iMac for Web Design Student

I'm torn between the base model iMac and the mid level macmini. I am a web design student and this upcoming semester I will be taking classes using Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Adobe Flash. I will be using the computer for school and my main Desktop computer so it would also have to double as an HTPC. I know the mini has hdmi so that attracts me to the mini but by the time I pay the 800 for the mini and an additional ~140 for keyboard/mouse I might as well spring for a couple hundred more and get the iMac. I'm worried about the iMac working properly as an HTPC however. I have a custom PC I built that I'm currently using as the HTPC and I was planning on selling that. I will be buying after Christmas sometime. These are the possible scenarios I have in mind:

1. Get the mini and sell the PC and use current monitor with dvi and hook up to TV with hdmi. This would save a little money but I wouldn't have the nice monitor that the iMac does and I would have less power.

2. Get the base iMac and sell the PC and hopefully it will double as an HTPC. I would spend a little more this way but would have a nicer computer that would probably better suit my needs for school and my future work.

3. Get the iMac and keep the PC and somehow get the iMac to double as a monitor for the PC so I could switch back and forth using it as a monitor for the iMac and the Windows box.(if this is even possible)or do the same thing with the mini only using my current monitor.

any suggestions are welcome, I've been going back and forth on this for a while and I'd hate to make the wrong choice. Thanks

 

I guess just the higher price and maybe the fact that I would be stuck with the 21.5 in monitor. I love the way the iMac looks. I connected my monitor to my mbp and was shocked at how bad the picture was compared to the mbp itself. The monitor is a couple years old though. I can't afford the 27 in but I'm using a 22 in monitor now and it's size seems fine. Will sound definitely pass through the mdp to hdmi adapter or would I need another adapter that could plug into the audio port.

edit: Found this one on Amazon $6 and the first comment says audio does pass through.http://www.amazon.com/DisplayPort-Female-Adapter-Macbook-Pro/dp/B002HU629E/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

I ordered this one from monoprice who I trust with all my cable and adapter needs.http://www.monoprice.com/products/p..._id=1042802&p_id=5311&seq=1&format=4#feedback

I guess it's an iMac for me, I'll test this adapter on my mbp to make sure it works first.