I was waiting for a mac mini and i lost hope and almost bought this: http://www.stephanis.com.cy/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=6244&tt=graphic&lang=l2&p_id=320064 until i saw your post.
Based upon my experience, I'd say don't do it. You might get one that is ok, and if it is a good one then fine, it's fast and quite powerful, but if it turns out to be one that keeps freezing then you're going to have a headache.
But if your budget is tight and you really need one, then if you bought it from somewhere like Amazon and later found that it doesn't work you could return it and maybe they will refund you? Whatever the case, just do your research before hand.