Thinking about buying a 2012 Mac Mini

[master7045]

I have come across a 2012 mac mini for ~$350. I'm thinking about replacing my everyday PC with this (the MB is bad, but using a i3 550). This will mainly be used as a family PC, email, web browsing, FB, light photo editing (family photos, not a pro). I would like to run Windows on it occasionally though since my wife works form home (using Citrix), and it seems to work better on windows than our MBA. Given that these models allow RAM upgrades, if I go to 8GB will there be enough HP in the base i5 to run parallels or a VM box with Windows 7 and/or run latest versions of OSX? We have a MBA from 2012 that works just fine for the same use (minus windows), so I think I'm ok, but I'm still new to Apple OSX ecosystem.

 

[Rakehellion]

Is it a dual or quad core? That machine should be fine for light usage. For a VM, you want as much memory as you can handle.

And of course, the first thing everyone in this thread will suggest is to install a SSD, so I'm beating them to the punch.

 

[master7045]

Thanks, it's a dual core i5, assuming the base model. I'm reading more and more and it looks like I can keep the stock 500GB HD & add a second SSD. Assuming again I can move the boot partition to the SSD and use the HDD as storage? Will any SSD work from BBY? (sorry, closest retailer). Any special cables?

 

[master7045]

Well, I picked it up, it's a base model, i5 w/ 4GB RAM. I'm already looking to upgrade RAM and to a SSD to create a fusion drive, any suggestions?

EDIT:
Looking at this SSD http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OAJ412U/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

OWC data doubler
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AN5PUSE/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3UW28G9WPPLAW

Ram
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008LTBJFW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

 

[mmntech]

Macs don't necessarily need "Mac" memory. Just ensures compatibility, but cheaper DIMMs with the same specs should work.

SSD looks good. I have a Samsung in my laptop. Just a word of warning. If it has Mavericks on it, don't upgrade to Yosemite. Otherwise you can't turn on TRIM when using third party drives. Learned that the hard way.

Otherwise it's a good find for that price as a daily driver.

 

[Emulex]

I'd just stick with pure SSD. DOn't bother with fusion drive. SSD's are so cheap nowadays you can afford to go all SSD.

 

[master7045]

ended up grabbing the min off of CL. $350 for the base 2012 model with the Apple keyboard & magic trackpad. I bought a 256GB SSD & additional 8 GB of memory in 1 stick, for a total of 10GB now. I made a booboo when I first installed the SSD and broke the new SATA cable. Had to buy a second kit at an additional $30 to get another cable. Now that it's done, Have my Fusion drive. Really like the setup and size of the box itself. It's infinitely smaller than my mini-ATX size case it's replacing. Will be working on setting up bootcamp so I can use MCE with windows 7 still. VLC on OS X keeps crashing .
Anyway, just wanted to share my experience. For $~600 I feel like I got a screaming deal.

 

[MotionMan]

I have the same Mac Mini, without all your upgrades, running Yosemite. I use VMW Fusion running Windows XP without issue.

(It has been through a number of OS updates without a refresh, so I get some odd crashes periodically (in OS X, not Fusion/Windows. I think I will do a reformat and reinstall when I get a free weekend.)

MotionMan