ADS Technologies plans to ship its Mini Drive kit in mid-November. The US$59.99 kit lets you convert a raw hard drive mechanism into an external storage solution that’s designed to complement Apple’s Mac mini.
Up to 400GB mechanisms (sold separately) can be used inside the mechanism, which features support for IDE Ultra DMA 33/66 or ATA-100/133-compliant hard disk drives. ADS expects the mechanism to appeal to do-it-yourselfers who may have been planning to upgrade their Mac mini’s internal storage system but who didn’t want to discard the drive all together.
The Mini Drive Kit features the same form factor as the Mac mini itself — it’s 6.5 inches square and 2 inches high, and can be stacked on the mini. It connects to the Mac mini using a USB 2.0 cable, and includes a lighted rear power toggle, fan and micro-slot protection.
The Mini Drive Kit also features a “Simple Touch” backup button that will automatically back up selected files or folders using Intech software included with the drive.