I'm also looking to buy a new 27" iMac. I'm replacing a 2008 24" iMac that continues to have problems... so, I figured this would be a good time to update. But... I'm having a really difficult time deciding what to get. I use my computer for the basics... emailing, surfing,etc. I don't do any gaming or use my iMac for work... but I have a very large (and growing) photo collection... also a large iTunes account which includes music, videos, tv shows etc. I also have a growing collection of digital movies... (with multiple grandchildren... I have a lot of Disney movies!)
So, on the surface... it would seem logical that a 3 TB HDD would probably be a perfect fit for me, right? But... will I be spending $2000 plus on older technology that might soon be obsolete? What if Flash storage prices drop significantly in a year or so allowing SSD technology to become standard? (And thereby making my one or two year old expensive iMac obsolete?)
I could buy a 512 GB SSD Flash iMac... but, I worry that it won't be big enough to hold my media collection. I'm not really tech savvy enough to keep my media in an external hard drive... plus... what's the point in having an all-in-one computer that requires additional storage that I would be constantly accessing on a daily basis? But, at least with the Flash drive... I would feel like I'm one step ahead of the current technology.
That brings me to the Fusion Drive. In a word... I don't believe that this technology has been tried, tested... and proven to be flawless yet. I've spent many hours reading long threads about problems with the Fusion Drive. I will also admit that in my elderly, pea brain... it just seems plausible that the more time a computer spends moving things around between two drives... the more potential there is for a breakdown along the way. If we were five years out from the introduction of the Fusion Drive and the technology was working perfectly... than, yes... I would consider this option.
Right now... I'm leaning towards the 1TB Flash. I don't really want to spend that much money... but, at least I'd be getting a computer with the very latest technology to take me into the future... at least for a few years.
Okay... now you get to tell me where I've gone horribly wrong in my thought processes.