Advice requested - mac mini with i5 or i7?

[kem415]

lately i been searching recycle my mid 2010 macbook 2.4 ghz with 2gb ram, 250 hdd. Apple recycle program gave me 268.20$. i was considering use that for mac mini with i5 or i7. Im heavy streamer with space savvy, budget tight also i was wondering ur advice. im all ear from mac expert of forum.


P.S Macbook is my first apple product and remain record holder to my past pc laptop lifespan. Please excuse my grammar skill im not good with it since it my second language btw Im hard hearingand use loud sound system.

Thank for reading my first tread.

 

[kem415]

Forgot to add something. Should i wait for new mac mini release in oct. also i use macbook for daily use with heavy streaming with maxed volume.

 

[Fishrrman]

There may not be a new Mini release in 2013 -- it was quite a long time between previous releases.

A mid-2010 MacBook is worth more than $268. In fact, it's still a perfectly serviceable computer. I'm typing this message on one.

If you want a Mini, buy one. I'd get the i7 if you can afford it.

I'd also keep the MacBook for my portable machine.

 

[SoCalReviews]

I also doubt the Haswell Minis will be released in 2013. Early to mid 2014 is more likely. There is more to developing and producing a new model of Minis than simply throwing in a new Intel chip set. The thorough development and testing of new designs are required after the Haswell is officially released. Then Apple needs time to slow down the production on previous models, change the production lines for the new models and ramp up production in China. They need to have a long enough run of sales on new models to cover their R&D costs and they need enough spare replacement parts to cover a minimum of three years past the production end dates of a Mini model for extended AppleCare warranty tech support and servicing.

There would also be losses for Apple and vendors for having to discount less than one year old late-2012 model Minis and deal with trade backs and returns from customers anticipating 2013 Haswell Minis. It would be nice if they did have a release of new Haswell Minis for 2013 but business wise, sales wise, production wise and service wise it doesn't make sense that they would only have a run of just one year for the late-2012 Minis. One and a half years has been the more recent tradition between the new Mini models but I could be wrong about this. I guess we will find out within in the next year.

The dual core i5 is very good and it might suit your needs but if you have the extra money for $200 more I would also recommend getting a quad core i7 model if possible not just for the i7 but for the larger 1TB hard drive as well. If you take your time searching and reading the posts in forums like this one some really good deals can be found from reliable vendors online to help cut down the cost a little ($20-$50 less) on your Mini purchase. There are also good prices that can be found on fully warrantied refurbs from the Apple store (late-2012 model i5s and i7s) if you don't mind going that route.

 

[philipma1957]

I suggest the quad 2.3


http://www.jr.com/apple/pe/APP_MD388LL_SL_A/

783 no tax except NY.

link via a discover card 5% discount. do not repeat do not buy ram from apple.

there are good ram choices 8gb for 55 bucks 16gb for 95 bucks amazon newegg etc. you can pm me if you have other questions as for an ssd you can put it off. an thunderbolt external ssd will work very well as your boot drive.

 

[glen e]

I bought the i5 on saturday - returned it today for the i7...seems snappier...

 

[SoCalReviews]

I bought the i5 on saturday - returned it today for the i7...seems snappier...

Nice move. I can't wait for my i7 2.3Ghz to arrive. It was specifically purchased for business use only in an office environment but if I like it I might get another one this year for my own personal home use... Philipma1957's posts can be very persuasive. First he convinces us to go with Kingston HyperX memory. Now he's convincing us we should get the 2012 i7.

 

[comatory]

i wouldnt wait for new model, youd be probably waiting for a long time...
quad i7 is a nice machine but if youre tight on cash go with the base model. seems like you dont need quad (youve been on C2D CPU up until now, even dualcore i5 is much faster than that).
if i were to invest in upgrades, id rather go with fusion drive.

also that price for your MBP is ridiculous, its worth much more if its in working condition. just sell it on ebay or somewhere else.