06-06-2014, 05:23 PM
I do wonder what strategy would be my best choice for the size of the SSD?
My feeling is that the only consideration differentiating HDD and SSD storage "strategy" is-- money.
HDs are cheap. We all remember a point in time when that wasn't the case. And we remember when they were a little cheaper than they are now.
SSDs were also very pricey. With that consideration, it made economic sense to get a smaller SSD, say 256G, for the OS (or user folder) and put all/most data on a large platter drive, say 1T.
But like their predecessor, they have come down in price, and are getting cheaper. There are performance differences among SSDs, but most are so much better than HDDs that mere mortals don't really care. Computer Gods, self-proclaimed or otherwise can worry about eeking the last bit of throughput out of an SSD.
Depending on price, I'd get a 512G SSD (though a 256G would certainly do) and a 1T HDD, which is pretty common in minis. I like the idea of an HDD for a storage and back up drive as sudden failure seems to be less common than with SSDs.
IF they get cheap enough for you, I'd consider to *large* SSDs in the mini, of equal size. One being a back up. A second back up drive of equal or larger size, being an HDD, would/could be connected via an external enclosure.
will it pay to wait for new versions of the Mini?
My opinion is-- probably not.
It will have a faster CPU, the latest OS, maybe a bigger base SSD option, and maybe 8G RAM minimum instead of 4G. None of that is a big deal compared to a current mini.
An i8 processor? Not likely. Additional ports of *any* kind? I'm thinking "no". eSATA? Again, my money is on no. A discrete GPU? *This* would make me buy a new mini, assuming it will be far superior to my HD 4000. But no, I don't think this will happen. You'll need a Pro or iMac for that.
What you may *lose* with the next mini is the ability to change out HDs easily and economically if Apple were to switch to PCIe storage. If Apple follows suit with the MBPs, you could see soldered-in RAM, so buying low and upgrading high at less than Apple prices would be out of the question.
The aforementioned is just base speculation, but far from improbable, in my mind.
In the meantime, I'm posting from my pre-op appointment at UCI hospital.
I have every confidence you'll be able to agonize over these decisions with the rest of us.
My best wishes.
My feeling is that the only consideration differentiating HDD and SSD storage "strategy" is-- money.
HDs are cheap. We all remember a point in time when that wasn't the case. And we remember when they were a little cheaper than they are now.
SSDs were also very pricey. With that consideration, it made economic sense to get a smaller SSD, say 256G, for the OS (or user folder) and put all/most data on a large platter drive, say 1T.
But like their predecessor, they have come down in price, and are getting cheaper. There are performance differences among SSDs, but most are so much better than HDDs that mere mortals don't really care. Computer Gods, self-proclaimed or otherwise can worry about eeking the last bit of throughput out of an SSD.
Depending on price, I'd get a 512G SSD (though a 256G would certainly do) and a 1T HDD, which is pretty common in minis. I like the idea of an HDD for a storage and back up drive as sudden failure seems to be less common than with SSDs.
IF they get cheap enough for you, I'd consider to *large* SSDs in the mini, of equal size. One being a back up. A second back up drive of equal or larger size, being an HDD, would/could be connected via an external enclosure.
will it pay to wait for new versions of the Mini?
My opinion is-- probably not.
It will have a faster CPU, the latest OS, maybe a bigger base SSD option, and maybe 8G RAM minimum instead of 4G. None of that is a big deal compared to a current mini.
An i8 processor? Not likely. Additional ports of *any* kind? I'm thinking "no". eSATA? Again, my money is on no. A discrete GPU? *This* would make me buy a new mini, assuming it will be far superior to my HD 4000. But no, I don't think this will happen. You'll need a Pro or iMac for that.
What you may *lose* with the next mini is the ability to change out HDs easily and economically if Apple were to switch to PCIe storage. If Apple follows suit with the MBPs, you could see soldered-in RAM, so buying low and upgrading high at less than Apple prices would be out of the question.
The aforementioned is just base speculation, but far from improbable, in my mind.
In the meantime, I'm posting from my pre-op appointment at UCI hospital.
I have every confidence you'll be able to agonize over these decisions with the rest of us.
My best wishes.