Advice

[barca bear]

I'm looking for a mac mini to serve as a media server in my living room which I will also use for browsing and some basic video editing. Initially I also fancied the idea of buying an old machine and upgrading it myself for the fun and experience of it. However, having looked into it a bit it appears just as cheap to buy one from a site such as this: https://macbank.co.uk/product/apple-mac-mini-core-2-duo-2-4ghz-mc270ll-a/

I could still buy this machine and upgrade the RAM at some point. Anyone think it might be cheaper to do a better build from the case of an old mac mini or is there not much in it cost wise as I suspect?

 

[saulinpa]

There's always going to be a cheaper option but usually not by much. Figure out what you need and jump so you can start enjoying it.

 

[Neodym]

You really want to edit video on an old Core2Duo with USB2 and Firewire being the only ports for external drives? Plus having the optical drive blocking the 2nd internal SATA port and impairing heat dissipation via the upper part of the housing, especially during high(er)-load phases?!

Using a mini case for a DIY-hack is probably no fun, either. Very tiny to work in and little to no support for any PC part's standards (mounting holes etc.).