The drive will provide you with a cost effective way to upgrade the optical drive of your pre-2009 Mac mini to an internal dual-layer Blu-ray writer while also providing an enclosure for your old SuperDrive or Combo drive. The UJ-225 is a great option for those with a pre-2009 Mac mini (1.83 GHz Core 2 Duo works but is likely the bare minimum for good Blu-ray disc playback). Fortunately, here’s where the deal gets very sweet for those on the edge considering an upgrade for a pre-2009 Mac mini: This USB 2.0 external Blu-ray drive from eBay seller virtanen13 provides you with a win-win scenario giving you some great options. Pre-2009 Mac minis leave you with just a few options for internal optical drive upgrades due to them needing PATA slot-loaders. It utilizes a 12.7mm internal PATA slot-loading optical drive, but sadly Blu-ray drive upgrades with that many requirements are somewhat scarce (most 12.7mm drives are tray loading, and of the 12.7mm slot loaders, most are SATA and don’t work with pre-2009 Minis).
Although performance won’t be as stellar as it with my Early 2011 Core i7 MacBook Pro, the 1.83 GHz Core 2 Duo Mid 2007 Mac mini that is my most recent test subject still gets the job done and does it surprisingly well. There’s one more reason to love Blu-ray now, and that’s for integrating it with your Mac mini, which can tuck quite nicely into your entertainment console.
