Isn't a base 2014 11" MacBook Air better than the new base 2014 Mac Mini?

[dmk1974]

Spec-wise, they have the same processor and RAM. I'd prefer to have an SSD drive inside the machine for the OS and an external larger hard drive for media files. Figure to add an internal SSD to the Mac Mini costs about the same as an external USB drive for a MacBook Air.

So ultimately, if choosing between the base model of each, while the MBA costs $269 more from Apple (via their refurb site), you also get a built-in screen, keyboard and trackpad. AND portability. While many of us may already have existing peripherals to use, some need to buy those items and it can easily add up to that difference.

Anyway, especially with the elimination of user upgradeable RAM, isn't this base 2014 Mac Mini a complete dud? I'd think the choice is to find a cheap 2012 Mac Mini or just get the base 2014 11" MBA.

 

[hipnetic]

The base Air costs $400 more. You can't just compare new to refurb. Sure, that's a fair comparison if you're looking to buy something *today* for yourself, but if you're trying to objectively compare the Mini to the Air, you need to compare apples to apples.

Also, yes, the Air's 128GB SSD drive is going to give you better performance than the Mini's 500GB spinning drive, but a lot of people who buy Minis buy them as HTPCs or servers and the added disk space of the Mini's 500GB drive would be an advantage there.

Personally, it's probably been a good 10 years since I've ever wanted a non-laptop as my primary computer. If you don't own a laptop, you should absolutely buy a laptop as your primary computer. If you're looking for a secondary computer for a particular purpose, a desktop PC makes sense for that.

 

[majkom]

The base Air costs $400 more. You can't just compare new to refurb. Sure, that's a fair comparison if you're looking to buy something *today* for yourself, but if you're trying to objectively compare the Mini to the Air, you need to compare apples to apples.

Also, yes, the Air's 128GB SSD drive is going to give you better performance than the Mini's 500GB spinning drive, but a lot of people who buy Minis buy them as HTPCs or servers and the added disk space of the Mini's 500GB drive would be an advantage there.

Personally, it's probably been a good 10 years since I've ever wanted a non-laptop as my primary computer. If you don't own a laptop, you should absolutely buy a laptop as your primary computer. If you're looking for a secondary computer for a particular purpose, a desktop PC makes sense for that.

well, i switched from desktop to laptop and now plan to switch back to desktop as my mane computer - ipad is the magic word for me