iMac (2011) 21.5 purcahse help

livingthedream

Well we are about to purchase our first mac computer. Due to living in Singapore and having a tiny condo apartment we think that the 21.5' will suit (a 27' will just look massive)



Firstly let me explain the key taks we will use it for



- internet

- standard docs eg excel, powerpoint, word

- music, movies, photos etc

- photo editing

- movie editing, mostly home movies recorded in avchd (.m2ts) from Sony HD camcorder



So things that i think are important



- processor needs to be decent

- memory is vital for video rendering

- hard drive to store everything



So do you think the entry level i5 2.5ghz with upgraded memory to 8gig is suitable. i would then add on an external hard drive (atleast anotehr 2Gig) to bring my hard drive space up.



Or do i go the i5 and take the next mdoel up with upgraded processor to the i7, 8gig memory and take the internal 2TB hardrive option.



There is about 1k difference between these 2 systems. Clearly external hardrives can be bought cheaper so it really comes down to the processors i guess. Which one am i better of with. is it worth the extra coin considering in 2-3yrs or so i replace the whole thing anyway as usual.



Cheers



LTD

backtomac

If you plan in upgrading in 2-3 years I would get theentry level 21" machine. It's quad core and should have no trouble doing what you plan on doing.