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The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

theniftyminidrive.com

41–50 of 79 posts

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#41
post #17

Setting aside the price, requiring a tool to remove it is a design fail. What I'd like is for it to have a removal prong that tilts out when pressed on one side (perhaps with a pen). I guarantee that I'd lose the butt ugly gizmo. So it's ugly I'm going to lose the thingy. Oh and it's $35.

The idea is that you don't generally remove it. In reality if you lost the tool you would use a paperclip. Also I disagree that it is a design fail. What (i think) you are describing is poor industrial design; it would be more prone to break, as well as costing more to produce (bearing in mind this is being done by a startup). The real design failure is Apple's. My laptop (like nearly every digital camera ever?) has…

A spring-loaded SD-slot that is not covered by a latching panel sounds like an extremely poor idea to me. All my cameras have such latching panels, but I can understand why Apple did not want to do that on their MacBooks.

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#42
post #17

Setting aside the price, requiring a tool to remove it is a design fail. What I'd like is for it to have a removal prong that tilts out when pressed on one side (perhaps with a pen). I guarantee that I'd lose the butt ugly gizmo. So it's ugly I'm going to lose the thingy. Oh and it's $35.

The idea is that you don't generally remove it. In reality if you lost the tool you would use a paperclip. Also I disagree that it is a design fail. What (i think) you are describing is poor industrial design; it would be more prone to break, as well as costing more to produce (bearing in mind this is being done by a startup). The real design failure is Apple's. My laptop (like nearly every digital camera ever?) has…

Only after reading your comment I understood that it does not have a spring loaded slot, it's the first that I know of that does not have one. And now I'm wondering if there is not 1cm more to make the card go fully inside the computer? Doesn't look too hard (but maybe it is?).

The more I think about it the more I agree the real design flaw is from Apple.

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#43
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And your post summarizes what annoys me about people who still throw around "apple fanboy"; you're in an endless witch hunt to find some kind of subtext in what people say just to call them out for their choice of computer. There was nothing in what mdonahoe said to suggest "fanboy". Grow up.

I cant comment on LoneWolf's reply, but I agree with his point. It was not my intention edit: so is there a reply depth limit?

If there are a lot of replies in a short time, the reply link goes away for a bit to moderate the discussion. You can always reply from the comment's permalink.

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#44
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea is that you don't generally remove it. In reality if you lost the tool you would use a paperclip. Also I disagree that it is a design fail. What (i think) you are describing is poor industrial design; it would be more prone to break, as well as costing more to produce (bearing in mind this is being done by a startup). The real design failure is Apple's. My laptop (like nearly every digital camera ever?) has…

A spring-loaded SD-slot that is not covered by a latching panel sounds like an extremely poor idea to me. All my cameras have such latching panels, but I can understand why Apple did not want to do that on their MacBooks.

Some laptops have a fake card to fill the slot, why not do the same with one that follows the outside lines so it doesn't look bad while keeping the slot clear from dust?

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#45
Long time reader, first time commenter. As someone who backed this Kickstarter, and considering some people are mystified as to why you would want this, I thought I might be able to provide some insight:

As an owner of a 128 GB Macbook Air, space is at a serious premium. An extra 32 GB or 64 GB would go a long way. I'm also on the go a lot, taking my laptop to and from work, using it on my commute, etc. Now, existing USB memory sticks, however little they protrude from the port, are always going to be a concern: they may fall out, or get snapped off in my bag, not to mention they use up a valuable USB port (I only have 2 after all). A miniSD-to-SD adaptor also isn't suitable: like an SD card, the adaptor would also stick out, making it likely to snap off or come out in my bag if I leave it in all the time, or for me to just lose something that small if I take it out all the time. This is especially an issue when, for example, I reach my stop while I'm in the middle of work and just have to close my laptop and put it in my bag without having to wait to eject a disk.

This product is clearly not for people with integrated miniSD card readers in their laptops (which is great for those who have them), and it's also not for people who leave their laptops at their desk all the time and can just use an external drive, but for someone like me this is perfect. I get the extra space, it doesn't use up any valuable ports (I rarely use the SD card slot), and it's not going to get lost or broken.

Possible uses for this extra space: (for me personally) I'm going to redirect my Downloads folder to the drive, and also use it to as a temporary backup when I'm on the go.

Just my two cents. £20 is a steal. Some people may think this is too expensive, but the laptop cost me £1000 when I bought it, and this £20 allows me to permanently add an extra 50% hard drive space without having to do something like void my warranty and swap out the flash memory. What's my alternative? Buy a new laptop? No thanks.

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#46
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea is that you don't generally remove it. In reality if you lost the tool you would use a paperclip. Also I disagree that it is a design fail. What (i think) you are describing is poor industrial design; it would be more prone to break, as well as costing more to produce (bearing in mind this is being done by a startup). The real design failure is Apple's. My laptop (like nearly every digital camera ever?) has…

Only after reading your comment I understood that it does not have a spring loaded slot, it's the first that I know of that does not have one. And now I'm wondering if there is not 1cm more to make the card go fully inside the computer? Doesn't look too hard (but maybe it is?). The more I think about it the more I agree the real design flaw is from Apple.

As I see it, there are only two reasons why the SD card doesn't go all the way in in an Apple laptop:

* So nothing can get stuck inside. * So valuable space isn't used up inside the computer. The motherboard in a macbook air is tiny. The extra half-height of the SD card that would be necessary for it to go all the way in is significant.

Either way, as it stands Apple hasn't provided a spring-loaded mechanism, so they have to do something like this. They only made the removal tool by popular demand: in the Kickstarter they were just advising use of a paperclip, which seemed reasonable. Over-engineering is always a danger, especially when you're fighting to just get a product shipped.

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#47
This is the result of a machiavellian genius. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could see /imagine him laughing on the kickstarter video.

In any case, I would not do daily backups on an sd card.

Maybe I could pay for an sd adapter with S.M.A.R.T support, and a red led. I love red leds.

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#48

Is this designed to work with Time Machine?

Now there's an interesting idea. 64gb is plenty for me to do a Time Machine backup of essentials. If that slot is bootable, I'd definitely consider it - an always-available easily-removed backup that you can stick in another machine without extra tools / power / etc.

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#49
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You pay $35 to remove a mild annoyance. It is definitely not for everyone. Neither are macs

This post summarizes what I personnaly find wrong about Hacker News. Ridiculous apple fanboys and total ignorance

Did you reply to the wrong post? There was nothing resembling fanboyism or ignorance in the parent.

Re: The Nifty MiniDrive - SD slot hack for the Macbook

#50
post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And your post summarizes what annoys me about people who still throw around "apple fanboy"; you're in an endless witch hunt to find some kind of subtext in what people say just to call them out for their choice of computer. There was nothing in what mdonahoe said to suggest "fanboy". Grow up.

I don't want to start a flamewar here but "Neither are macs" sounds somewhat arrogant to me, serious and honest question am I the only one to think that? Edit to comment about the depth limit: I can't comment any deeper. (Karma related?)

There is a time limit to the depth - this is to help prevent pointless bickering.

"neither are macs" isn't, I think, arrogant nor judgemental. A person can buy a Mac if they like that kind of thing, but if they prefer other stuff they can buy other machines. Each person decides what's important to them.

About the device: I don't like the way that micro-SD card adapters stick out the side of the case. I'm not sure I dislike that enough to pay $35, but if people have that kind of spare cash I'm not going to piss and moan at them about it.

Notice how careful I am to avoid mentioning any actual thing that may influence a purchasing decision? That's how frustrating and pointless these conversations can be. :-(

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