I have been setting up a Mac Mini to use as a home theater PC and media server for my house. I would like to be able to have it running and watch movies from it in our motorhome while traveling, but I'm a bit concerned about the hard drive. How well would it hold up to the shocks and vibrations of the road? It's a late 2009 model, with a freshly-installed 750GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue hard drive. Any thoughts?
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Using a Mac Mini in a Motorhome
- Thread starter Canal Noises
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would it be turned on whilst you are driving? if so you should be slightly worried - if its turned off (or asleep) then it will be fine 
Yeah, the main purpose would be to keep those riding in the back entertained while driving. I was thinking of maybe building some sort of caddy that would help reduce shock and hold the computer in place.
there is already some pretty sturdy features both physical and software wise regarding vibrations, but its a great idea to put it into a caddy. either use the rubber band method so that its "hanging" off the ground - or maybe with some foam or something?
You should be okay. I looked up the specs, and your Scorpio Blue can withstand shocks up to 350Gs while operating, and 1000Gs, non-operating. Mobile drives are hardened against shock and vibration. Even dropping the Mini 3 feet onto a concrete floor wouldn't subject the drive to anything more than 100Gs of shock. Some foam padding under the Mini will help reduce higher frequency vibrations.
