05-07-2013, 10:04 PM
the latest mini has FW800, Thunderbolt, and USB3. That's the one I would suggest. I came from an 8-core MacPro and I don't miss it at all.
I think it would be a significant improvement, however I'd hold off purchasing anything until you install the SSD. The SSD even in your dual core i5 will make it scream. Everything opens faster. Won't make handbrake encode any faster, only more processing power will do that.
Parallels needs processing power and RAM. Every application should benefit somewhat from the SSD, most of all, the operating system.
I think it would be a significant improvement, however I'd hold off purchasing anything until you install the SSD. The SSD even in your dual core i5 will make it scream. Everything opens faster. Won't make handbrake encode any faster, only more processing power will do that.
Parallels needs processing power and RAM. Every application should benefit somewhat from the SSD, most of all, the operating system.