Worth swapping Mac mini hard drive for "Seagate Laptop SSHD"?

[desertman]

I have a 2012 Mac mini with the stock 1 GB "Apple HDD" (whatever in the end that might be).

Now I got by chance a 1 TB "Seagate Laptop SSHD" which seems to be a hybrid hard drive. See also here: http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Lapto...p/B00B99JUBQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8.

I'm wondering whether it would be worth it to swap the original Mac mini hard drive against this Seagate hard drive. Does anybody have any experience with such drives? Do they really improve (at least feeling-wise) the performance of a computer?

 

[Santabean2000]

What do you need to do with your mini?

Short answer is yes, the SSHD will be better/faster, but nothing on a true SSD.

The 2012 supports a second drive, better to put in a SSD and fuse it up.

 

[desertman]

I have the mid level 2012 Mac mini (2.3 Ghz i7). I'm not doing anything special with it - but I'm also otherwise not doing anything at all with this Seagate SSHD.

I guess I will put the Seagate drive into the Mac mini. I might even get the "Dual Hard Drive Kit" from iFixit and put both hard drives into the Mac mini.

 

[Celerondon]

Practically every part of Santabean's response is correct and yet somehow I disagree with it!

The intended use of a computer matters.
The SSHD would be faster than that 5400 rpm HDD while not nearly as fast as an SSD.
The "fuse it up" suggestion is great!

So why do I disagree with this great advice? Santabean answered a question that you did not ask. You asked if installing the SSHD would be worth it and SB responded "Short answer is yes, the SSHD will be better/faster, but nothing on a true SSD." My problem is with that yes and the fact that while you already knew (or suspected) that the SSHD was faster you asked if the installation would be worth it.
I say no but for Santabean's same reasons!

Your mini is one of the coveted 2012 i7s! Why open it up to create a performance increase that you will barely feel? You have a real dragon egg!

Fuse it up!

 

[desertman]

Thanks for the input.

I got this Mac mini about three months ago refurbished from Apple for a special video converting job which is done now. It was paid for by a friend for whom I did this job. My latest idea is to sell my iMac (for which the AppleCare is running out in August), get a nice 27" monitor and then use the Mac mini as my main computer - with two internal 1 TB hard drives. I have otherwise no real use for the Mac mini and will probably have some money left in my pocket when I sell the iMac while it still has some AppleCare left.

The monitor I have in mind right now is the ASUS PB278Q which has very good reviews and can be bought for around $420. Is anybody having another idea which monitor to buy?

 

[BigRed1]

I have this drive in a 2009 mini. Definitely faster than stock, but also definitely slower than the ssd, as mentioned.

One thing I'll mention: I had a different brand sshd fail on me without any warning. I was unable to recover ANY data from it, unlike other hd failures I've had in the past. I hadn't backed up in several months (I'm an idiot), and I lost a lot of data. Make sure you have time machine up and running if you get this drive.

 

[Santabean2000]

Thanks for the input.

I got this Mac mini about three months ago refurbished from Apple for a special video converting job which is done now. It was paid for by a friend for whom I did this job. My latest idea is to sell my iMac (for which the AppleCare is running out in August), get a nice 27" monitor and then use the Mac mini as my main computer - with two internal 1 TB hard drives. I have otherwise no real use for the Mac mini and will probably have some money left in my pocket when I sell the iMac while it still has some AppleCare left.

The monitor I have in mind right now is the ASUS PB278Q which has very good reviews and can be bought for around $420. Is anybody having another idea which monitor to buy?

I just bought a Dell U2515H. Same res as the 27" Display, but smaller for factor, thus sharper to look at. Plenty of connectivity.

Interestingly, I aslo moved from an iMac to mini + new display way of working.
My work MBP holds the power these days and my mini is the 'home' computer for general tasks. Works well.

 

[desertman]

I just bought a Dell U2515H.

Interesting alternative to a 27" monitor indeed.

But is not everything even a little smaller than on a 27" monitor?

I also don't understand from the specifications what "5 USB 3.0 ports (4 at the back, 1 with battery charging)" means. Is one of the USB ports at the front? That would make me want to have it!

 

[Santabean2000]

Interesting alternative to a 27" monitor indeed.

But is not everything even a little smaller than on a 27" monitor?

I also don't understand from the specifications what "5 USB 3.0 ports (4 at the back, 1 with battery charging)" means. Is one of the USB ports at the front? That would make me want to have it!

Yep, smaller, but not too small. No usb at the front.