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2012 Mini UK SSD

gstevie

gstevie

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 12, 2009
414
151
Glasgow
Hey guys I appreciate the fact that SSD's have been talked to death on here but I'm thinking of installing a SSD in my new 2012 Mini. Now the problem I have and iv not seen a solution yet (please point me to it if there is) is where to get a OWC kit to keep the original drive and an SSD for customers in the UK. Can anyone help me out?
For the SSD I was looking at: http://m.ebuyer.com/318423
 
Thanks for that il have a look at that site. Other question I have is do I need the kit or can I do it myself? I am willing to get my hands dirty!
 
I ended up buying mine from the US, OWC was cheaper than iFixit by a way and they had a discount on the kit which swung it for me.

Also the shipping at iFixit is one choice only and it's much dearer than OWC where I chose the cheapest as I wasn't bothered about the speed of the delivery.

To be honest, if you have all the tools already then just buying the cable is the way to go as they mark up the kits for what is essentially just 4 rubber washers, 4 screws, the motherboard removal tool and a few screwdrivers that are ok but aren't eactly high quality.

The only part that might be awkward to get is the motherboard tool, but even that could be got around with something else like long thin screws or the like.

Last point is that if you don't buy in the US you will avoid the nasty double charge when the item hits customs here, the item incurred a £5 charge which Royal Mail duly paid on my behalf and then added an £8 on top of which is non-negotiable so thats an extra £13.

OWC should really factor a pre-paid customs charge in like Amazon does to stop this happening.
 
Adz76 said:
To be honest, if you have all the tools already then just buying the cable is the way to go as they mark up the kits for what is essentially just 4 rubber washers, 4 screws, the motherboard removal tool and a few screwdrivers that are ok but aren't eactly high quality.

The only part that might be awkward to get is the motherboard tool, but even that could be got around with something else like long thin screws or the like.

Last point is that if you don't buy in the US you will avoid the nasty double charge when the item hits customs here, the item incurred a £5 charge which Royal Mail duly paid on my behalf and then added an £8 on top of which is non-negotiable so thats an extra £13.

OWC should really factor a pre-paid customs charge in like Amazon does to stop this happening.
Click to expand...

I have a way of getting the kit from OWC, I would get a friend who lives in the US to post it out to me so I could try and avoid the double customs charge. So that could be an option. I have the torx screwdrivers and I think from a iPhone back plate that I repaired last year I may have a remover tool that I think could be used to remove the motherboard part. Are the the screws you mentioned needed? Any idea where I could get a cable at a reasonable price and not an inflated price like on those sites that are taking advantage of the situation (I feel, I may be wrong if thats the price they really are).
 
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The screws are used to secure the drive to the cage that the stock drive sits in. The second drive is fixed by adding the rubber washers into the mounting holes and once you've positioned the ssd in the screws hold it in place. I'm sure you could get everything in the kit if you look around a bit except for the removal tool ( which I reckon you could still do it without )

The cable is the difficult part. I did read that you might be able to ring an authorized repair agent ( NOT Apple store ) and get them to order it for you, not sure if that's true or how much but might be worth a call to find out.

If you know someone in US I'd go down that route, get them to split the item into 2 halves and label as a gift and you should be fine.

You can get the cable in a few select places in Europe including UK but the price I saw wasn't worth it.
 
Adz76 said:
The screws are used to secure the drive to the cage that the stock drive sits in. The second drive is fixed by adding the rubber washers into the mounting holes and once you've positioned the ssd in the screws hold it in place. I'm sure you could get everything in the kit if you look around a bit except for the removal tool ( which I reckon you could still do it without )

The cable is the difficult part. I did read that you might be able to ring an authorized repair agent ( NOT Apple store ) and get them to order it for you, not sure if that's true or how much but might be worth a call to find out.

If you know someone in US I'd go down that route, get them to split the item into 2 halves and label as a gift and you should be fine.

You can get the cable in a few select places in Europe including UK but the price I saw wasn't worth it.
Click to expand...

Great help, thanks for that! Just bought the Samsung SSD and I think by the sounds of it getting my friend in the US to post it out to me sounds like the best option, much less hassle just getting the kit then. So thanks for the tips!
 
No probs and good choice of drive, after doing my homework i went with the 830 and haven't regretted it for a second.

I used the iFixit guide for their photos and the OWC video guide and really took my time as I was paranoid about breaking something.

I see OWC have just updated their guide to include the 2012 mini as there are differences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63WL3Q7UujI

Good luck!
 
weegrim said:
Great help, thanks for that! Just bought the Samsung SSD and I think by the sounds of it getting my friend in the US to post it out to me sounds like the best option, much less hassle just getting the kit then. So thanks for the tips!
Click to expand...

Why? I provided a link here yesterday to a company in the UK that already has the required parts. Its just the cable and screws (with rubber washers).
Its less hassle still, surely..
 
weegrim said:
Hey guys I appreciate the fact that SSD's have been talked to death on here
Click to expand...

I doubt it. Why, because of FD? Please… FDs are a patch until whole SSD disks are much cheaper. That or a new technology shows up.

As soon as SSDs get to offer same capacities as other drives at similar prices any other drive will be dead.
 
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