Is the Fusion drive worth the extra cost on a 2012 Refurb Mini?

[dvdchance]

OK so I've pretty much decided that my best option is to wait and pickup a 2012 refurb from the Apple store when they show up.

So my question now is do you think its worthwhile to spend the extra $170 or so to get the i7 with Fusion drive rather then with just a HDD? Or is the same price as Fusion drive 256 SSD a better option?

Just looking to get some opinions here.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Fishrrman]

$170 for -both- the i7 -and- fusion?

I'd say that's a pretty good deal...

 

[cornerexit]

Yes, because you'd have an apple supported SSD.

 

[dvdchance]

$170 for -both- the i7 -and- fusion?

I'd say that's a pretty good deal...

Well the cost for the i7 with just the 1tb HDD is $589 and to move up to either the 1tb fusion drive or the 256 SSD is $759.

The base i5 is $419 so its $170 to go from 2 to 4 cores, then another $170 to go from HDD to fusion drive.

 

[Tinmania]

I don't think it is worth it for either option.

For $170 to get a fusion drive you get a 128gb SSD. For less than that you can get a nice 256GB SSD and either make a fusion drive out of it and the existing drive, or two separate drives. For a lot less you can get a 128GB SSD and make the same fusion drive you would get from Apple.

The $170 to get a 256GB SSD means no 1TB HD. So not a good deal either in my opinion. For a little more you can get a 512GB SSD and still have your 1TB HD. Or, again, for less than $170 can get a 256GB SSD--still keeping your existing HD.

You could also add the SSD down the road so don't need to get it right up front.

This is if you are comfortable adding an SSD on your own. I just did it on a 2012 mini with an OWC data doubler kit and it was rather easy. But it is rather involved, assuming you'd want to keep the 1TB drive internal. If you just wanted to swap it out for an SSD it is not very involved--either selling the original HD or using it externally. (Or if you are really lucky the original HD is in the upper slot so you can keep it there and add the SSD quite easily.)



Michael

 

[henryonapple]

Yes, because you'd have an apple supported SSD.

the fusion drive comes with an apple ssd? i thought it was just a regular hdd with nand flash?

 

[Tinmania]

the fusion drive comes with an apple ssd? i thought it was just a regular hdd with nand flash?

You are right.

Heck, I didn't even want to make my SSD/HD into a fusion drive but disk utility via Recovery mode wanted to do so--with an "unsupported" SSD.



Michael

 

[Jackintosh]

Although they're both good deals overall, I don't think either the refurb Fusion or 256gb SSD versions are as good a deal as the $589 1TB version. Especially with the SSD version, you lose a 1TB hard drive to gain a 256gb SSD all for $170 more. Fusion is a narrow need, in my opinion.

 

[dvdchance]

Thanks for all the great comments.

I agree that the 256 SSD only model is the least attractive of the lot.

So I guess my decision is down to either the HDD or the fusion drive. I'm leaning toward the fusion drive.

While I'm sure I wouldn't have problems installing the SSD drive myself and would get a bigger drive for the price, there is something to be said for convenience. Adding in the cost of the install kit, it would be a difference of an additional 128gb plus the time and hassle of doing it myself. Not that much of a better deal I'm thinking.

 

[henryonapple]

Thanks for all the great comments.

I agree that the 256 SSD only model is the least attractive of the lot.

So I guess my decision is down to either the HDD or the fusion drive. I'm leaning toward the fusion drive.

While I'm sure I wouldn't have problems installing the SSD drive myself and would get a bigger drive for the price, there is something to be said for convenience. Adding in the cost of the install kit, it would be a difference of an additional 128gb plus the time and hassle of doing it myself. Not that much of a better deal I'm thinking.

remember that Trim is not natively supported on 3rd party SSDs. I think the stock SSD configuration is pretty good when you factor that in