Gear

Reviews

However artful a computer’s design, someone wants to put it somewhere that the designers never intended. The Mac mini, given its diminutive size and cuboidal dimensions, inspires a rather vertical placement. The Plasticsmith mini Tower ($39) is designed for just that task, and it looks great doing it.

Design

The mini Tower sheaths takes its styling from the Power Mac G4 Cube, and similarly sheathes the mini in heavy Lexan for a striking appearance. The front features a perfectly-positioned slot that permits easy access to DVD drive, the sides are slotted for airflow, and the rear is completely open giving full access to all ports. There are no visible screws or other fasteners, just a shiny clear shell that turns the mini into an objet d’arte.

The mini Tower is clearly designed to allow the mini to stand on its side, but it also offers substantial structural reinforcement for horizontal use. The mini Tower easily allows a heavy monitor to be placed on top of the mini—something we strongly advise against under normal circumstances. (The Tower easily bears an adult male's 165 pounds, for instance.) An included set of four stick-on silicone feet protect your work surface, though we would have appreciated eight to allow for either orientation.

Performance

The top and bottom are 3/8” thick Lexan and when standing vertically the mini Tower is surprisingly stable. We were concerned about heat dissipation while vertical, but testing has shown that, even with the optical drive running for extended periods, the mini is no worse for the wear—the temperature remains normal and the fan doesn’t run more than normal. The mini Tower has no noticeable effect on 802.11g or Bluetooth reception.

Conclusion

We like it. The Plasticsmith mini Tower is a simple product that performs a specific job very well. As longtime Cube fans, we particularly enjoy the product’s styling and its sweet-spot pricing.

The mini Tower is available directly from the manufacturer at www.plasticsmith.com and at select retail locations.