Mac Mini: Core Duo 1.83/superdrive or Core 2 Duo 1.83 combo drive?

[mshan]

Both are often available at the Apple refurb store, for $479 and $499 respectively.

Which do people think is the better purchase, Core Duo with super drive, or Core 2 Duo with combo drive?

Also, they both have 80 gb 5400 rpm hard drives. Do both have same platter density (2 40 gb platters?)

 

[bearxor]

I don't think you'd notice the difference between a CD/C2D. The C2D is significantly faster in processor-intensive apps, like games and rendering, which is usually out of the Mac Mini's market area.

If it were me, I'd probably go with the CD w/Superdrive for 20 bucks less, for what a Mac Mini is generally used for. Again, it all boils down to what you're going to do with the machine. Internet/Office terminal? The Superdrive will probably come in more handy 5-15% performance increases. But if you're never going to burn a dvd on it...

 

[mshan]

Do you know if there was any difference in hard drive platter density between two models (both ship with 80 gb hard drive, I think)?

And given that the CD/ super is over a generation old, would any refurb from Apple be something that broke down and needed repairs (vs. new old stock)?

 

[ColdFusion718]

Go with the core 2 duo. If you ever plan to use this as a home theatre PC, it will handle 1080p using CoreAVC to decode H.264 content.

I have the 2.0 GHz core 2 duo version as my home theatre PC and it just works flawlessly.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

It's $20 extra. The SuperDrive is worth that.

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
It's $20 extra. The SuperDrive is worth that.

The $499 C2D has only the combo drive.
I got the $479 C2D 1.83 awhile ago, and to my surprise it came with 2GB of memory installed

(must have been an Apple store display model).