Mac mini itself and dual hd?

[Accident1100]

Hello all, I'm new here and new (soon to be hopefully) to the mac world. I've used windows mainly and have a 3 years old laptop and its getting slower, even with more ram. I was looking at new PCs and thought I might try a mac. I would probably use it for a bit of photography, I've read about aperture? That's the main useage other than the browsing and stuff.

So anyway I was looking up the Mac mini base model and was after some answers please .

I've read about upgrading the ram, but would it be better with 8GB or 16GB?

I would want to try and add a SSD (maybe two ) is this process as hard as some people make out? It seems pretty mixed about difficulty level.

I've looked at the kits to upgrade to two HD's, The OWC seems the best value,as I'm in the UK does anyone know of any UK packages?

Would the base model Mac mini cope with that?

Thanks guys, I've looked about and you all seem like a helpful bunch! Look forward to reading the replies!

 

[dasx]

I'm from Spain and I can find some retailers here what sell the OWC kit at little bit overpriced. (54€ that is).
I've never installed an SSD into a Mini, and bought mine with one installed from Apple for one simple reason. A Samsung 830 (the only one I'd seriously consider as it's the same Apple uses) is around €180. Add the OWC kit (€54) and shipping. I end up saving only €7, yes, 7, bearing in mind my 12% off at Apple thank to my university agreement with them.

Make your numbers. If you save a lot and think you can do it, go for it.
Watch videos on youtube, check iFixit's guide. Be sure if you're up to it.

As for the RAM is very easy to upgrade. Considering prices I'd go for 16GB, that's what I did at least.

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Oh, and yes. A base mini is a great machine. If you do basic photography then it'll do fine. If you intend to use advanced filters and renders, then a QC might be better.

 

[Accident1100]

Thanks for the reply dasx! Ahh yeah I understand, the kit I find is overpriced anyway considering what in it... Bearing in my what you said I'll have to see with the SSD, but I'd defiantly upgrade the ram to 16gb! Ok I will have a look at the QC.

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Oh yeah, dasx I've read a lot about HDMI issues, do you have any?