Thinking of going with a new (old model) mac mini

I've never owned a mac before, but it seems like the older 2012-2013 model is the one to get due to being able to upgrade the RAM and being able to get the 2.3 or 2.6 quadcore processor.

I currently have this: http://h20565.www2.hp.​com …87022.876444892​.492883150

But, with upgraded memory to 8GB. At the time, I needed a new computer and was mainly just using it to browse the web and put up stuff for sale. Now, when I want to edit pictures often times LR or PS freezes and is unresponsive. I can not upgrade the RAM on this as it's maxed out. Should I bother with a mac mini, or maybe look for another PC around the same price? My only concern would be swapping everything over to the mac; but, I know that's been done a million times over and with enough searching I can figure it out.

Regardless of what you get, consider installing Linux on your old machine and use it to safely browse the web. With those specs it should really fly.

Processors haven't gotten much faster in the past few years, in real terms. A 1-2 year old mac mini would be totally fine, especially with a decent amount of RAM (8GB min, 16GB great) and ideally an SSD. Should be miles faster than your old machine.

You can probably get a comparable PC for about the same price or slightly less.

Thanks. I'm looking at backup my files now. I picked up a PC/MAC compatible Toshiba Canvio hard drive. When I format it to exFAT, which allocation unit size do I select?

The default, I guess.