Mac Mini advice needed

Chewbumpkin

I am thinking of buying myself a Mac Mini for Christmas. I have more or less decided on the 2.6Hz i5, but need advice re the ram. The new Mac Minis are unable to be upgraded at a later time apparently, so I need to make sure I order one with adequate ram for my purposes. I do a fair bit of photography (raw and jpeg), and therefore a fair amount of processing. I also watch movies etc. as well as surfing, simple games and the normal run of the mill use. Would the 8Gb of ram that this particular Mac Mini comes with be enough, or should I opt for 16Gb from the outset? Or should I go for the i7 processer with 8Gb ram? (Can't really afford both options).


At the moment I am using a Windows 8.1 desktop pc (4 years old) with an i7 processer and 6GB ram, and feel no need to change it. It still does everything I ask of it, but I feel the need to try something new, and having played on my neighbour's imac, found it quite intuitive and fun. I also like the idea of not having to pay extra each time a new OS is released!


Choices, choices....... Your opinions will be gratefully received.

securityguy

8GB is a lot in a Mac; unless you have special requirements it's more than enough. The main reason for wanting 16 is if you are making heavy use of multiple virtual machines.

jbainbridge

i5 / 8GB will be more than enough.

Review and comments on The Register are worth a read http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/11/05/the_late_2014_apple_mac_mini_the_best_and_worst_of_both_worlds/?page=1

InsideInsurance

Base model will be fine most users unless you are doing a lot of work with very large file images with many layers and saving in PSD/ uncompressed TIFF

I personally wouldnt buy a Mac Mini though, its fine as a media box or server but really to get the full "mac experience" for a desktop you need the magic mouse, mac keyboard, speakers and a very decent screen. Add all those and you've over the price of an iMac

Chewbumpkin

Thank all so far for your comments. It is good to receive different points of view, and helps me to make a decision.

I personally wouldnt buy a Mac Mini though, its fine as a media box or server but really to get the full "mac experience" for a desktop you need the magic mouse, mac keyboard, speakers and a very decent screen. Add all those and you've over the price of an iMac

I have a good screen, at least I think so - a Samsung 27" HD. I tend not to use speakers as it would disturb my husband. Instead, I have Bose headphones. I also use a bluetooth ergonomic keyboard and mouse, and would expect them to work with the Mac mini (I have tried the mac keyboard and found it far to o flat and small). The imac is way out of my budget so if I am going the way of Apple, it has to be the mini.

I can just about afford the i5 2.6GHz with the extra memory if it is warranted.

My other option is to try and pick up an older mac mini in good condition, but they only seem to be available on places like eBay, and I am dubious about buying one from that source, not to mention that they seem to be the same price as the new ones!

Anyone any more suggestions/comments???

B_G_B

Chewbumpkin wrote: »

Anyone any more suggestions/comments???

Apple refurb store?

Prices still quite high but you may consider it worth it to shave a few £s off for a current / slightly older model. Mac minis don’t come up as often as other models though.

http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

securityguy

Chewbumpkin wrote: »

Thank all so far for your comments. It is good to receive different points of view, and helps me to make a decision.



I also use a bluetooth ergonomic keyboard and mouse, and would expect them to work with the Mac mini

They'll work, and indeed I used a Palaeolithic scroll-wheel mouse on one of my work Minis. You'll need to make sure you have a full set of bucky bits (Shift, Control, Alt, Cmd) on the keyboard: you can usually coerce the Windows key, if there is one, into acting as Cmd. Trying to use a Mac for anything but the most trivial tasks without the full set of four is painful. it's also handy having the function keys labelled with the Apple-y symbols, because only the hardest of the hardcore will be able to remember which is which if you want to use Expose (insert pretentious accent on last e).

The Apple keyboards are surprisingly pleasant once you get used to them. I used a Microsoft "ergonomic" for years, but switched in the end for reasons I can't recall.

Armorica

What's the price difference?

Macs can last for years so while 8GB is enough now, will it be in 5 years? (If you go for the 8GB, it'll be worth having something like Memory Clean installed where you can track memory usage and force a cleardown if necesary)

InsideInsurance

Chewbumpkin wrote: »

I also use a bluetooth ergonomic keyboard and mouse, and would expect them to work with the Mac mini

Remember that Macs have a different keyboard layout, most importantly the addition of the CMD button and so you're going to have to learn substitute keys if not using a mac keyboard.

Similarly with iOS and OS X moving ever closer together there is an increasing amount of guesture based input using the Magic Mouse or Trackpad. Presumably your microsoft mouse isnt touch sensitive on its surface?

The refurb store is good, whats even better is if you can find a student who's willing to allow you to buy it through them as the Further Education discount is fairly substantial in comparison to all other discounts plus allows you to buy AppleCare extended warranty for peanuts.

wba31

I have an iMac with 8gb of ram for the same type of usage that you have mentioned and the 8gb is fine.

saveallmymoney

As someone has already pointed out, Mac's last ages so you need to think long term. I have a house full of them here, my Wife is using my old iMac from 2008 and its still perfectly fine (although upgraded with an SSD).

I think the 8GB i5 Mac Mini will be fine for you, however thinking long term I think you should consider paying the extra for the 1TB Fusion Drive upgrade.