Snag a 2012 Mini if you can.
These allow you to upgrade the RAM, which takes all of about 30 seconds. Remove the plastic cover, and there they are.
I have had mine for many years, and the amazing thing about these is the unique size and what they have inside. They are FAST for the price, and loaded with features. When these are too slow for your primary server- their small size, low power and incredable reliability make them amazing network or movie servers. Stick them in a closet with some hard drives attached - then forget them. They will serve your home for years, holding movies, storing photos- recording TV shows.
Meanwhile, the new replacement Mac Mini can handle your current computing needs. This is really a neat concept, and many Apple users have been doing this for years. I don’t know how many old PC’s I have tossed in the garbage over the years - but with a MAC, this simply isn’t the case.
Thank you for the input. This thread has been bookmarked for reference when the change occurs and rest assured it will occur.
The main difference is the i5 is. 2 core CPU and the i7 is. 4 core CPU, also the i7 has USB 3, whole the i5 has USB 2,
If you can snag an I model I would, it's the only Mini that has the i7.