Honest opinion - Which Mac is best for me?

[BEL86]

You all seem to be experts, and I need your help/opinions!

Below is the majority of what I use my computer for. Do I need to go all the way up to an i7? What's going to last me the longest, without being overkill that I'll never use? Help!

I know I want the 27in monitor - even if it is overkill, I tend to use 2 monitors so, for my purposes - it should help eliminate that.

I have about 2,700 pictures just in iphoto (many more saved to my desk top) I do photo editing and use photoshop, but not every single day.

I have have 7,500 songs in itunes, and tend to get more pretty frequently.

I do not game or use final cut pro

I "surf" a lot, like to watch a lot of videos and movies on my comp

I really want my computer to last me as long as possible. I don't want to put in a ton of $ for something that will be running slowly in just a matter of years...

I apologize ahead of time for my ignorance and thank you for your help!

 

[I AM THE MAN]

I would recommend an iMac 27inch with the 3.1 ghz i5 or the i7. I say the i7 only because if you ever want to get into photoediting and or video editing, you will already have a decent machine.

My personal opinion fpr you:

Highest end iMac with 3.4 i7. Nothing else (unkess warrenty). This way, you can do all your tasks, and you won't be too outdated in the future.

 

[davidinva]

Don't know what you have now, but I gave up my desktop and went with a MacBook and an external monitor and keyboard and mouse for home use. I have the 13" model (2008, getting dated now, but still performing well for my purposes), and use it for my desktop and can easily take it with me when I travel. I am also into photography and use Photoshop Elements, iPhoto. and several other photography programs. I saw a 27" Samsung monitor at Costco yesterday for $299. I have a 21.5 " one that I bought for $149 at Staples. The 13 " Macbook allows for quick photo editing when away from home. I like the size of the 11 " Macbook Air but don't know how it would work as a desktop with external monitor. I am happy with my setup. Remember, whatever you buy, you will probably soon want something else.

 

[roland.g]

I have a 2.8 GHz Extreme 24" iMac, which was the highest end machine available when the line went aluminum in 2007. My machine is 4 years old this summer and still going strong. I do plan however on selling it to a family member and upgrading. Like you I don't do any gaming, I surf A TON, use it for things like word processing, email, quicken, turbo tax, and have used it massively for MTR and Handbrake, encoding my entire DVD collection. I have over 8000 songs, 300 movies, and an iPhoto library with 20+ GB. It is the server that my iPad 2 can Home Share from and I stream from it music to my Airport Express and have an original Apple TV as well as an Apple TV 2 connected to it for streaming. It is very much a digital hub. Aside from that I use it for some Aperture, Photo Editing, Video Editing in Final Cut Express HD, and run CrossOver on it to run Windows Apps like Word and Excel without needing Fusion/Parallels or BootCamp.

It is still going strong. However, I won't be getting the i7 and doubt I would even get the 3.1 i5 with the 6970 GPU since I don't game. Most likely those are overkill for my needs and not worth the extra $300-500 I would pay over the base 27" model at $1,699. I will be getting the 2.7 i5 27". And I expect it to last 3-6 years easily. Like my current machine which I have upgraded the OS at each release, I expect the new one will until I move on. I seriously doubt you need to spend more than $1,700. Do yourself a favor and go to OWC (macsales.com) or newegg and get an additional 2 2GB sticks of RAM for $50-60 total to double the RAM to 8GB.