Mac Mini

[Temporary_User]

I'm thinking of picking up a Mac Mini for my mother on Christmas. She doesn't do much other than email, facebook, and the occasional word processing 1-2x a week or so.
Would the cheapest one out there be worthwhile getting for her or should I spend the extra to upgrade?
The HD, memory and graphics are good enough on the entry level. How is the processor?

Cheapest: $549
1.4GHz Mac mini

Specifications

• 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
• 4GB memory
• 500GB hard drive1
• Intel HD Graphics 5000
• OS X Yosemite

Next step up: $749
2.6GHz Mac mini

Specifications

• 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5
• 8GB memory
• 1TB hard drive1
• Intel Iris Graphics
• OS X Yosemite

[rbochan]

Are you dead-set on Mac?
You can get a comparable Toshiba or ASUS laptop for considerably less.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by rbochan

Are you dead-set on Mac?
You can get a comparable Toshiba or ASUS laptop for considerably less.

Yeah, and then you can introduce your mother to the nightmare that is Windows 8.1. For what your mother will be doing that first Mac mini should be just fine.

[rbochan]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Yeah, and then you can introduce your mother to the nightmare that is Windows 8.1. For what your mother will be doing that first Mac mini should be just fine.

With Classic Shell, the win8 nightmare isn't even a factor.

[chemgear]

They're $20-30 off on Bestbuy and Futureshop right now.

[Galakanokis]

I run a few Mac mini's at work and think they are great and I'm far from an apple guy. Have two of the model you mentioned as I/O devices and don't have any issue with performance.

Running the Windows 10 preview and it is alright. I lasted about 30 minutes on 8.1.

[DoubleF]

Go with the lower model Mac. My mom uses one too. First thing I taught her (because I don't use Macs) was how to use a browser, go onto youtube and type in what she wants to do and follow the video.

With your mother's supposed usage habits, I doubt she can tell the difference in performance. I know my mom can't. I'm not slagging my mother. I'm merely saying she is far more patient than I. Most of us probably get angry we're losing seconds to minutes of the day due to performance differences of electronics. My mother has all the time in the world.

Hours on facebook? Read like 4 posts. Couldn't figure out how to do something? Waiting hours for me to get home to figure it out for her. Wouldn't turn on? Went to make tea and do something productive instead (stepped on the power bar and power turned off).

Oh mom...

[BsFaninCGY]

Love my Mac Mini - use it as a media hub running Plex. Powerful little machine that will do everything and more that your Mom could want.

Side note - with computers you have a full year to decide on Apple Care. Don't buy it right away if you're not sure if you'll need it.

[edslunch]

I have a lower end mini for our home computer. It started struggling as our photo and music libraries got huge so I dropped in another 4GB of RAM from Memory Express and it works great. My biggest complaint is with the wireless mouse and keyboard if you go that way - battery life is poor