I love my OWC miniStack drives; they make great backup drives (and mainline drives too, of course), and I recommend them to friends, family, and clients all the time. They ain't just for Mac minis anymore.™

I have both a v1 and a v2. I really liked the addition of the side ports in v2, nice for a quick plug-in of an iPod shuffle or a Camera Card Reader, or even a bus-powered OWC On-The-Go drive.

A couple of add-ons I'd love to see to the line (maybe not as part of the miniStack itself, but in the same stackable form factor):

miniStack DVD/CD SuperDrive with LightScribe. A long-shot, probably. I have an external LaCie Lightscribe drive that's great, but something stackable to the miniStack would be neat. Can they do a tray-load in a device of that form factor, or would it need to be a slot-loader?

miniStack hubStack. I'd like to see OWC put out something like Macessity's Stack on Mi, but with FW400 and USB2 plugs on the front and back. A nice touch would be bus-powered via the FW400 plug rather than needing a separate power supply.

Speaking of power sources...

Single Power Source. Another big big big plus (for me at least) would be some kind of centralized power system. Remember APC (I think that was them); they used to put out a great external drive catalog back in the 90s. They had this one system where you had a single plug for a stack of external drives (and this is when external drives were a hundred or so megs, so it's a while ago). Anyway, there was a single plug and a cap system of some sort that was spaced perfectly to the size of the external drives, so you could have a single power source in and stack the power needs of the rest of the stack. I can't think of how to explain it properly, but the IT girl at the company I worked at loved it, because it cut down *drastically* on the rat's nest of wiring. (It also did the stack set-up for the SCSI (yes, SCSI) connectors. Of course, in these days of short USB2 and FW400 cables, that's not a big deal anymore.)\

Just a little technology wish-list daydreaming, that's all.

---

ports on the front would be nice

pretty sure a tray load DVD/R is too big for the case --- but maybe not width wise -- perhaps it could be 1-3" deeper?

it would always have to be on the bottom...

i still have some of those APD plugs, they were kinda cool

---

Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Quote

pretty sure a tray load DVD/R is too big for the case --- but maybe not width wise -- perhaps it could be 1-3" deeper?

Nah, that would kill the point of keeping it in the form factor, which is why I figured maybe a slot-load instead.

---

Hi,

It's all about space constraints. And in that form factor, there just isn't much room to do cool things.

• Slot loading lightscribe- not made.

• Front mounted port - no room with a drive in there. Side is about as good as we can do.

• 2nd accessory as a standalone hub - well, we do carry the Belkin - nice product, works great with the form factor - [eshop.macsales.com]

Wish I had some better answers - but unless we went to a 2.5" drive in there, I don't see the room becoming available. That's a thought, but that's also what people are trying to get away from - 2.5" drives.

Thanks for the feedback though!

---

Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

My one request would be SATA support.

---

Help MacInTouch: Buy from Amazon? use this link [amazon.com]
Mac News & Info: [macintouch.com] [macnn.com] [tuaw.com]
Mac Benchmarks: [barefeats.com]
Used Mac Stuff [FS/T]: LowEndMac Swap List
Mac Software Updates: [macupdate.com]
Fonts: [dafont.com] [fontspace.com]
Online Computer Store With Mac Support: [macsales.com]

Jamie,

This kind of grew from that email conversation we had about the form factor; actually, not thinking of "in addition to an internal drive' but as stand alone appurtenance devices -- i.e., a stand-alone hub system (like the Belkin), a stand-alone CD/DVD drive, etc., as a compliment to the miniStack not crammed in with it, per se.

---

Do either of these LaCie mobile Lightscribe drives count? They're not really slot-load, but more like that pop-tray type of drive.

---

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2006 04:17PM by Zoidberg.

The tray load drives would work; but there would not be enough room for another 3.5" drive without it being a really tall "stack".

I'm all for small form factor stuff. But I'm also thinking usability for the majority of people.

Here's a question. How many people REALLY use LightScribe drives/discs?

Thanks!

---

Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

Quote

How many people REALLY use LightScribe drives/discs?

Yo, here, in the back.

(I've been sending the link to the LaCie Lightscribe drive that OWC sells to many a client who love the discs I prep for them. I even wrote a review of it here, eh?)

Again, though, I'm talking a stand-alone DVD/CD drive that would compliment the miniStack, *not* a miniStack with a HD *and* a DVD/CD drive, Lightscribe or not.

---

I have a couple of old Micronet SCSI External Cases (With HUGE full height 10GB SCSI server drives in them!) that have those interconnects built in when you stack them! Very Cool!

Also I can't think of the name (or the company for that matter) but I do remember an external drive that had individual drive modules that could stack one on top of the other.


Count me in as a LIghtscribe user as well!

I just bought a second lightscribe drive yesterday. If more folks would use them then the prices for the media would drop a bit too...

---

Aloha, Ken


“I have developed significant attachments to several members even though I wouldn't recognize them if I sat next to one on a park bench. I'm often tempted when in an airport to walk around, hollering "The Løpe", to see if anyone other than the Homeland Security people will acknowledge me. ” - The Løpe

“Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people. The general government ... can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form, so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.” — George Washington

“Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private virtue, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics.” — John Adams

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” — Benjamin Franklin

"Every single terrible thing you see on Facebook — be it some sort of horrible right wing nonsense or a confusing and annoying product decision — is made in pursuit of growth. Every bit of damage that Meta has caused to the world has been either an act of ignorance or deliberate harm, at many times tweaking the product to make it harder or more annoying to use so that you will log onto Facebook or Instagram multiple times a day and spend as much time on there as possible." Ed Zitron



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2006 04:51PM by Harbourmaster.

That's also a problem - media price. What are you paying for lightscribe CD and DVD media? I pay like 20 cents a disc for printable DVD media (Ritek or Taiyo Yuden), full surface printable when buying in 100 lots.

And - as I've said before - The Epson RX700 inkjet printer is INCREDIBLE. Just amazing quality on discs - I LOVE IT. Best inkjet I've ever bought. Not at all like any of the previous crappy Epsons I've had.

---

Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

My Canon IP4000 does a great job on printable discs too but I much prefer the look of the lightscribe discs. The slotload CD player in my car likes them better than a printed CD too.

CD-R lightscribe discs are around $40/100 DVD-R around $75/100

How much does it cost you in ink to do full coverage printing on 100 CDs?

---

Aloha, Ken


“I have developed significant attachments to several members even though I wouldn't recognize them if I sat next to one on a park bench. I'm often tempted when in an airport to walk around, hollering "The Løpe", to see if anyone other than the Homeland Security people will acknowledge me. ” - The Løpe

“Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people. The general government ... can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form, so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.” — George Washington

“Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private virtue, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics.” — John Adams

“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” — Benjamin Franklin

"Every single terrible thing you see on Facebook — be it some sort of horrible right wing nonsense or a confusing and annoying product decision — is made in pursuit of growth. Every bit of damage that Meta has caused to the world has been either an act of ignorance or deliberate harm, at many times tweaking the product to make it harder or more annoying to use so that you will log onto Facebook or Instagram multiple times a day and spend as much time on there as possible." Ed Zitron



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2006 05:20PM by Harbourmaster.

Quote
Harbourmaster
Also I can't think of the name (or the company for that matter) but I do remember an external drive that had individual drive modules that could stack one on top of the other.

Probably the old LaCie Joule system you're thinking about. That was an interesting-looking setup back in the day, though I don't think I knew anyone who actually ever bought one of those systems.

Ink for the RX-700 is dirt cheap (generic ink) - and gets fantastic coverage for a cart. I've done probably 300 discs now, and only replaced 3 or 4 carts - at about $6 a cartridge.

---

Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

While I LOVE my v2 MiniStack, my request is more FW ports. With three total, that only gives me 2 to work with, and I'd rather not have to daisy chain FW devices.

Of course it could have something to do with the fact that I replaced my MDD dual G4 with a mini, and I've got a BUNCH of FW drives/devices. I'll just be switching them out as needed.

~A

I buy a cakebox of Lightscribe discs and it lasts for a while -- as my review had said, I don't do high-volume printing on discs and would not recommend the Lightscribe for someone looking for that as a feature. Each disc, even with minimal graphics/text, takes 20 to 30 minutes to print.

The end result is nice, though and, as mentioned, my clients love it.

[EDIT] BTW, the subject line should say appurtenance. (CMD+CTRL+D to see what that means, eh?)

---

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/19/2006 07:29PM by Zoidberg.