Product Reviews

The uncertainty surrounding the future of the Mac mini hasn't stopped manufacturers from updating their peripherals for it.

The MiniMax from Iomega has long been one of the more tempting offerings for Apple's diminutive desktop computer, combining a 7200rpm hard drive with FireWire 400 and USB hubs.

The latest version does nothing more than upgrade the hard disk to a 750GB model, but then if it ain't broke...

The MiniMax shares the Mac mini's aluminium and white plastic case styling, as well as its length and width. Sat one on top of the other, they look very neat. The 750GB hard drive can be connected to your Mac, using FireWire 400 or USB 2. There are three FireWire ports in total,

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meaning that you have two free to connect to additional devices. This is one more than most FireWire hard drives, which provide a second FireWire port for daisy-chaining.

On the USB front there is one upstream port and three for downstream connections, enabling you to connect, say, a printer, scanner and card reader.

Alongside the USB 2 and FireWire ports on the back of the MiniMax, there's an on/off switch - unlike some other hard drives, the MiniMax doesn't turn itself off when you shut down your Mac. There's also a dip switch that allows you to specify that the FireWire interface be used for data transfer to and from the hard drive - something that we would recommend.

The MiniMax's 7200rpm drive is a decent performer. It's not the hard drive to go for if speed is an absolute premium - a Raid 0 setup would suit better in those situations. But the MiniMax is no slouch and it compares favourably against other FireWire 400 desktop drives.

The price of the MiniMax is very reasonable too. We found it online for £127. That's a shade more than a regular desktop hard drive. But the additional cost is easily accounted for by the hub features. If you have a Mac mini and need additional storage space, perhaps to run Time Machine, the MiniMax is an excellent buy.