I wouldn't quite say you are missing out, but I know that I wouldn't want to go back to a computer that didn't have an SSD after having one for just under 3 years. They speed things up considerably and make the computing experience more enjoyable because you are spending less time waiting for the computer to boot, programs to load and install, files to be accessed, etc. Your mileage may vary.
I only surf the web 85% of the time.
If I were to upgrade from the base to 16GB RAM and 1 TB Fusion I'd be looking at $600 more. I'm wondering if it's really worth it.
I am in the same boat. I purchased a base 21 and my 14 days is up. I love the machine, but am totally torn on upgrading to Fusion. I do a lot of web browsing as well, but do a ton of word and excel and outlook. Outside of that it's mainly 1 vm on a rare basis and some iPhoto. Not sure if Fusion would help with those or not. I realize probably not help out on the web stuff, but not sure on the other applications. Anyone have a good feel for that?
In simple terms, yes.Am I missing out without a Fusion drive? I have a 21.5" iMac (2012).
I am in the same boat. I purchased a base 21 and my 14 days is up. I love the machine, but am totally torn on upgrading to Fusion. I do a lot of web browsing as well, but do a ton of word and excel and outlook. Outside of that it's mainly 1 vm on a rare basis and some iPhoto. Not sure if Fusion would help with those or not. I realize probably not help out on the web stuff, but not sure on the other applications. Anyone have a good feel for that?
Yes, you are missing out. Any typical day to day general computing tasks will benefit greatly from SSD, pure and simple.
Though I wish Apple would have offered various sizes of SSD only configurations, I still love my Fusion drive and I would take it over just a mechanical only drive any day.