player the dvd pops out to the right.
 

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philipma1957 said:
drill it here is a link for a spare.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mac-Mini-Bo...219?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58993f536b


here is another link

http://www.powerbookmedic.com/Mac-Mini-Bottom-Cover-for-Model-A1347-p-22505.html


consider velcro and no drilling but it has to be the better velcro

http://shop.vetcosurplus.com/catalo...cts_id=12274&gclid=COvU6vHF-rMCFcuZ4Aod5HIA0w


3 strips should work. if you go this route the cabling must be done correctly as a backup to the velcro.



I used this mount below for my mounting


http://store.h-sq.com/HSQ-MINI+MOUNT-X.html

amazon had it for 55



it is a PITA to mount and the apple looks dumb on its side.

of course if I had it under the 32 inch tv I would be fine. can't be done that way in my setup. as that is a 2010 mini with a dvd player the dvd pops out to the right.
Click to expand...

Looks good, but one question. Why not put the mac mini closer to the tv so you can hide the cables more? 🙂

My mac mini is mounted to the wall now btw, pictures will soon be posted. 🙂
 
iMarvin said:
Looks good, but one question. Why not put the mac mini closer to the tv so you can hide the cables more? 🙂

My mac mini is mounted to the wall now btw, pictures will soon be posted. 🙂
Click to expand...



well the tv has a very movable mount and moving the mini to the left means one of the kids could clip the mini by moving the tv.

all the cables underneath are now out of sight.


I used to have a 27 inch imac mounted on the wall but it was too small and had glare issues. I sold it and did this setup for under 900.

the imac was 1799.


when not watching the screen and powered off the imac was pretty ,

but when using the gear this setup is far better.
 
Here are some of the pictures from the installation today.

The screws i used, i also removed some of the metal on the backplate to get clearance. Probably would of cleared it anyway.
mj0ow0.jpg


Lining everything up.
14l0fnp.jpg


Straight as an arrow. 🙂
334hks8.jpg


All done, up and running.
2r7asz4.jpg


If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. 🙂
 
Looks nice.

Why is your power cable black?

It looks like you placed it in a hidden corner?
Are you planning to hide the cables somehow or are you gonna just leave them hanging?
 
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