Originally Posted by MacOS-Fan
Is anyone using one of these? If so, what are your thoughts on this drive? I did a search and it came up with nothing. Thanks!
I bought the V1 model w/o drive from OWC (I believe it is still on clearance for $60) to see what they were like.
At a glance, they look nice. I think the color of the paint is a bit darker than the mini (I don't own a mini so I'm just judging by pictures). The plastic case feels a bit on the cheap side though (especially the top cover). The built in USB hub is nice but I have no idea how robust it is. The small slit on the front/bottom is both the power and drive access light (a subtle dark blue).
The heatsink which the drive mounts on is pretty thick which is a good thing for heat dissipation as fitting a drive in is a very tight squeeze and there isn't much airflow space left. If running a larger capacity drive that generates plenty of heat, I wouldn't recommend stacking units (even though that looks like the idea) since the heat from the plate on the bottom would end up warming up the drive in another ministack below it (good way to accelerate killing a drive). I originally installed a 300GB Maxtor Ultra16 into mine but switched to a cooler running 160GB drive since the heatsink got quite hot and the exhaust fan (set to auto) was constantly running. With the 160, the heatsink is warm and the fan rarely kicks in.
Overall, it is a decent enclosure but maybe on the pricey side for the V2 bare kit (the only difference between some USB/Fireware ports on the side instead of all on the back like the V1).
Top
