Review: The Plasticsmith mini Skirt Glo

Sometimes Mac accessories aren’t designed to do anything except look cool. The Plasticsmith’s mini Skirt Glo is one of these products. Essentially a clear stand for the Mac mini, the mini Skirt Glo features a blue (or white) LED to give it a brilliant glow.

The mini Skirt Glo is a flame-polished acrylic base that the Mac mini sits atop. An LED attached to a USB cable runs out of the back and can connect to the mini directly or a USB hub. We had the opportunity to test the blue version, which is quite bright. Some might find the white version more appealing, as it complements the mini’s power LED.

mini Skirt Glo + Mac mini

mini Skirt Glo

The stand raises the Mac mini by 3/4 of an inch, not only raising the air intakes of the mini off of a desk, but protecting the mini against spills. The edges of the stand are frosted to diffuse the light from the LED. As with other USB peripherals, the mini Skirt’s LED gets power whenever the mini is on or asleep. Fortunately, there is an on/off switch, so you can turn the light off if you don’t want to be kept up at night.

The mini Skirt gives the mini the same glowing bottom effect found on the Griffin PowerMate. Unlike the PowerMate, the mini Skirt has one brightness level.

Also worth noting is that the mini Skirt uses one of the mini’s precious USB ports. Although the Plasticsmith’s mini Shack includes a hub, the mini Skirt is better looking (in our opinion), and works fine with any USB hub.

Overall, the mini Skirt Glo is an accessory that might not be for everyone, but for those who want to add a “wow factor” to their Mac mini, it might just be the thing they need. Functionally, the stand might not do much, but aesthetically, it does a lot.