The Mac mini is a great little desktop machine, but it has its downfalls. The most notable downside of the Mac mini is its lack of both a CD/DVD drive and front-facing SDXC card reader. I also find myself using a USB external hard-drive with my Mini to back up my machine using Time Machine. While I can use an external DVD drive, external hard-drive and a USB-connected SDXC adapter to solve these issues, I would rather not have more cables running about my desk. That’s where the miniStack MAX comes in: an external hard-drive, Blu-Ray and SD-card reader combo.
The device itself looks almost identical to the Mac mini and features the same footprint. This allows you to stack your Mac mini and your miniStack MAX on top of each other, giving a seamless look.
The miniStack MAX gives your Mac mini a ton of added functionality. Like I stated earlier, the device allows you to add a CD/DVD or even Blu-Ray drive to your Mac mini and has a built-in 3.5″ hard-drive or solid-state drive enclosure. However, the device also adds two FireWire 800 ports, one eSATA port, one USB 3.0 port, and a forward-facing SDXC card reader to your Mac mini.
If you’d like to purchase a miniStack MAX for your Mac mini, expect to drop at least $149.99 for the device. If you purchase the $149.99 model, you’ll have to bring your own hard-drive and CD/DVD drive. However, if you’d rather have the optical drive, hard-drive or both included with your miniStack, OWC will charge you a bit more.
