Mac Mini idea for Xmas

[ShaneBunting]

Hello, I was previously planning on selling my 11" Air to buy one of those new sexy Retina 13"'s, but then I got feared of it breaking due to my needs to take it most places etc (things Apple can't/won't fix, because they're my fault)

SO.. I thought I'd keep the 11", and invest in a Mac mini. It answers all my questions about how to solve problems surrounding the 11" Air.. Which are..

- Small screen - great for school, not so great at home where I want to game :/ the Mini needs a monitor, which can be around 27". I can afford to buy a Mini and nice display!

- I used my previous Mac a LOT, the keys got worn in a year etc.. This would happen my Air and a 13" Retina.. If I get the mini, I'll use my Apple Keyboard and mouse and use them flat out, when I'm at home, the Air will get a good break and last longer ultimately

- I LOVE SSD's, but don't love the lack of space. Having the 500GB / 1TB HDD on the Mini would be an ideal place to backup my Air too and store my main content. Then, I can back the mini up to an External. Best of both!

- I can upgrade the Mini! My last non-Retina 13" Pro had a 240GB SanDisk Extreme and 16GB of Crucial RAM, with a second HDD in the optical bay for backup. while I LOVE the Air's lightness and portability, I also miss the extra capacity for upgrade..


Those are my reasons. What do you think?

Do you love your Mac Mini? What's your configuration?

Thanks

 

[Aniseedvan]

i can't answer your question but i'm currently considering the i7 base model for broadly similar reasons.
I have an 11" 128gb air, which is great apart from the storage (mine plugs into a Dell 24" monitor and keyboard to keep childrens bashing fingers from the air keyboard).
It is the main family PC though and a couple of bits of software and i'm juggling space.
I have two windows laptops as well, hence the Dell monitor. Getting the mini would also mean I could use my second Dell 22" as I do with the windows PCs.

I can get it through HE too so a reasonable discount with the 3 years applecare. I just need to stop procrastinating over my xmas present i think!