I have always recomended that one buy one offical board.
it helps you ease your consiense
it puts a few coins in the pot to keep things like this site going
and when all else fails, you can dust it off and prove that the problems are not in hardware, or prove they are.
I have many board I got from China. mini's nano's etc
lately, I have been using the esp8266 for my work as I need WiFi.
I will make one recomendation.
if you buy clones or such, get from one place that has sold more than a few dozen.
and keep the link. I think I have about 6 variations of the mini.... none are pin comparable.
and the one thing that I avoid is anything that is trying to be copy and using the markings to pretend they are the real thing.