New iMac or new Mac Mini... and iPhoto Library separate drive?

Question

I have a 2007 iMac Intel Core Duo 2.4Ghz (4 meg RAM) with a hard drive in need of repair, according to Disk Utility (and repeated by DriveGenius 3.)  The Repair option is not available.  I have had occasional difficulty with this particular Mac, and this is actually my second hard drive,and it is out of warranty.  I had already planned to replace this computer later this year.
In attempting to download and install Lion OS, the install failed, and the computer became essentially inoperable.  I was able to use Time Machine to get it back running, but cannot repair what is surely a damaged HD.  Apple Support came to the same conclusion.
I have become interested in a few goals:  (1) To purchase a Mac Mini along with an Apple Thunderbolt monitor (when available) in order to separate my CPU from my monitor.  (2) I want to separate my media files from a CPU hard drive for safety, for the very problem I am experiencing now.  (3) I want to make my iPhoto library and iMovie library available to my wife – perhaps on an external dedicated drive - for her newer iMac, to various iPhones and iPads, and to two Apple TV units. 
We have a home network with an Airport Extreme, and several Ethernet outlets.  Both iMac’s currently use Western Digital external drives for Time Machine backups.  I have another external Seagate drove solely for my iMovie files.  I just purchased a Time Capsule 2TB (but have not yet opened) with the idea that this would be where the “shared” iPhoto library resides.
My questions –
Would you recommend using a Mac Mini + monitor, or go with a new iMac (my current iMac is my third and the only one that has given me some problems.)  I do not have any specialized use of my computer beyond the common iLife applications.
I want my photos and videos to be easily available to my family on their Apple devices (I’m the only one with the significant family photo library) and I haven’t quite devised a plan to accomplish that.  Can you make suggestions?
Thanks for any assistance you can offer.

Answer 1

Currently the Library is on EHD 1 and you want to copy it to EHD2?
Connect them both to the iMac. Make sure EHD2 formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)  and drag the iPhoto Library from EHD 1 to EHD 2
To open either Library with iPhoto 11: Hold down the option (or alt) key key and launch iPhoto. From the resulting menu select 'Choose Library'
It will update the Library to the new formats. Remember once you do this the older versions of iPhoto will no longer be able to read it.
Regards
TD