To me this comment completely misses my argument as to why I would never buy a current mac mini.
Yes the current mac mini would completely satisfy my needs and of course I can upgrade it and it would be well beyond my needs.
BUT I will never pay top dollar for technology which is 2 years old. That is my sticking point. I wouldn't care if the new mac mini was 3 years away, but only if the current mini's price point reflected the current market. Not the market it was released in 2 years ago.
Top dollar for tech that is 2 years old? Give or take a tweak or two, the current Mini is not far off present day tech.
The real leading edge stuff costs a pretty penny, and Mini's have always been a bit behind the state of the art…. and is priced accordingly.
The nominal price of a Mac Mini has come down a little over the years. Inflation adjusted they have come down a lot.
Here in Thailand my first Mini (base model, bought in 2005) cost about 25,000 baht ($US 770, at the present exchange rate). As it was my first computer, with all the peripherals I coughed up over 40,000 baht….. nearly seven weeks pay for me at the time.
When I replaced it in 2009 I paid just 22,000 baht for the Mini, and 5,000 for iWork. My pay had gone up a little (though far below the rate of inflation), so all up it set me back about a month's pay. I had replaced the UPS a few months before, but did not have to replace any other peripherals.
Now I could buy a base model Mini for 19,000 baht, and iWork would come with it. I would have to get an external optical drive, which I could do for about 1,000 baht. All up I would be looking at about three weeks pay…. maybe three and a half weeks if I added a new monitor to replace the one I bought in 2005 (which, unfortunately, has not gone up since 2007, and has increased by only 12% since 2003; inflation has seen the price of most things nearly double, or more in that time).
The price of the current Mini seems like quite good value priced as it is now…..
This. My 2009 Mini is fine for me. I would like a new Mini I don't need one.
I used to change my Windows machines every 2 years as they used to stop working/jam up. Now I have a 5 year old Mini and we are all complaining there isn't a shiny new replacement for us to drool over and buy.
I am not complaining….. My early 2009 Mini remains OK for my needs, and I am certainly not antsy about getting a new one to drool over and claim bragging rights to.
I have upgraded the original 1 GB of RAM with an extra 4 GB, but that is all.
The time will come when the HDD will need to be replaced, when it is full or fails. Then I'll decide whether it is worth replacing the HDD with an SSD, or it would be more cost effective, and appropriate for my needs, to replace it with whatever is current at the time.
One factor is that having started on digital photography (some of which is used by the local press) now I could do with better software, such as Aperture. My Core 2 Duo Mini could handle it, but something more recent is recommended. However, it is not urgent….. with the camera I have now iPhoto works just fine.
