I would recommend going with a Mac Pro over an iMac. I know that price is probably a huge consideration, but the expandability of the Mac Pro outweighs the price savings of the iMac.
I think a good option is to purchase a basic Mac Pro and then expand as you can afford to.
Chris Lawery
Sales Manager
If you move around a lot like I do from studio to studio, location etc., the 24" I mac is tremendous.
It's fast, self contained, set up is immediate and it seems to take abuse without issue. We shot with this thing from NY, LA, Tokyo, Barcelona, to Paris, used it at night to batch process many thousands of files and it just keeps running.
The screen is a litttle hot but for viewing on set it's bright and client friendly.
It will also run a 23" monitor.
In my test of shooting with the I-mac vs. the new toers using the P30+ and 3.78 I don't see much of a difference between preview rendering and no difference in capture speed when tethered.
For batch processing quickproofs and high rez the towers are faster, but for the speed offset your carrying a lot of equipment with a tower and one you have to be very careful with.
JR