Couple mini performance questions?

[dadoftwogirls]

Okay. My questions are:

1. Most of what I will do will be on external drives, like iTunes. That being said, is Lion performance impaired running off the 500GB 5400RPM drive vs. The 750GB 7200RPM option? I just don't typically clutter up my system drives considering how cheap external storage is these days so I'm wondering if the "faster" drive serves me better for any other reason?

2. I already have an external USB optical drive. Will it work with the mini the same as other 3rd party keyboards or mice options will as described on Apples website?

3. This still being a dual core, even an i7, what advantage would 8GB of memory give me over the 4GB? Is the extra mem really used by the system?

 

[Hellhammer]

1. The 7200rpm 750GB HD would be faster but if you don't use the extra space, then don't bother. An SSD down the road will make much, much greater difference.

2. Any drive should work.

3. Depends on what you do. Some tasks require more than the others so the extra RAM may be worth it, or not.

 

[dadoftwogirls]

1. The 7200rpm 750GB HD would be faster but if you don't use the extra space, then don't bother. An SSD down the road will make much, much greater difference.

2. Any drive should work.

3. Depends on what you do. Some tasks require more than the others so the extra RAM may be worth it, or not.

Thanks for the response. On number 1, it is still vague. Would the slower 5400 hard drive effect performance running programs like iPhoto or iMovie vs. them being istalled on the faster drive? What examples can you give of what type of activities would be effected by the slower drive?

Appreciate the feedback.