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Mac mini Maximized With 3.5" Drives
Demolition writes "You just knew that someone would get around to this, didn't you?
In this how-to article from AppleTalk Australia, a step-by-step guide describes how to transplant a Mac mini into a micro-ATX case and a method to connect standard 3.5" hard drives to it (using do-it-yourself 2.5"-to-3.5" IDE adapters). Only some minor case modifications and some added cooling are needed to complete the project."
...without ripping your Mac mini apart and sticking it in a PC enclosure, you could use any capacity 3.5" disk you wished in conjunction with Mac mini by using any 3.5" drive enclosure with FireWire (and/or USB 2.0), including some sure-to-be-released FireWire/USB 2.0 enclosures that will mimic Mac mini's appearance, and be designed to sit underneath or near a Mac mini and still be aesthetically pleasing. Perhaps some vendor like El Gato will even make a FireWire PVR/tuner solution WITH an integrated 3.5" drive bay, in the same type of case as Mac mini.
(Preemptive response: Yes, FireWire 400 is more than fast enough for this application. Yes, even for a media server. Yes, even for a PVR. Yes, I know USB 2.0 doesn't support booting. If you want booting, use FireWire. Yes, I know Apple says you shouldn't stack anything on top of Mac mini. That's why I said Mac mini would stack on top of it. Further, it's very likely NOT because of heat, but because the AirPort and Bluetooth antennas are directly in the top of the case, and instead of making a bunch of convoluted requirements about when and if it's ok to stack something on it, they just said no stacking. But, again, moot, because you could stack the mini itself on top of such a hypothetical enclosure or device. Or, set them side by side.)
The Mac mini really is almost a perfect media center box:
Acceptable processor and video card
DVI, VGA, S-video, and Composite video out
1/8" stereo audio out, or digital audio via FireWire with one of several adapters
FireWire and USB 2.0
10/100 ethernet and modem
Optional 802.11g and Bluetooth
CD-RW/DVD or optional CD-RW/DVD+/-RW
Remote control via Apple Remote Desktop or VNC (included in the free ARD Client 2.1)
Very small, very elegant, and very quiet operation
All that's missing is a tuner and a PVR application, and that's a nightmare to wade into, what with what's necessary to tune satellite services, and the infancy of CableCard.
Combine this with this articlehttp://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05 /01/30/2213249&tid=222&tid=174 from a few days ago, and you would have a miniMac in a Mini-ITX case, and a Mini-ITX in a Mini Mac case. It's a plot we've seen before. http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/e pisode/68818.html
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
It seems their server is running tpc via AppleTalk. Long live PhoneNet!
-dameron
I always wanted a Mac but they were so damn ugly. If only mac minis had been designed to look like e-machines. Today truly is a great day.
Really. Some relatively talented industrial artist working for Dr Bott/LaCie/etc will design a fixed firewire drive bay that is exactly the same size as the mini, and may offer some other functionality like Compact Flash/SD/etc reader. Fixed 120GB, or a hotswap with cheap trays.
Good accessories come to those who wait.
Don't you dare tell me what the "whole point" of any computer is. I'll tell the computer what to do, thank you very much. I don't care what apple thinks it should do.
MacroHard - Boning you in a big way! (TM)
If you want to use it as a server then why not simply leave it in the original case, plug in a firewire drive, and throw it in the basement (or under the fridge, or in a closet, or....)
Take the money that you would have spent on a case and spend it on a FW enclosure and a disk and come out ahead.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety" - BF
You can pick up a 200 gig 7200 rpm 3.5" drive for at least $30 less than your 60 gig 2.5". We're talking $0.75/gig vs. $2.50/gig.
On my mini 1.42, I bench about 50% faster with a 7200 rpm 8mb 250 gig Firewire over the stock 4200 rpm 80 gig 2.5". The speedup is very obvious in use. Oh, and I boot from it.
What is this latency of which you speak?
--- Submission is feudal.