Never owned a Mac, which iMac to buy?

[Screaming Fist]

First post, so please bear with me
I have never owned a Mac before but my father has one and loves it to death so I thought I should give an iMac a shot. What little I have messed around with his has me intrigued so I have been looking intently at the 2.66 24" iMac ($1,499) and the 2.93 24" iMac w/ the ATI Radeon 4850 ($1,999). I want to mess around with movie editing, photo editing, iPhone programming and some gaming. I have done a decent amount of research on the interwebs and I wanted to get some opinions as which route to take as well as get some answers to a few questions I have.

Might there be an update to the iMac that I should maybe wait for?
What should I expect for gaming on either one of the aforementioned iMacs or Macs in general?
Any must have programs I should buy with my iMac purchase?

Thanks in advance to all who reply

 

[thegoldenmackid]

Either one will handle what you wish to do more then adequately, until you start messing with Final Cut, most Macs will handle iMovie fine.

The next update will be early next year: January-February. It is likely to be just a processor bump and those sorts of things, but who knows.

Here is a list of ten free apps. I'd wait until you purchase a computer to make any app purchases.

 

[dubhe]

Getting the best you can afford is generally a good tip
the graphics on the better iMac are probably more future proof
And congrats on the move to Mac, you won't regret it!

 

[filmweaver]

I had the exact same dilemma 10 months back. Having come from a PC for 30 years I also made the switch. I also wanted to delve into movie editing and wanted to get a system that I can grow into and not out of. I made the move to a 2.8Ghz Mac Pro 8 Core. Not a bit sorry for spending the extra cash for this great system. The expansion has come in handy for the VERY LARGE movie files. Something that is harder to do on the iMac without a external drive.
If you are serious about the movie editing and want to move to a professional level don't skimp on the hardware. Best of luck, ponder what you want the end result to be.
-filmweaver

 

[ucfgrad93]

2.93 24" iMac w/ the ATI Radeon 4850 ($1,999).

I'd go with this one.

 

[mgridgaway]

It really depends on your definition of "some gaming" and "movie editing." If you just want to do stuff like WoW now and then and basic movie editing, you can get away with the base iMac. Its graphic card is about the same as my ATI 2400XT, which can handle slightly older games on around medium settings. I wouldn't, however, try playing brand new games with the base mac, unless you're talking about games like spore or the sims.