Baseline Mac Mini 2011 for switcher

[Mikeez]

Hi, I am definately getting an apple mac mini 2011 as my first apple computer, however I'm undecided between the base 2.3 or the 2.5 with dedicated graphics card.
I hope to get some guidance for which would suit my needs best, thank you

Main uses will be surfing internet, using iTunes with iPod and iPad, watching youtube videos (mainly at 480p).
I have no plans to stream or rip movies.
I don't do HD video editing.
I won't be using it for gaming as I use consoles for that.
I am however keen on the garage band application that I could put to use with my electric guitar and fx pedals.
I do like to be able to multi task quickly and have browsers open and spotify running or iTunes.
I will be using two monitors, HDTV and VGA computer monitor.

So will the base model suit me fine or will the garage band application need more graphics or processor power making me wish i'd got the 2.5 a couple of months down the line.

I'm also thinking what if theres something in the mac app store that needs more power that I may want to try in the future.

Apologies if my questions sound basic but I have no experience whatsoever with apple computers and would like to get my order correct at the apple store.

Many thanks in advance for advice, Mikeez.

 

[OTACORB]

Hi, I am definately getting an apple mac mini 2011 as my first apple computer, however I'm undecided between the base 2.3 or the 2.5 with dedicated graphics card.
I hope to get some guidance for which would suit my needs best, thank you

Based on what you are planning to do I'd say save your money and go with the based model, then upgrade to at least 8gb of ram. You'll be all into the sweet!

I have the 2011 Mac Mini Server model with the same Intel HD3000 for graphics and I do some light graphics/photo stuff, along web site design. I also do some video work and some ripping occasionally. I found that I really didn't need to AMD GPU as I had originally started out with the 2.5 core i5 and returned in favor of the server version.

 

[lilsoccakid74]

I think as long as you up the ram in the base model, it would get the job done. If you got the extra money to upgrade, i believe you will be buying a more
"future-proof" machine with the 2.5 amd. (I really like my 2.5 amd)

 

[Mikeez]

I think as long as you up the ram in the base model, it would get the job done. If you got the extra money to upgrade, i believe you will be buying a more
"future-proof" machine with the 2.5 amd. (I really like my 2.5 amd)

By "future-proof" would that refer to it being able to run the next version of the os in how ever many years time?

 

[OTACORB]

By "future-proof" would that refer to it being able to run the next version of the os in how ever many years time?

Well I personally don't think just having the AMD GPU future proofs your purchase. I think it would make more sense to get the server version and use it as a non-server in terms of future proofing because of the quad-core processor. It is fast and while they will likely get faster, this would set you up for a few years.

Then again based on your original post and what you are doing, I'd say the base with upgraded memory is future proof enough.