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Mac mini's New Friend

Posted by Hemos on from the rolling-out dept.

Thijs van As writes "The miniMate, MicroNet's new external disk drive and port replicator, is created specifically to complement Apple's new Mac mini. With available storage up to 400GB, 4 USB 2.0 ports and 3 FireWire ports, the miniMate extends the capabilities of the Mac mini. Looks impressive if you ask me."

8 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. 3 Firewire and 4 USB ports? by theWrkncacnter · · Score: 5, Informative

    That's slightly misleading, since you have to use one of each of those to connect the unit to the mac mini and use those ports as a hub. Still seems pretty neat though. 2 firewire ports can be very handy.

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    -1 (Troll) is antihammer
  2. crappy cable options ... by torpor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    .. they went to all that work to make an extender box for the mac mini, and ship 'standard' firewire/usb cables .. 7" and 9" long, respectively.

    pfft. if they were a real Apple accessory company, this box'd have its own little, short, 'smart'-looking cables which are neat enough, and only long enough, to stretch from mac mini port to hub port.

    niggly point, but a point nevertheless. if i'm going to buy one of these things for my mac mini, i want it to be -neat- and not end up promoting ratsnest cable propagation ..

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  3. Trademark infringement? by stereotree · · Score: 5, Interesting
    As a law student, I see this in terms of how Apple's legal dept. might view this new "accessory" as infringing on their trademark in the Mac mini.

    Apple might have a case that the MiniMate infringes on the trademark it has established with the Mac mini on the grounds that it has copied its trade dress.

    Looking at the front of the machine, there are no markings on the Mac mini to let you know that it is an Apple product, whereas Micronet is emblazoned on the front of its MiniMate. If the Mac Mini is covered on top by the MiniMate or the pair are stacked in a rack/cabinet/cubbyhole, one might think that both boxes are made by Micronet, effectively causing a likelihood of confusion "or to deceive as to the...origin...of the goods." (this last language is taken straight out of Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act.)

    I know most /.'ers won't have this problem of confusion but I believe that the standard is according to some "reasonable person of the community" standard, and whether they would be confused by the trade dress...

    I think Apple went after a Chinese (or Taiwanese?) company a few years ago for its bondi blue iMac lookalike....but they seem to have a more favorable view of add-ons like this one that resemble the original product without performing the same functions (the huge iPod accessory market is further proof of their leniency to accessories that piggy-back off their designs without directly competing with them).

    1. Re:Trademark infringement? by peragrin · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What your forgetting is that Apple promotes third party additions. With the special requirements of the Apple crowd(style, form, function, design) third party toys are a tough sell.

      Take a good look around ipod accessories. Heck even Radio Shack has them now. With such a name they probably didn't get Apple's approval, but if it match's Apple style closely enough Apple doesn't care.

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  4. Mildly OT, since no one else has said it yet ... by David+Rolfe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't this just an outright advertisement posing as News for Nerds? You think I could get an 'article' into slashdot if it was just touting a 30% sale at DealRam or Newegg or something?

    The only time I would think a product like this was news was if the price was stupidly low. Like ... "new external firewire drive that stacks perfectly with Mini, 3 additional USB2, 2 additional Firewire 400, 250 GB for $99!" Maybe with some more exclamation points so it looks really news-like.

    Sorry for the rant. Glad to see there have been so few dupes (possibly none?!) in the last two weeks. :-)

    --
    Read Heinlein's 1953 Revolt in 2100, now more than ever.
  5. Re:Mildly OT, since no one else has said it yet .. by Golias · · Score: 5, Funny

    User #38 and this is the first time you've noticed a blatant Slashvertizement?

    Are you a new user who bought this account from somebody else, or have you simply not been paying any attention?

    --

    Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  6. Yes by Kyusaku+Natsume · · Score: 5, Informative

    From their specs page:

    -OS Support : Mac OS X v10.1.5 & greater, Windows 98SE, 2000, ME, XP

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    Mexico: 100% conservative's America now!
  7. Re:logos by Thijs+van+As · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just scratch it off with a cube of sugar. Good old trick works always.