iomega MiniMax 1TB 3.5" USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394b External Hard Drive Model 34937

Pros: Worked for 3 years.
Matches the Mac Mini form factor.
Has a firewire and USB hub-built in.

Cons: Died after 3 years. When I took the case apart to see about replacing the drive, I found the case wasn't too hard to get apart, but its not as nice on the inside as I expected.
- No Fan
- Power Supply won't support most 3.5" drives.

Other Thoughts: Inside I found a Seagate 1TB LP drive, where LP stands for Low Power. I tried to replace it with a Seagate 1TB Green drive. But there isn't enough power to drive the Green drive even though it is supposed to use 40% less power than the typical 3.5" drives.

I am back on Newegg today to see what it would cost to return the Seagate Green drive and get a 2.5" 500GB or 750GB drive to put in this enclosure. The notebook drives will draw less power and produce less heat, so hopefully they will last in the the enclosure, which I REALLY want to keep for the integrated firewire/USB hubs.
If Iomega put a small quiet thermostat controlled fan in the enclosure I would highly recommend this product. Without a fan I can only say its ok.

Pros: reliable, pretty

Cons: looks like it would be difficult to open up the case and get at the drive

Other Thoughts: This hard drive has been running pretty much nonstop for the past two and half years with no problems. I have it connected to my router's usb port for NAS purposes. Transfer speeds are not that great, but I attribute that to my network, not the drive.

The one drawback I could see is that it would probably not be easy to open the case and access the drive itself. Then again, I've never had a reason to need to do that!

Bottom line is this little drive has been running constantly for a long time and shows no signs of dying anytime soon. Honestly, I didn't expect that when I bought it...

Pros: 1) Nice size; fits nicely on a shelf;
2) Mac-compatible and Time Machine compatible;
3) Easy to partition drive.

Cons: 1) Died in a little over 1 year.

Other Thoughts: Began making loud, strange disc noises about 3 months before it died. Was able to get all data backed up to another drive. I guess I would buy another drive from the same company, although I replaced it with an external 1TB drive from a different manufacturer.

Manufacturer Response:

Please contact our support department who can assist you with repair or warranty.

Pros: Firewire, reliable, nice looking

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I have had this drive for about a year and have been using it strictly to stream movies from iTunes to 3 Apple TV's throughout my house. I have never had a problem with this unit...it stays on all the time through Firewire. I have now filed up 1TB and its time to buy the MiniMax 2TB unit for the next 2 years of movies :) Thanks iomega for making a reliable, nice looking product.

Pros: Quiet, Reliable, Quality build, Uncluttered form factor, Looks great on the desk

Cons: More spendy than other, less attractive drives.

Other Thoughts: I'm jinxing myself here, but I've had two of these for two years, and so far they're great. I bought the first 1TB HD over two years ago, and bought a second one a few months after that. Both have been in service constantly since then and so far, so good.

Appearance is a dumb way to choose electronics, but these drives do look good. Now that I've gotten used to how the Iomegas look on my desk, it would be hard to go back to one of the typical, clunky brick Ext HD's.

I stopped by Newegg to pick up another - since one is bound to fail at some point - and wanted to give some props to gear that's worked well for me. No noise, very quiet. A little warm, but not more than other Ext HD's. I've been through about 9 Ext HD's over the years, and while only one (cheap, no-name brand) has failed, these are my faves so far.

Pros: Small, quiet, firewire, includes all cables. 3 yr warranty

Cons: Died in about a month -- just beyond Newegg's 30 day replacement warranty.

Other Thoughts: Iomega was helpful, but all their warranty replacement options cost me money. NOT a good deal for a drive that died in about 30 days! Figure it will take about 2 to 3 weeks to actually see my replacement drive.

Manufacturer Response:

We apologize for any problems you experienced with your MiniMax drive, and we will certainly replace the drive as soon as possible. We are continually evaluating the competitive environment to ensure that all of our support policies and fees are in line with the competition. This allows us to maintain a competitive pricing structure. As the cost of shipping has continued to rise and our competition is no longer providing free return of defective products, we have made the business decision to move to an exchange method of product replacement. The only payment you need to supply is shipping - there is no cost for the replacement device.

Pros: Plug and play with Mac Mini.

Cons: I am very uncomfortable with how hot this runs. It says to put the Mac Mini on top of it, but then the underside of the Mac is heated. I cut a CD case to make a spacer between them.

Other Thoughts: I can't seem to get a spec on how many watts it uses, but running that hot, it is surely more than most.