Which configurations for home use?

[hajime]

Hello. Family's HP Desktop is not functioning. I am considering to replace it with a Mini. It is mainly for internet use by family members. Hope to use it for about 5-6 years.
Any advice appreciated.

Is the 2.3 i5 CPU fast enough for 5-6 years? Is it better to get the 2.5 i5 version?
I am not familiar with the i5 as for my own personal use, I always get the fastest cpu available
in the market.

As for the RAM, do you recommend me to get more than 4GB? I have 8GB on my personal MBP.
For the graphics card, is the AMD Radeon HD 6630M better than the Intel HD Graphics 3000?
I guess for the HD, just get the 500GB version and if more storage is needed, get an external drive.
How likely will Apple upgrade the mini within 1-2 months?

I got an iMac many years ago. When it was under heavy use, I had problem with the noisy fan. Is the mini quiet?

The reason I consider the mini is that we have a 24" LCD monitor already.

Thanks.

 

[paulrbeers]

Is the 2.3 i5 CPU fast enough for 5-6 years? Is it better to get the 2.5 i5 version?
.

Should be, but it's impossible to say (no one knows what the future holds). But if all you want is to surf the internet, then it should be fine. Core2Duo's that came out in 2006 are still fast enough for that today, so I see no reason why a processor that came out in 2011 shouldn't be fast enough until 2016.

As for the RAM, do you recommend me to get more than 4GB?
.

The base mini comes with only 2GB. It will cost you $25 to go to 4GB, but only $40 to go to 8GB. Might as well go 8. 2GB is not enough.

For the graphics card, is the AMD Radeon HD 6630M better than the Intel HD Graphics 3000?
.

Not unless it will be used for gaming. The HD3000 GPU should be fine for internet surfing. It can play back 1080P videos just fine.

How likely will Apple upgrade the mini within 1-2 months?
.

Hard to say. The Mini is due for a refresh now that Ivy Bridge processors coming out are out. The dual core Ivy Bridge processors are due in early June so expect a refresh some time after that (but it could be 6 months for all we know).

I got an iMac many years ago. When it was under heavy use, I had problem with the noisy fan. Is the mini quiet?
.

The base Mini runs the quietest and coolest since it has the coolest running components. If all you are doing is surfing the internet then it should run quiet.

 

[hajime]

Thanks.

 

[mentaluproar]

The base Mini runs the quietest and coolest since it has the coolest running components. If all you are doing is surfing the internet then it should run quiet.

Keep in mind that this statement is conditional. Under heavy loads, the fans will spin up to leaf blower speeds. However, if you are coming from an PC tower to the mini, it's still much quieter.

For your uses, assuming you wanted to buy today, the base model would be just fine. The only thing you should really focus on is RAM. 2 gigs is pushing it. You can run it, and it won't cause trouble, but your system will be working harder than it needs to. 4 gigs is fine for today, but we don't know what tomorrow brings. 8 gigs seems to be the safest bet.

One more thing: You mentioned HP an getting a mac, so let me give you a little warning. I'm going to assume you own an HP printer too. NEVER INSTALL HP PRINTER DRIVERS ON A MAC! There are major memory management bugs with those. Just plug it in/find on the network via system preferences and let your mac fetch the software itself. No more memory leaks.

 

[philipma1957]

buying a 2.3 mini today . try amazon price is 569 crucial ram is 44 total is 613. it would be nice if you could wait but you said the family computer is broken. do not buy any other mini if you are buying them now all are 10 months since the last design. the base mini needs 48gb ram but 8gb is so cheap you should get 8gb.

If you use ebay mini have good resale value so you could keep the base mini for 6 months and sell it on ebay for 500 (a guess) and buy a 2012 mini when it comes out. I buy minis upgrade them to 8gb ram and sell them on ebay quite often. They do hold value.

 

[hajime]

Thanks for the replies. Is it easy to install Windows 7 on the mini? How likely will the new mini 2012 be out within a month?