Which 2014 Mac Mini to buy? 1080p videos?

[A678941]

Currently I'm using a 2007 MacBook. I mainly use it to watch movies, browse web, torrents, etc. What annoys me the most is that it can barely handle 720p videos while the 1080p ones are a constant lag. Forget about full resolution blu-Rays.

I'm planning on getting the Mac mini with 16Gb of RAM and solid state hard drive.

With that said, I am having trouble deciding whether to get the i5 2.6GHz, 2.8GHz, or i7 3.0GHz. Any suggestions for my current uses?

 

[bjgpp]

I think the i5 2.6ghz will be perfect for you. You will not see a real world speed difference between the three choices unless you use handbrake to convert videos to another video format. And even then, the difference will be marginal given they are all dual core cpu's.

Just my .02 cents.

 

[bjewett]

Stick with the mid-line model

As last reply said -

To play videos, even the low end would probably be fine. But the middle model will leave open the option to do more should you wish to.

 

[Jambalaya]

You don't need 16gb ram or an ssd to play movies.

FYI my 2009 Mini with even 4gb ram and an HDD does that fine. Having said that I would buy a better model than the base mini and get 8gb ram too. If you want more storage for films put them on a cheap external drive

 

[BJonson]

You don't need 16gb ram or an ssd to play movies.

FYI my 2009 Mini with even 4gb ram and an HDD does that fine. Having said that I would buy a better model than the base mini and get 8gb ram too. If you want more storage for films put them on a cheap external drive

Give it a rest already. Your crappy 2009 mini can't do 1080p.

 

[BrettApple]

Give it a rest already. Your crappy 2009 mini can't do 1080p.

Actually, they can. The 9400m in there is dated but it will do 1080p playback just fine. I've had my Late 2008 MacBook since launch and it's done a fine job of handling 1080p content on my external display. In fact, my secondary mac is an Early 2009 MacBook with a 2.0GHz C2D and a 9400m and it played back my Final Cut project I was working on from my main mac without a hitch.

Back to the topic though.

Personally I'd spring for the mid tier model with the SSD and call it a day. The 2.6 i5 is perfectly sufficient. I recently got a Late 2013 13" rMBP with similar specs and it's pretty dang fast (coming from a Core 2 Duo and 1st gen i5).

SSD is a must, and 8GB of RAM should do you just fine, but it isn't upgradable, so if you want 16GB and you have the cash, you might as well. I've got 8GB in mine and I've only gotten the pressure in the red while running Aperture, FCPx, various CS6 apps, Parallels with Win 7, iTunes, and a crap ton of Safari and Chrome tabs. And that was a full load, still didn't disappoint.

So my vote:
Mid tier Mac Mini (2.6GHz, 8GB, Iris) plus either the 256GB SSD or Fusion Drive. Looks like the SSD would be PCIe and the HDD is standard SATA, so you may have future upgrade options there. But for now the 256GB SSD would be my vote. Easy to get an external 4TB USB 3 drive for storage if you need it.

 

[Jambalaya]

Give it a rest already. Your crappy 2009 mini can't do 1080p.

I watch 1080p moves all the time with it. What on earth makes you think it "can't do them" ?

The vast majority of my film collection is 1080, and handbrake can convert them no problem after they are imported with RipIt, just queue 'em up and run it overnight. iTunes movies stream or download no problem.

@Brett thanks, not sure what gave BJ that view