Both the Apple Mac and the Personal Computer blueprint are doing away with optical drives. Computers are beginning to look different, instead of all the integrated equipment that one usually associates with a computer, computers are becoming merely screens, keyboards, a charging ports and one Universal Serial Bus (or USB) port. Some users may believe that they need nothing more. However, as with most technological ‘advances’, you may lose much by discarding the old completely and rushing to embrace the new and may want to add a little something to your cutting edge computing technology.

There is a way to enjoy using a computer, which combines the best of the old with some exciting new features. The Newer Tech Mini Stack MAX has an optical drive, which you can use as a Blu-ray DVD/CD drive. It also features an enclosure, housing a hard drive, with a huge capacity, a USB hub and an SD card reader. Those wanting storage, connectivity easy transfer for photos and video, simple plug and play, ability to quickly charge iPhones and other digital devices and the convenience of an optical drive will find it all in the Mini Stack MAX.

Although originally designed to accompany Apple Mac mini, the Mini stack MAX also offers personal computer owners similar advantages. It is small and compact. Its chic design complements any PC or Mac. The Mini Stack MAX allows you to completely reboot and back up your data. The three USB ports allow you to power and charge external digital devices and the SD card reader gives you a quick and easy way to transfer photographs and video from digital cameras or smart phones.

Owners of new computers, needing greater hard drive space, a DVD, CD, or Blu-ray computer connection or more ports would be advised to consider the Mini stack MAX. It provides the only four in one solution currently available. The Newer Tech Mini Stack MAX provides all the necessary technology in a compact, practical way. Personal computers and Macs continue to evolve and you can throw out the bathwater and keep the baby or in other words have the new technology along with the best of the old.

It’s a common problem. You want to be able to connect all your cool peripherals to your computer, but doing so is tedious and messy. What if there was a way to connect everything to a single point, and then just have the one thing to plug into your computer? It turns out that there is! That’s exactly the functionality that Thunderbolt Docks provide. Below, you’ll find a quick comparison of several different models that will help you pick the right dock for you.

A quick overview for those who aren’t sure what we’re talking about. In terms of connectivity and data transfer, there are two standards to take note of. USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. USB 3.0 is more universally applied, while Thunderbolt is Apple specific. On the other hand, Thunderbolt allows for data transfers roughly twice as fast as the best speeds you’ll get out of USB 3.0, and Thunderbolt 2 technology will let you transfer at rates even faster than that, so if you’ve got a fairly up to date Mac Pro, there are few reasons to adopt the slower technology.

And what are we connecting, exactly? Storage. Small storage devices like external hard drives or huge, vast amounts of storage in the form of DAS, which stands for “Direct Attached Storage.” In simplest terms, this is an enclosure that houses a number of high capacity disk drives you can attach to your computer. (Note here that there’s also a thing called NAS, which is like DAS, but specifically geared for use in a network environment, whereas DAS is designed to be connected to, and used by a single computer). It is possible that you may have multiple enclosures (“towers”) of hard drives to store your data on. All can be attached to your computer using the Thunderbolt ports outlined below.

See the whole table here.

Notes on Review Methodology

For each product, we’ll examine and report on a number of statistics. These will include:

• Number of Thunderbolt Ports
• Number of USB 3.0 Ports
• Number of eSATA Ports
• Number of FireWire Ports
• Number of Ethernet Ports
• Number of HDMI Ports
• Number of DVI Ports
• Number of Audio Ports
• Price

From here, we’ll examine the data in a number of different ways to see which device would best suit your needs.

Let’s get started:

Akitio Thunder Dock
Thunderbolt Ports: 2
USB 3.0 Ports: 2
eSATA Ports: 2
FireWire Ports: 1
Ethernet Ports: 0
HDMI Ports: 0
DVI Ports: 0
Audio Ports: 0
Price: $349.99

Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock
Thunderbolt Ports: 2
USB 3.0 Ports: 3
eSATA Ports: 0
FireWire Ports: 1
Ethernet Ports: 1
HDMI Ports: 0
DVI Ports: 0
Audio Ports: 2
Price: $299.99

Caldigit Thunderbolt Station
Thunderbolt Ports: 2
USB 3.0 Ports: 3
eSATA Ports: 0
FireWire Ports: 0
Ethernet Ports: 1
HDMI Ports: 1
DVI Ports: 0
Audio Ports: 2
Price: $349.99

LaCie Thunderbolt eSATA Hub
Thunderbolt Ports: 2
USB 3.0 Ports: 0
eSATA Ports: 2
FireWire Ports: 0
Ethernet Ports: 0
HDMI Ports: 0
DVI Ports: 0
Audio Ports: 0
Price: $179.99

Matrox DS1/DVI
Thunderbolt Ports: 1
USB 3.0 Ports: 1
eSATA Ports: 0
FireWire Ports: 0
Ethernet Ports: 1
HDMI Ports: 0
DVI Ports: 1
Audio Ports: 2
Price: $429.99

Matrox DS1/HDMI
Thunderbolt Ports: 1
USB 3.0 Ports: 1
eSATA Ports: 0
FireWire Ports: 0
Ethernet Ports: 1
HDMI Ports: 1
DVI Ports: 0
Audio Ports: 2
Price: $429.99

Examining the data in various ways, we come up with these results:

Price:
If price is your biggest concern, then the clear winner has got to be the LaCie Thunderbolt eSATA hub. It’s two Thunderbolt ports will allow you to access copious amounts of storage, and the eSATA ports will surely come in handy as well (note that it is one of only two models that even has eSATA hubs), but with only four ports overall, this unit won’t connect as many devices as the other options on this list.

DVI/HDMI Connectivity:
If you’re looking for these connectivity features in particular, then your choice is simple, as there’s only one dock with a DVI port, and two with an HDMI port. Note that devices with this type of connectivity tend to be on the upper end of the price range for the devices we’re comparing. Keep in mind that you can also use a Mini displayport adapter on the second Thunderbolt port to add more video connectivity.

Thunderbolt Ports:
All of the docks listed here have two of these, save for the Matrox models, which have only one each. Having 2 Thunderbolt port is a huge plus as you can then daisy chain up to 6 devices together.

USB 3.0 Ports:
Here, the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock and the Caldigit Thunderbolt Station are the ones you want to look at. The difference between the two (other than price) is that the Station trades a FireWire port for an HDMI port. Also note that the Belkin USB 3.0 ports are not powered so you may have to have an external power supply that you will need to use with the device connected to the port.

eSATA Ports:
If this is what you’re looking for, you’ve got two choices: The Akitio Thunder Dock, and the LaCie eSATA Hub. Which one you pick ultimately comes down to what your second most important feature is.

FireWire Ports:
As above, you’ve got two choices: The Akitio Thunder Dock, and the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock. Again, the choice you ultimately make here will largely be determined by your second most important feature.

Ethernet Connectivity:
Four of the six units compared have Ethernet connectivity, so you’ve got plenty of choices where this feature is concerned, and can let your decision be guided by your secondary and tertiary needs.

Audio Connectivity:
As with Ethernet connectivity, this is a fairly common feature, with four different docks sporting two ports each. Because of that, you’ve got plenty of options and your decision can be guided by what other sorts of connectivity you’re ultimately looking to pair with the audio connections.

Conclusion :
It all comes down to what you’re planing on connecting to the dock. If you have a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro Retina, you might want to get an Ethernet port.  A FireWire 800 could be the much appreciated feature if you’re planing to upgrade to a new iMac, you could have a look at switching to eSATA though as many FW800 enclosure will have booth.

So what’s the Macfixit recommended Thunderbolt Dock? We recommend the Akitio Thunder Dock or the Caldigit Thunderbolt Station as these offer the most common and flexible connections.

If you’re new to the technology, a bit of explanation might be in order. We’ll take you through it from the beginning, so that you fully understand the various aspects of this technology, why it’s important, and what it can do for you. To that end, let’s start with DAS.

What is DAS?
Simply put, it stands for “Direct-Attached Storage.” In simplest form then, it’s an external hard drive, but the solutions we’re talking about here are much more than that. Broadly speaking, DAS solutions can be broken into the following categories:

• Desktop solutions – these devices require an external power source to function.
• Portable – these devices draw power from the system they’re hooked up to. They need no external power.
• NAS/SAN – This is a very specialized DAS-style solution. What makes NAS solutions unique is that they have built-in Ethernet connection capabilities, because they are designed for use in a network environment.

Where DAS is concerned, there are two standards to pay attention to. USB 3.0, and Thunderbolt. USB is the more common standard, and Thunderbolt is native to Apple hardware.

What is RAID?
Another acronym, this one standing for “Redundant Array of Independent Disks.” RAID storage arrays are important for a number of reasons, but chiefly, we’re talking about data integrity and performance issues. Simply put, if you’re in a data intensive business, you need it. There’s a lot more that can be said on the topic (indeed, whole books have been written on this, but you can start here for an excellent synopsis if you need further details: http://wolfcrow.com/blog/afraid-a-raid-primer/ )

Is Thunderbolt Better than USB 3.0?
“Better” is a subjective term. It’s different, and it’s faster (USB 3.0 generally tops out at about 500MB/s, while Thunderbolt tops out at a little more than double that—1.2GB/s, however the new version of Thunderbolt2 runs at maximum of 20Gbps. It doesn’t necessarily matter that Thunderbolt isn’t as “universal” as the USB3.0 solution, because we’re talking about buying equipment based on your system.

If you’re using a fairly modern piece of Apple hardware like the latest Mac Pro, then you can pick and choose here:

See the whole table here.

Comparison Notes:
For each of the products below, we’re zeroing in on a few key features. These will be:

• Size range (how much storage is possible)
• Number of bays
• Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0)
• Maximum data transfer speed the unit has tested out at
• Warranty length
• Price
• Most commonly mentioned user pros
• Most commonly mentioned user cons

Areca ARC-8050 Thunderbolt 2
Number of bays: 8
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0) (0,2,0)
Maximum speed: 900MB/s
Warranty length: 3 years
Price: $2159 (enclosure only)
Pros: Simple GUI
Cons: Screw mounted drives, no independent power switch

Caldigit T3
Size range 2.88-12TB
Number of bays: 3
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0) (2,0,0)
Maximum speed: 850MB/s
Warranty length: 1 year
Price: 9TB ($1199)
Pros: Fast and quiet

Drobo 5D
Size range (open ended)
Number of bays: 5
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0) (2,0,1)
Maximum speed: 350MB/s
Warranty length: 2 years
Price: $959 (enclosure only)
Pros: Good GUI, Great storage expansion capabilities
Cons: Painfully slow

G-Technology G-RAID with Thunderbolt
Size range: 4-8tB
Number of bays: 2
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0) (2,0,0)
Maximum speed: 320 MB/s
Warranty length: 3 years
Price: 4TB $839
Pros: Quiet and reliable
Cons: Painfully slow, not very expandable

La Cie 2Big RAID
Size range: 4-10TB
Number of bays: 2
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0) (2,0,0)
Maximum speed: 320MB/s
Warranty length: 3 years
Price: 4TB $599
Pros: No tools required to swap drives
Cons: Bulky/heavy compared to other models

La Cie 5Big RAID
Size range: 10-25TB
Number of bays: 5
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0) (2,0,0)
Maximum speed: 780MB/s
Warranty length: 3 years
Price: 10TB $1229
Pros: No tools required to swap drives
Cons: Bulky/heavy compared to other models

OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual Drive
Size range: 0-8TB
Number of bays: 4
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0) (2,0,0)
Maximum speed: 850MB/s
Warranty length: 3 years
Price $699 (enclosure only)
Pros: Fast
Cons: Noisy

OWC ThunderBay IV
Number of bays: 4
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0)(2,0,0)
Maximum speed: 850MB/s
Warranty length: 3 years
Price $699 (enclosure only)
Pros: Fast
Cons: Loud

Promise Technology Pegasus 2 R4
Size range: 0-8TB
Number of bays: 4
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0) (0,2,0)
Maximum speed: 500MB/s
Warranty length: 2 years
Price: $789 (enclosure only)
Pros: Reliable
Cons: Slowish, not very user friendly

Promise Technology Pegasus 2 R6
Size range: 12-18TB
Number of bays: 6
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0)(0,2,0)
Maximum speed: 900MB/s
Warranty length: 2 years
Price: 12TB $2689
Pros: Fast
Cons: Not very user friendly

Promise Technology Pegasus 2 R8
Size range: 24-32TB
Number of bays: 8
Number of ports (Thunderbolt 1, 2, and USB 3.0)(0,2,0)
Maximum speed: 900MB/s
Warranty length: 2 years
Price: 24TB $4189
Pros: Fast
Cons: Not very user friendly

Assessing a “winner”
Different features will be important to different people. That said, we can make some general recommendations based on our collected stats.

Maximum Storage & Maximum Speed
If maximum possible storage is important to you, then you’re going to want either the Areca ARC-8050, or the Pegasus 2 R8 (both topping out at 32TB). Note that the Pegasus is an all in one solution. The drives are included in the cost, whereas the Areca price is for the enclosure only. You’ll need to buy the drives to bring it up to 32TB storage.
The winners don’t change much if speed is your biggest requirement. The Areca is still in the running, as are the Pegasus 2 R8 and its smaller cousin, the Pegasus 2 R6. Honorable mention to OWC’s ThunderBay IV and Caldigit, both of which clock in just behind these.

Warranty Length
If this is your biggest concern, then you’ve got a lot of choices, with OWC, LaCie, G-Technology and Areca all offering impressive 3 year warranties on their products.

Versatility
The only two models that offer both Thunderbolt and USB3.0 ports are the Drobo and the OWC Mercury Elite. Bear in mind that these two also have the slowest transfer speeds of any drive on the list.

Convenience
If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution and don’t want to have to buy anything else, then you’ll be interested in looking at Caldigit, G-Technology, La Cie, or the Pegasus R6/R8.

Price
If price is your biggest concern, then you’re going to be looking at the smaller, 2-bay models first, which sees you paying close attention to G-Technology, LaCie, and OWC’s Mercury Elite Pro.

There are many reasons why you would want to do a clean install of OS X. Here are a few of   them:

• After replacing your Hard Drive with a larger capacity one;
• After replacing your Hard Drive because it failed;
• After replacing your Hard Drive with an SSD;
• After adding a second hard drive in an Optibay;
• After a major software issue;
• Just because you want to clean up your Mac properly.

By doing a clean install you will end up with a fresh installation of OS X. One of the main reasons why you would want to do a clean install, instead of restoring your old system, is that you’ll get rid of all the unused junk that accumulated over the years. You could call this a nice spring cleaning.

Before we continue, please note that a clean install will erase all of the contents on your drive so you’ll need to back up all your important files, settings and Apps before proceeding. A time machine backup is usually more than enough.

Creating a Bootable Flash Drive

In order to install OS X, you’ll need to boot from another drive where all the installation files will be located; a minimum of 8Gb is required. You can use any USB stick or external Hard Drive to do so. Please note that you’ll need to erase all of the external device’s content so you might want to stick with an 8Gb thumb drive.

1.  Go on the Mac App Store to download the latest version of OS X (at the time of writing, it is 10.13 – High Sierra).

2. Download the App called DiskMaker X to assist you in the creation of the USB Thumb Drive. Follow the assistant prompts. It will ask you which version of OS X you want to install, where the file is located and which external drive you want to use.

Restart and Install

Now we move on to the Installation process:

1. Restart your Mac with the Thumb Drive connected and hold down the Option (Alt) Key. You should get to a screen that allows you to select the Thumb Drive and boot from it.

2. Select the Disk Utility App to initialise/erase the drive you’re going to put the OS on. Just select the new drive in the left column, then use the erase tab to format the drive. If you have multiple drives/partitions, please make sure you select the right one as an error here might be fatal for your data.

3. Close the Disk Utility App to get back to the OS X Utilities list and select Install OS X.

Import all your Data

Now that you have a clean OS we would recommend not to use the Migration Assistant to import all of your data as this will bring back all the unwanted junk as well.

1. It is worth taking the time to install all of your Third Party Applications from scratch as this will also guarantee that you have the latest updates available.

a. Start with the Mac App Store, just log in with your account and go into the Purchases tab to reinstall any Apps that you have previously purchased.

b. Then you’ll probably need to go and download all of the other Apps that you want from their respective websites. Another suggestion would be to try to stick with as few Apps as possible. You might realise that at the end of the day you only need a few extra Apps and not the ten dozen you used to have.

c. If you still have some installers on CD or DVD that can’t be found online, we’d recommend that you create an image of them so that you can keep a copy on your backup drive as well. You can use the Disk Utility App for this.

2. For your personal files (documents, photos, videos, music, etc.), we would suggest to manually copy and paste them into the desired folder. This is to keep everything as clean as possible.

Quick Tip : Some Apps, like iTunes, might need to be directed to the right folder after the transfer. To do that, just hold down the Option (Alt) key when starting iTunes and you will be prompted to choose a library file.

High-Performance Design

The drive is available in capacities up to 16TB of storage and adds tremendous capacity and throughput to any Mac or PC with a Thunderbolt port. The sustained data rates of up to 887MB/s read and 884MB/s write enhance a multitude of applications to give the customer the optimal experience. Applications that can be enhanced with the drive include A/V post-production, photography, music, graphics, data management, and Time Machine backups, among others.

Flexible for individual Needs

The drive supports independent access of up to four installed drives, is fully RAID ready and is ideal forRAID 0, 1, and 5 configurations.

“We’re excited about the speed, capacity and flexibility that the Thunderbay IV can offer,” said Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO of Other World Computing. “It’s the perfect mix of high-capacity storage with blazing fast Thunderbolt technology performance.”

Combinations of RAID, individual drive(s) or multiple RAID sets are also possible with the ThunderBay IV.

Daisy Chain Capable

Being able to daisy chain is also another perk of the Thunderbay drive, as its dual ports allow daisy chaining of up to five outside devices and an high-resolution display. The drive holds up to 96TB of storage, and displays can be added using the drive’s solution with any computer via an available port.

Solid, Reliable and Cool

Heat is not an issue with the ThunderBay drive, as the superior heat dissipation of its durable alumnium enclosure provides optimum protection to the four internal drives. Along with this feature, the locking faceplate of the enclosure provides premium security to protect the installed drives.

Perfect for Pro Data Migration

One of the best things about the drive is that there’s no need to give up the versatility of drive bays when migrating from a Mac Pro tower to the Mac Pro 2013. You just simply plug in the drive to a Mac Pro and see four separate drives capable of running everything at full speed — just like it was installed internally. This gives users speedy Thunderbolt technology and the extreme speed that it brings — all of which brings the customers a serious upgrade.

Key Features

• RAID-ready and has performance of up to 887MB/s read, 884MB/s write
• Plug & play readiness on any computer with a Thunderbolt interface
• OWC heavy duty power supply that allows exceptional performance and reliability
• Front panel security lock with two keys
• Independent support, which allows use of any mix of one to four drives for RAID or JBOD
• Two separate ports daisy-chaining
• Support for high-capacity hard drives that caters to maximum storage needs
• 1.0 meter-certified cable included
• A handy user guide
• Utility software bundle for your computer
• An OWC limited warranty that lasts up to 3 Years

Availability

The ThunderBay IV is available and can be ordered from Macfixit Australia following configurations:

• Add-Your-Own drive enclosure kit
• 4.0TB (1TB x four (4) 7200RPM)
• 8.0TB (2TB x four (4) 7200RPM)
• 12.0TB (3TB x four (4) 7200RPM)
• 16.0TB (4TB x four (4) 7200RPM)
• 480GB (120GB x four (4) Mercury EXTREME Pro SSD)
• 1.0TB (240GB x four (4) Mercury EXTREME Pro SSD)
• 2.0TB (480GB x four (4) Mercury EXTREME Pro SSD)
• 4.0TB (960GB x four (4) Mercury EXTREME Pro SSD)

For more on the drive, visit http://www.macfixit.com.au/brands/owc-thunderbay-iv.html

So you have a Playstation 4 and you’re ready to start playing. Not so fast…before you can play, you have to download your first game. And that’s the moment you realise that many games will take up a decent chunk of your 500GB stock hard drive. Other World Computing has just announced an upgrade kit for PlayStation® 4 at CES 2014 that will allow users to add capacity and boost performance up to 40% faster vs. stock drive for reduced system load time.

What it does

The OWC DIY Upgrade Kit for PS4™ allows PS4 owners to double storage and boost the performance with an OWC drive. DIY bundles include everything needed to upgrade/replace the existing 2.5” drive and transfer gaming data to new drive. For added value, the original drive can be converted to an external drive, using the included enclosure, for new use for data transfer, back up or portable storage for your computer.

Why it’s cool

The OWC DIY Upgrade Kit for PS4 allows PS4 owners to gain storage and performance in one quick upgrade. With gaming downloads often as large as 50GB at a time, a factory hard drive fills up quickly. Doubling the storage of the PS4 means that gaming and media storage will no longer be a problem.

Warranty Safe Upgrade

This is a user serviceable part according to Sony that will not void your PlayStation 4’s warranty.

What it includes

• OWC USB 3.0 Express Black Enclosure
• OWC USB 2.0 Flash Drive for PlayStation 4 download
• #1 Phillips screwdriver
• OWC USB 3.0 Express Enclosure Installation Guide
• Instruction Guide for Drive Upgrade for PS4
• Up to 3-Year Replacement Warranty
• High Quality Double Shielded USB 3.0 (mini-B type) connecting cable
• Carrying sleeve

Availability:

• Comes in 1TB and 1.5TB HD options; 240GB and 480GB SSD options
• Available for immediate ordering. Click here for more info: http://www.macfixit.com.au/brands/owc-playstation-4-upgrades.html