Macbook Pro struggling - Adding iMac for Photo/Video. Advice?

Hey everyone! I'm new around these parts.
Anyhow, I've been working as a photographer for some years now, and am just starting to dabble into film-making as well. In the past, I've used 6, then 12MP cameras. RAW files were roughly 25MB. Nothing too hard to deal with. Now, I have a Nikon D800. The RAW files from this beast are reaching 80MB. It's shooting uncompressed 4:2:2 1080p video. All of this computes to REALLY slow editing, and lots of lag. Especially with video.
I've really worked my 15" Macbook Pro to death, and I would like to add an iMac for my video and photo editing needs. Here are the current specs of my macbook:
2.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400
8x Double-Layer SuperDrive
Here are the programs I frequent:
Adobe Photoshop CS5.5
Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5
Adobe Audition CS5.5
Adobe After Effects CS5.5
Adobe Bridge CS5.5
Word 2007
Powerpoint 2007
Premiere and After Effects, as well as Audition at time, are generally open at the same time to take advantage of the dynamic link. So, my Macbook is seriously having trouble keeping up. It's taking me upwards of 45 seconds to render 30 frames of a single layer of video. That's just no good when you're working with a longer production. Rendering files has become something I have to do while I busy myself someplace else waiting for it to finish. It's become a serious issue.
So, knowing all that, what specs would you recommend for an iMac? A Mac Pro just isn't an option, financially, at this time. If you need to know any more information, I'd be happy to oblige.
Thanks so much in advance,
Mark

There's a difference of $20 between this 21":
2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) & User's Guide
Apple Remote
And this 27":
2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
8GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive
AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512MB GDDR5
Apple Magic Mouse
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (English) & User's Guide
Apple Remote
So, not too much difference. Would you say the extra 0.1GHz will make enough difference to choose the 21" over the 27"? Sorry, I don't know much about terminology and specifics. That's why I come to you. I just know that the extra 6" will really come in handy for both my photo and video work.
Mark

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