Hello,
I'll be buying Mac Mini (Late 2012) in a few days. It'll be my first Mac ever. I'm planning to use it about 5 years, that's why I'm going to go with the strongest version - i7 2.6GHz. I'll upgrade RAM to 16GB myself - this is easy and does not void warranty.
Mac will be used at home for regular home usage - internet, movies, photos, streaming to TV etc. Currently I have PC with SSD, so I don't want to have pure HDD in Mac. It's not possible after having SSD if You know what I mean
I'm struggling between three options regarding storage:
1. Fusion Drive
2. 256 GB SSD Drive from Apple
3. Basic configuration from Apple regarding HDD (1TB 5400RPM) and adding SSD drive myself as a second drive (voids warranty unfortunately).
Ad.1. First option is the easiest and safest one. However I've read different opinions on forums from users using it. Moreover 128GB SSD doesn't seem to be enough. Currently I have 128GB SSD in my PC and I've got only 12GB free space (no unnecessary data on this drive).
Ad.2. Second option is ok for daily used data and seems to be big enough for the nearest future. However I lack big internal storage for data like photos, movies etc. I know I can take external USB 3.0 drive and have it there, but I wouldn't feel safe having all my photos just on one drive. In case of HDD fail, I loose all "memories". So I'd have to connect two external drives to have essential data on two disks. If I had internal HDD, the data would be there and I'd need to connect just one external HDD for backup.
Ad.3. Third option is the most preferable one except one thing - it voids warranty. I'd have to spend just a little more money than in option 2 (256GB SSD from Apple) and I could have twice as big SSD drive and 1TB Apple internal HDD. That's great value for money, but great disadvantage would be buying new computer and practically putting warranty to trash.
Moreover, I've read on this forum that:
Please advice what You'd choose? I waited long time for this moment (buying a Mac) and since I'll probably won't change it in 5 years I'd like to go with the best option.
P.S. I wrote the same message in Fusion Drive thread, but it's more like general question regarding storage type, so I decided to create new thread. Sorry for double posting.
Best regards,
Solos
I'll be buying Mac Mini (Late 2012) in a few days. It'll be my first Mac ever. I'm planning to use it about 5 years, that's why I'm going to go with the strongest version - i7 2.6GHz. I'll upgrade RAM to 16GB myself - this is easy and does not void warranty.
Mac will be used at home for regular home usage - internet, movies, photos, streaming to TV etc. Currently I have PC with SSD, so I don't want to have pure HDD in Mac. It's not possible after having SSD if You know what I mean
I'm struggling between three options regarding storage:
1. Fusion Drive
2. 256 GB SSD Drive from Apple
3. Basic configuration from Apple regarding HDD (1TB 5400RPM) and adding SSD drive myself as a second drive (voids warranty unfortunately).
Ad.1. First option is the easiest and safest one. However I've read different opinions on forums from users using it. Moreover 128GB SSD doesn't seem to be enough. Currently I have 128GB SSD in my PC and I've got only 12GB free space (no unnecessary data on this drive).
Ad.2. Second option is ok for daily used data and seems to be big enough for the nearest future. However I lack big internal storage for data like photos, movies etc. I know I can take external USB 3.0 drive and have it there, but I wouldn't feel safe having all my photos just on one drive. In case of HDD fail, I loose all "memories". So I'd have to connect two external drives to have essential data on two disks. If I had internal HDD, the data would be there and I'd need to connect just one external HDD for backup.
Ad.3. Third option is the most preferable one except one thing - it voids warranty. I'd have to spend just a little more money than in option 2 (256GB SSD from Apple) and I could have twice as big SSD drive and 1TB Apple internal HDD. That's great value for money, but great disadvantage would be buying new computer and practically putting warranty to trash.
Moreover, I've read on this forum that:
Fusion is useful for people who plan to use their Mac the way it expects to be used, with a single drive. Using two drives successfully with a Mac usually takes some learning, since moving your User folder is not recommended, and many apps don't want to be installed anywhere but the main drive.
As this will be my first Mac, maybe it would be best to buy Fusion Drive to learn and after guarantee - in two years, replace Fusion Drive with big SSD and internal HDD?
Please advice what You'd choose? I waited long time for this moment (buying a Mac) and since I'll probably won't change it in 5 years I'd like to go with the best option.
P.S. I wrote the same message in Fusion Drive thread, but it's more like general question regarding storage type, so I decided to create new thread. Sorry for double posting.
Best regards,
Solos