Mac Mini almost impossible to use

Got my mac mini 1 month ago, brand new out of the box.
It runs slower than any other computer I have ever owned. We are talking many years of experience. I really want to love this computer as I do my Iphone. Went to the Apple store today and spoke with a rep. Explained some problems and the fact that it took 1 hour to download 160 photos from my camera. Asked if adding more RAM would enhance the performance. The rep explained that the mac mini was "basically the lowest end of all their products and was not user upgradable". Asked if I could return it since I needed something that functioned in a reasonable amount of time. After a few more questions, was told it "technically was user upgradable but there was a possibility that I would void my warranty." The rep then went on to explain that regardless, the mac mini should not be operating so poorly and slowly. My questions are 1. has any other persons experience similar types of issues with regards to the poor performace of their mac mini. The reason for this question is that the rep stated that he thought this was a system defect ie. I have a faulty mac.
2. What is the honest story with regards to upgrading my "not user Upgradable" mac mini.
Why should I invest any more money if the computer is going to continue to function as poorly as it has the past month.
The rep did offer to give me a discount on "classes" to learn how to use the mac, but until it can perform more appropriately, I don't want to waste another penny.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

+What is the honest story with regards to upgrading my "not user Upgradable" mac mini.+
Apple states that there are no user serviceable parts inside the Mini. I'm afraid there is no clear-cut answer as to what that means.
At one end, it clearly means that if you open the Mini and you break something, Apple will not honor the warranty.
On the other hand, if Apple or an authorized service provider installs new memory, the warranty will hold.
The gray area in the middle is when a competent user upgrades the memory and does a "professional" job.
Having said all that, a 1-Gig Core2Duo's speed at downloading photos should not be noticeably impacted by having only 1-Gig of RAM -- depending of course on what other activities (programs) are running during the download. More RAM is always good, but I don't think it is the direct explanation for that 1-hour download time.
I should add that this is a user-to-user support forum that is most helpful dealing with technical issues. While many of us have enough experience with Apple to provide some guidance from personal experience on Apple's policies -- the real purpose of this forum is to help with technical problems. So the more you talk about the nuts and bolts of the problems you are having in using your Mini, the more helpful we can be.

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