"minipartner" Adds Backup, Storage, & FireWire/USB Ports to Mac mini

French company Macway announced Thursday the "minipartner," an external hard drive that included one-button back up, as well as a FireWire and USB hub for your Mac. Fashioned after, designed to fit under, and marketed towards Appleis Mac mini, the minipartner will, of course, work with any Mac or PC with a FireWire port.

The unit comes with a one-button back up system that uses the bundled Dantz Retrospect Express for easy backups.

"Now, Mac mini owners benefit from an ultra-fast and secure backup solution" said Vincent Lugnier, MacWayis Product Manager, in a statement. "Our innovative backup button offers peace of mind with Dantz Retrospect Express (Mac & PC). The minipartner expands Mac mini connectivity as an attractive workstation."

The company is offering five models, ranging from 80 gigabytes to 400GB. Prices are as follows (US$ prices are as of May 26th, 2005):

  • minipartner 80 Go 7200 RPM : EUR 108,00 (US$135.15)
  • minipartner 160 Go 7200 RPM : EUR 133.00 ($166.39)
  • minipartner 200 Go 7200 RPM : EUR 150.00 ($187.66)
  • minipartner 250 Go 7200 RPM : EUR 183.00 $228.94)
  • minipartner 400 Go 7200 RPM : EUR 334.00 ($487.84)


The minipartner

You can find more information and ordering links at Macwayis Web site.