Newer Technology, Inc. today announced the miniStack Max, the latest version of its award-winning quad-interface powered hub storage solution. Offering Plug and Play ease of use with Macs or PCs thanks to five interfaces—USB 3.0, USB 2.0, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and eSATA—the miniStack Max is the only four-in-one storage, data access, connectivity solution on the market. In addition to adding an optical drive and an integrated SD card reader to its time-proven design, the latest miniStack is now available with an expanded storage capacity of up to 4TB. The new miniStack storage line and other unique Newer Technology products will be shown in Other World Computing’s booth #5231, LVCC North Hall, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which begins today in Las Vegas, Nevada. Article Continues…
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Newer Technology Announces miniStack Max As Industry’s First Four-in-One Storage, Access, And Connectivity Solution
First Garage Sale of the Year!
Well, it’s a busy, busy, busy time of year for us. We’re winding down from the holidays, we’ve got a lot of products being released/announced at CES, and we’re looking forward to Macworld, too. However, we’ve always got time for a great deal, and our Garage Sale Page is chock full of them.
So without any further ado, let’s take a look at what you can find this month:
- Full Mac Systems starting from $395.00
- 3.5″ Hard Drives up to 3.0TB from $65.00
- 2.5″ Hard Drives and SSDs up to 1.0TB starting from $45.00
- Memory - 1GB from $4.50, 2GB from $7.50
- External Hard Drive Enclosure options starting from $8.50!
- iPad Accessories & Cases from just $5.00
- … and much more.
Act quickly – items are “first come, first served” and of varying limited quantities. Quantities are limited to that which is on hand and items automatically count down and ‘disappear’ as sold out. Sorry… no rain checks.
Thailand Flood Update: It May Be Longer Than We Thought.
We know that, to some, we seem to be talking about the Thailand situation an awful lot. However, since the flooding has affected hard drive production, that impacts the entire industry and we figure it’s better to let you know what’s happening, so you can make the best purchase decisions for your storage needs.
As we’ve mentioned before, not only are plants for major drive brands like Western Digital affected by the flooding, so are manufacturers of the individual hard drive components. As you might not know, most hard drives have upwards of 200 individual components that go into them (many of them produced by individual suppliers in the flooded region), even if the drive manufacturer’s plants weren’t directly affected by the floods, they are still facing shortages of components. Hard drive motor manufacturer Nidec, who we’ve mentioned before, is just one example.
Even once the waters recede, drive industry experts are saying it could take a year for these component manufacturers to replace their machinery, and many may have to relocate as well. Some companies, like Nidec, aren’t waiting for the waters to recede and have sent divers in to unbolt and retrieve equipment. Others, like suspension arm maker Hutchinson Technology, still has $50 million worth of specialty manufacturing equipment bolted to their now-submerged factory floor.
While many analysts have stated that production should be back to normal by the end of Summer 2012, others are now projecting shortages until the end of 2012 at the very least, primarily because many of the components are surprisingly single source supplied.
In other words, it doesn’t matter if you can push a car down the assembly line if an essential component, say the steering wheel, isn’t available.
Thailand Floods & The Resulting Consequences
Let’s face it: the recent flooding situation in Thailand and the imminent hard drive shortage has many of us concerned, as approximately 40-50% of the world’s hard disk drives are manufactured in the affected areas. With production halted, suppliers and customers alike are worried about the impact this may have on hard drive availability, not to mention the looming price increases on currently available units.
While damage assessments from these major memory component manufacturers in Thailand are trickling in, several plants still remain submerged from the floods and photos capture the still “soggy” situation for Nikon’s factories, as crews work fervently to pump out the excess water from the area with generators. Aerial footage also demonstrates the severity of the situation and the long clean-up ahead:
A Simple Solution
Last week we discussed how to make the most of what you have by utilizing older, possibly forgotten, hard disk drive solutions to store your files now and in the future if you need to do so. If you’re using the Newer Technology Voyager or USB Universal Drive Adapter, a cool accessory like NewerTech’s StoraDrive is a simple way for keeping those drives organized for such future uses. After all, in light of recent events, you can never be too prepared…
OWC Options Address Hard Drive Shortage
Over the last week or so, we’ve talked about the flooding situation in Thailand and how it will likely result in a widespread shortage of platter-based drives. In the wake of all this, a question has arisen: if you’re running out of room, what does one do instead of trying to purchase a possibly non-existent hard drive or deleting files? After all, you need to store your files somehow.
Yes, this shortage is certainly inconvenient, but it helps if you look at it like this: it’s not about what you can’t get; it’s about making the most of what you already have.
Fortunately, a solution may be sitting in your basement, that bottom desk drawer or the old storage unit. If you’ve been a computer user for more than a few years, there’s a good chance that you have an older hard drive or two laying around unused. Sure, they’re not the multi-terabyte, super-fast drives that we’ve been seeing recently, but in a pinch, 80GB is 80GB.
Connecting the Drives
The trick is, of course, mounting those drives on your desktop, so you can transfer files over to them. Fortunately, OWC has a number of different options for using those older drives externally with your current system. Let’s take a look at the different options. Article Continues…
Thailand Floods Affecting Hard Drive Availability & Prices – UPDATE
Last Tuesday, we told you about how flooding in Thailand may affect hard drive prices and availability. One week later, things aren’t looking so good.
We mentioned that Western Digital’s Thailand plants are mostly underwater from the flooding. Those two plants produce about 60% of WD’s drives. Last quarter, WD produced about 54 million drives, which, extended outward, means there’s approximately 32,400,000 fewer drives being produced—and that’s just from Western Digital.
Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones affected. Article Continues…
Flooding in Thailand May Affect Hard Drive Prices
A heavier-than-normal rainy season in Thailand may result in some instability in the platter-based hard drive market. Western Digital, one of the biggest names in hard drives, has two hard drive factories in Thailand, at least one of which is now underwater.
While that one manufacturer is certainly affected, what you may not know is that a Thai company by the name of Nidec happens to provide the motors for between 70-80% of all hard drive manufacturers. Unfortunately, Nidec is also currently submerged.
While there are other drive motor manufacturers, this may cause a significant ripple in hard drive prices. So will the fact that dozens of critical component makers that supply WD, Seagate, and Hitachi are also closed from the flooding.
We here at OWC are doing all we can to address a possible drive shortage, but it’s not all about the electronics; Thailand is also a major exporter of rice, a key component in the diets of many in southeast Asia. The potential impact on the food supply is much more concerning than harder-to-find hard drives. Our hearts and thoughts go out to the people of Thailand, along with our hopes for a safe and speedy recovery.
Back-To-School Savings Galore at OWC’s Garage Sale
Now that the school year is back in full swing, you may have noticed that your computer may need a little upgrading to help it keep up with the demands you’ll be putting on it.
So whether you’re maxing out the RAM to help you do more things at once, adding more storage to hold all those files and reports, or are just making sure you’ve got a good backup of your final thesis, you may find just what you’re looking for in our monthly Garage Sale, and the money you save means you can have something besides ramen noodles for a change.
Let’s see what kinds of things we can find this month:
- Apple Genuine MacBook/MacBook Pro MagSafe Adapters from $19.99
- Memory — 1GB from $5.50, 2GB $7.50, 4GB $20.00
- 3.5″ Hard Drives from $35; 500GB $37; 2TB $65.00; 3.0TB 7200RPM $129
- 2.5″ Notebook Hard Drives starting from $36.50, 1.0TB for $92.50
- External Drive Enclosures — USB 3.0, USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and/or eSATA; 2.5″/3.5″/RAID — from $12.75
- …and much more!
Of course, you don’t need to be going back to school to enjoy these great deals, but you do need to act quickly – items are “first come, first served” and of varying limited quantities. Quantities are limited to that which is on hand and items automatically count down and ‘disappear’ as sold out. Sorry… no rain checks.
