Help with configuration of 21.5!

Hello. I would suggest getting the base HDD. You can buy a 1TB SSD for around $500 these days, which is the same price as 500GB SSD for iMac. You can connect the SSD of your choice to your iMac with Thunderbolt, and use that SSD as boot drive.

i5 would be enough for tasks you are describing.

I definitely suggest getting Apple Care. My iMac has been reliable for 2 years so far, but if something unexpected happens it will be expensive to repair since I can't just take my iMac to a random computer repair shop.

 

If you keep everything externally, the 256GB Flash is enough.

With your usage, you won't see that much of a difference between the i7 and the i5 although if you start editing GoPro footage, your render times will be longer.

Getting AppleCare is a great idea. Don't pay full price. Use the educational/government Apple store if possible or buy at B&H Photo: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1088825-REG/apple_s3140ll_a_3_year_applecare_for_imac.html

 

unless you are doing actual editing work, 16gb ram is overkill for a computer being used for internet/email/storage.

also, you can always buy a 4k monitor with a mac mini. You will suffer zero tradeoffs other than formfactor and no ability to game.

 

I wouldn't muck around, and just get the 16GB RAM, 512GB flash and i7. The i7 will come in handy when processing go pro videos.

 

Looks like you are on the right track.

Since the RAM is NOT user upgradeable on the 21.5, I would go with the 16 GB.

SSD is wise. Either 256 or 512 depending on your expected data usage and tolerance for an external drive.

the i5 CPU should be fine.

Also plan on an external drive (TB or USB) for TimeMachine backup.

I advise getting AppleCare on iMacs. It is a very integrated design with difficult (expensive) service access. The AppleCare will also cover other Apple purchases you will make or have made such as routers, drives, etc. For both repair and phone support over a 3 year period on a $2000 or $3000 machine it is worth $150.

 

Always get an ssd. Exchanging the hdd afterwards is not economical.

 

When editing video or doing any other multithreaded tasks, the i7 can show about a 40% improvement compared to the i5.

I have a similar 21.5" (i7/16/256/750M) and it absolutely flies even in medium-heavy 1080p editing. It even handles light 4K work fine enough.

An external SSD isn't economical. First, it isn't as fast as the internal SSD, and second, if you put the iMac to sleep, there's a chance that the ports will go to sleep too and hence disconnecting it, crashing the iMac.

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Seconded.