If portability and usage off the power grid doesn't matter to you, the mac mini is the preferred choice as you get a vastly more powerful computer, in comparabl

If portability and usage off the power grid doesn't matter to you, the mac mini is the preferred choice as you get a vastly more powerful computer, in comparable configurations at a cheaper price. Especially if you would use an external screen/keyboard/mouse with your laptop anyway. The entry level laptop at Apple now is the MacBook Air, which gives you a dual-core CPU and up to 16gig of memory. The mini starts at 4 cores, goes up to 6 and up to 64g. And it has a ton of ports. It doesn't have a keyboard which might be expensive to repair, no battery that can fail, much less likely to fail from overheating than a laptop.