My 2010 Mini was getting pretty slow, and the problem was clearly the hard
drive and swapping. I also have an Air with SSD which is really, really
snappy .. especially for being the first generation.
So SSD it was. The video I followed was OWC (Other World Computing):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XrlN0tAeY2U
I also followed the advice to pre-install a bootable copy of my existing
disk onto the SSD via SuperDuper.
http://blog.danielna.com/2012/12/09/upgrade-macbook-pro-with-superduper.html
One additional upgrade: because there are multiple screw head types in this
exercise, I bought the OWC screwdriver kit so I'd have the Torx 6 & 8 as
well as a really odd Hex driver from the current iFixIt kit floating around.
The SSD is a Samsung from Amazon .. 256 GB. That seem small by today's
standard, but with the "cloud" and a local NAS (Network Attached Storage)
with RAID (redundant storage), I felt I could manage the somewhat reduced
size (the hard drive being replaced wast 500GB).
No major problems other than finding the Mini had an unconnected heat
sensor (decided it was for the disk so just taped it on), and the video
having a few errors in terms of size screws.
Man has it been worth it! The old Mini has a new life .. and I can wait on
a replacement for another couple of years. Seriously, SSD replacement is a
great way to improve your computer. And with the good video and the
toolset we've got, I'd say most of us could perform the procedure. No
where near is difficult as changing an iPhone cracked screen.
-- Owen
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