MiniStack 500GB External Hard Drive

Features of the MiniStack External Hard Drive

The MiniStack External Hard Drive features both USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity. The MiniStack External Hard Drive also has a three port USB hub and a three port FireWire hub built in as well allowing you to connect peripherals to the MiniStack directly.

The MiniStack External Hard Drive also has a large external passive radiator heatsink on the bottom of the enclosure to keep the hard drive cool. The exhaust fan in the MiniStack enclosure is automatically regulated for speed via a thermal probe.

The actual hard drive used in the MiniStack enclosure is a 7200 RPM unit. While the external case looks like aluminum, it is actually only plastic.

MiniStack External Hard Drive in Use

In use the MiniStack External Hard Drive is very quiet. Video editors will appreciate its near silent operation. While both USB and FireWire port are available, I performed my testing via FireWire.

During testing I noticed no appreciably difference in performance between the MiniStack External Hard Drive and my internal 7200RPM hard drives. I was able to move smaller files to and from the MiniStack at virtually the same speeds as the internal drives on my PC as well as stream video with no problems.

The set up of the MiniStack External Hard Drive was straight forward and required a vacant FireWire port, AC power for the drive and hubs. PC users note that the MiniStack comes pre-formatted for Mac OS X, reformatting will be required before you can use it.