I want to get a new iMac with Flash storage. I work with lots of large photo and video files, and am thinking of using external storage whether USB3 or TB to access these files. I will primarily use the built in Flash storage for the OS and applications, and for any files that get download to the Mac, and as a temp storage for files, etc. Is it a bad idea to only go with 256GB? How much of the 256GB needs to be freed up to keep the Mac running good?

Does this work the same way with Flash storage as it does with Hard drives, where you need to keep a certain amount free? Based on my description of how I plan to use the iMac, can anyone give me any opinions of why it might be fine or why I should consider more space?

Product Description. While leaving the rest of the drive available for sharing.

I want to get a new iMac with Flash storage. I work with lots of large photo and video files, and am thinking of using external storage whether USB3 or TB to access these files. I will primarily use the built in Flash storage for the OS and applications, and for any files that get download to the Mac, and as a temp storage for files, etc. Is it a bad idea to only go with 256GB? How much of the 256GB needs to be freed up to keep the Mac running good? Does this work the same way with Flash storage as it does with Hard drives, where you need to keep a certain amount free?

Based on my description of how I plan to use the iMac, can anyone give me any opinions of why it might be fine or why I should consider more space? All depends on how you use the machine. For me --- itunes library is on NAS - 200GB Photo archive on NAS - 20G Movie archive is on NAS - 200G ProAudio archive on NAS - 400G Install disc archive on NAS - 100G But my system drive - usually less than 100G with all programs installed. USB3 SSDs for all in work files / pro audio sample libraries etc.

These ext USB3 are 350 to 450MB/s (write/read)+ fast and not too dear in price. 1TB now for less than $600.

So - in the end I went with 256G internal since it is going to be some scratch workspace but really just programs and OS - kind of wished I would of gone 512 though. I want to get a new iMac with Flash storage.

I work with lots of large photo and video files, and am thinking of using external storage whether USB3 or TB to access these files. I will primarily use the built in Flash storage for the OS and applications, and for any files that get download to the Mac, and as a temp storage for files, etc. Is it a bad idea to only go with 256GB?

How much of the 256GB needs to be freed up to keep the Mac running good? Does this work the same way with Flash storage as it does with Hard drives, where you need to keep a certain amount free? Based on my description of how I plan to use the iMac, can anyone give me any opinions of why it might be fine or why I should consider more space? Ok, let me answer some questions and add some clarification. @Richard: Q1. I agree it's a shame to spoil the lines of an all-in-one. Unfortunately, this is an unavoidable reality.

You already have a power cable and a few USB devices at the very least. Many people have much more than that, and have plenty of cables and devices hanging off the iMac - I certainly do. And what about backups?

Do you want to do them all wirelessly, which will take eons for a full (not incremental) backup? So an external disk drive - which you might install under the desk anyway - is really no big deal. It's just another cable hanging off the back. Why am I worried about keeping personal data on an internal SSD? Because it's internal, not because it's on SSD. Why does this matter? Well what if your iMac breaks completely - it won't power on at all.

You call Apple and they decide to replace the machine for you. Now your personal data is on an SSD somewhere. You hope and pray that Apple's procedures are bullet -proof and they will definitely do a secure-erase of your SSD. But can you trust that? There are plenty of examples of customers picking up refurbs only to find someone else's data on it.

If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then first activate it and mount a different device under the /dev/mapper/ directory, (e.g. The usage of the /f parameter is very important! I followed the earlier posted workaround to get external hard drives working with NTFS-3G. Please see the 'dmraid' documentation for more details.' Ntfs for mac not working. But for some reason DVDs still don't work.