It does't necessarily have to be a 21" iMac, I'm very open to anything that will help me process the images faster but which is within my budget.
I thought maybe if you got a newer desktop…that you would prefer another 21". Both because it's smaller & lighter than a 27" iMac…and you have the special airline case for a 21" iMac.
So are you saying you would be ok with a 27" iMac? Of course with a budget of £750 to £1250…a 27" iMac is more than this (lowest cost brand new 27" iMac is £1449).
Internet isn't an issue at the events, all I do create a local network with a router and upload to some iPads within our event trailer, they don't go fully online.
Ok. I thought that the you were uploading to the internet (Cloud Storage or something). You did mention earlier…"Uploading to the web" in your 2nd post.
Yes fully aware that my 27" iMac has a lot more going for it than the 21", and know that nothing within my budget will get close to it. But hence my query in the first place to see what is recommended with regards something that WILL fit the budget but is will do those tasks quicker.
Desktops have almost always given more "bang for the buck" than laptops. And since you don't have a problem hauling around a desktop…I'm thinking that you would be best of with the most powerful 21" iMac your budget will allow (£1250). But also allowing some extra £££ for a ram upgrade to 16gig…since the stock 21" iMac's only come with 8gig.
Be aware that the newest available 21" iMac's technically DO NOT have user upgradeable ram. So if you wanted more than the stock 8gig…you have to custom configure it at the time of purchase.
The ram on your 2010 iMac is user upgradeable.
...so possibly more RAM is the temporary answer for now?
Your 2010 iMac has 4 ram slots (maybe you already know). I'm guessing since your 21" iMac has 6gig of ram (a non-standard amount)…you must have already upgraded the ram at least once.
If your upgrade budget is tight…you could go with an 8gig ram upgrade (2 x 4gig sticks)…and keep some of the ram you already have. Which would probably get it to 12gig. Or you could simply go with a 16gig upgrade (4 x 4gig sticks).
It would be interesting to see exactly how much an 8gig or 16gig ram upgrade would improve things on your 21" iMac.
- Nick
p.s. By the way. I should also mention that you could check the Apple refurbished area for deals. I just checked…and the UK Apple Online Store currently has no refurbished 21" or 27" iMac's. But things can change quickly.
p.p.s. I should also mention (#2) that the last time the 21" iMac's were released was September, 2013. So it's possible Apple could release new 21" iMac's at any time (but who knows). A signal new 21" iMac was released in June, 2014…but it's pretty underpowered from a CPU perspective. It's a low-end model.