You'll be just fine with going with the Crucial RAM.

Have you considered getting a Powerbook instead of the iMac/iBook combo? The PBook will not be quite up to the level of the iMac in performance, but it will mean that you'll only buy one machine instead of two, which will be more economical. I have a 1 GHz PBook and have found it to be perfectly adequate for photo management and movie editing.

I can see a benefit to having two machines if you travel a lot and want one machine for home and one for you on the road, so that you can videoconference with loved ones back home. My boyfriend and I both have iSights for just this purpose. I set my Powerbook on his pillow and am able to let his snoring lull me to sleep, just as if he was there with me. When I wake up in the morning, I see him working at his hotel desk, and we say good morning to each other as we start our days 1500 miles apart. It's brilliant.

I get a free .Mac account. It truly makes posting pictures and movies easy and quick. My mom uses .Mac also, and it's been a blessing for her. She would never be able to figure out how to publish anything on the web if it were any less seamless. While I would hands-down tell you that it's worth the annual price for her, I'd be a bit more hesitant in making the same claim in my case. I could host a homegrown web site from one of the machines my boyfriend has in the home office. I wouldn't like it though. To give you an idea how easy .Mac is, This past New Year's I imported, edited and published the photos I had taken that night while so drunk that I didn't remember doing it the morning after.

If you're interested in taking a look at some .Mac web sites, feel free to PM me. I know of several good examples.

For music, iTunes should do the trick, and importing your library should be rather straightforward. For backing up, I recommend either dragging your iTunes folder to an external hard drive or, if wanting a non-moving part backup medium, back up onto DVD.

Agree on the educational discount comment. If you have a student, faculty or staff member of a school or university in your family of friend circle, you can get a decent discount. I have some other possible options I could offer you if you PM me.

Finally, the Apple Retail stores are a terriffic resource for looking, purchasing (you can use an educational discount there), learning (they have all kinds of seminars all the time), and obtaining service/support.