A know-nothing asking for advice...

[oga]

I currently own an iMac 5.1 that was purchased in 2006 running 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, with a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM and 250 GB storage (of which I have 57 GB remaining) with a 500 GB external hard drive (which is partitioned, half back-up, half files).
You can tell by my writing that I have no idea what I am talking about.

But, I do want a new 21.5 inch Retina 4K iMac!

I've been reading the comments posted about the new iMacs and it's all over my head.

Here is my story...
I like to come home and sit at my desk and use the iMac for the basics (e-mail, Word, Facebook, YouTube, blog posting, and sorting/editing photos, and I am not a gamer).

I own an old iPad 2 but no smartphone.
(I am debating whether to buy a new Sony DSC-RX100M III Cyber-shot Digital Still Camera or an iPhone.)
I live in Japan.

A Japanese friend of mine suggested in broken English that I should stick to the standard 3.1 GHz Intel Core 5 processor and the 8 GB memory, but that I should upgrade to the 2TB Fusion Drive, especially if I buy a new camera.

Does this sound correct?
Any other suggestions (in plain, layman's English, if you please)?

Also, when I do purchase my new iMac, how do I transfer all my files from my current iMac to the new iMac?

I thank you in advance for your advice.

 

[Sirmausalot]

Your friend is almost correct. The base processor is fine for your needs and the 2tb fusion drive is great for your needs. But you should also upgrade to 16gb RAM since you can't do it later in that Mac. Your question has been answered and other answers will either 1. Cost more money or 2. Save you money, but cost you significantly in performance, especially down the road. This is the sweet spot for your needs now and for more years to come.

 

[ixxx69]

I currently own an iMac 5.1 that was purchased in 2006 running 10.6.8 Snow Leopard, with a 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM and 250 GB storage (of which I have 57 GB remaining) with a 500 GB external hard drive (which is partitioned, half back-up, half files).
You can tell by my writing that I have no idea what I am talking about.

But, I do want a new 21.5 inch Retina 4K iMac!

I've been reading the comments posted about the new iMacs and it's all over my head.

Here is my story...
I like to come home and sit at my desk and use the iMac for the basics (e-mail, Word, Facebook, YouTube, blog posting, and sorting/editing photos, and I am not a gamer).

I own an old iPad 2 but no smartphone.
(I am debating whether to buy a new Sony DSC-RX100M III Cyber-shot Digital Still Camera or an iPhone.)
I live in Japan.

A Japanese friend of mine suggested in broken English that I should stick to the standard 3.1 GHz Intel Core 5 processor and the 8 GB memory, but that I should upgrade to the 2TB Fusion Drive, especially if I buy a new camera.

Does this sound correct?
Any other suggestions (in plain, layman's English, if you please)?

Also, when I do purchase my new iMac, how do I transfer all my files from my current iMac to the new iMac?

I thank you in advance for your advice.

Your friend has offered good advice on both the CPU and RAM. While RAM is not upgradeable on the 21.5" iMac, 8GB will be fine for your usage for the next several years. I wouldn't worry about how much RAM you'll need 5 years from now... by then you should be considering a new computer anyway.

The drive question is always a tough one. You'll definitely want either a Fusion Drive or a pure SSD. If you get the FD, you'll really want the 2TB one (they've gimped the 1TB FD version, and the plain 1TB HDD is terrible). However, for best long-term performance, I'd suggest getting the 256GB SSD, and then buying a large external hard drive to go with it (you could get the 256GB SSD + 3TB external HDD for practically the same price as the 2TB FD). The only drag is you have an external HDD - a little more visibly messy.

In either scenario, make sure you also have a backup plan for your important files.

p.s. get the iPhone - it's awesome! And the best camera you can have is the one that's always with you.

p.p.s. just a friendly tip - i think your thread title did yourself a disservice... in the future, use a more appropriately descriptive title.