I'm so tired of my Windows based junk, I, too, am ready to jump over to the dark side and sip on some of that Apple flavored Kool-Aid. The Mac Pros are nice but expensive, and at least for now, it seems like a top end iMac can fit my needs.

-27" w/ plans to add another 27" monitor later

-2.93GHz i7 (assuming it's worth to get the best available for $180 extra)

-RAM HELP NEEDED: 8GB is so much better than what I have now that it might be sufficient. For upgradeability, should I get:
a) 4GB 2x2GB and add/swap out for iRam 4GB @ $126/ea. Does this void any warranty?
b) 8GB 4x2GB $180 - is 8GB "enough"
c) 8GB 2x4GB $360 - two more open for later upgrades

-hard drive: 2TB seems like overkill for now but probably worth the $135 to already have it. It would give plenty of room for scratch, and I'd keep most everything on external hard drives. Would you do this or put the $135 towards another external HD?

-keyboard with number pad- cause I have to have a 10key for spreadsheets

-MSOffice- there's always something needed, and it's the photoshop of documents

-Printer: black and white documents only
a) Epson Stylus NX420 free after rebate
b) Epson Workforce 615 $50 after rebate

It seems to me like you've justified all of the upgrades quite well, dude!

I say go for it and don't look back!

I will say that a cheap laser printer will be great for b&w documents and you don't have to worry about ink nearly as often. I love my cheap samsung.

knowing what I know now, I'd get the smallest ram they'd sell my other options in and DIY the RAM upgrade. I did that last time too. It's super easy and apple rips you off.

For the HD options, personally I'd get the SSD for sure. If I had the money I'd add the second HD option with a 1~2TB drive for our personal crap (movies, music etc). We have 500gb in our 24" and it's at 400gb full after 1.5 years, but a LOT of that is movies which we delete after watching. All my images are on a RAID external though so I can see wanting/needing way more internal space. iMacs are just a PITA to get into to upgrade IMHO.

Not sure you'll need a second 27" monitor though. The iMac is a widescreen, so you can fit 2 programs side by side very easy. It's the same height as our 24" just wider which is great.

as for office, if you're not going to use it a ton and already have a windows key, get VMware and put 7 on it. That way when you NEED something windows based you can use your old **** for free paying JUST the VMware license.

so the SSD is really with an extra $540? I read that installing an aftermarket SSD is difficult, but quite honestly, I haven't seen/understood the need for a SSD. Seems like the durability would be more of an issue in a laptop but not understanding it for a desktop use. School me cuz I needs me an edjumication.

On RAM, sounds like the best is to get the base 4GB and buy aftermarket RAM.

Good idea on office. We just bought Office for my wife who wanted a netbook that sucks after I pleaded with her to get a 13" MacBook or Air. I see that eventually happening as much as we loathe this ASSus.

I'll probably later get the other 27" because I used to trade on markets and will be getting back into that again. Two of these would be about like a 4 monitor setup before giving me one 27" for charts and the other for trading station, NSOP, FB, etc.

Looks like they have a Samsung B&W laser printer. Is this the one you have? I get so tired of expensive ink cartridges. I always switch it to black cartridge only, but then when I need to use color, it's dried up and sticking making it no use anyways. I don't see myself printing photos because it's just so dang expensive. Better to send it to a printing lab to let them be in charge.

SSD is about SPEED!!!! No moving parts means it can read faster. I think they're "greener" too in that they use less power since they don't move anything. And they're quieter too. But yeah, the no moving parts makes them better for dropping doesn't apply to the desktop scene. SSD is all about speed for us. I've never used on except the one in our EEE. It's fast there for sure, but I'm sure someone will have better specs/stats on it.

and yeah, for monster space, 2 monitors would be rad. I know I'd have issues finding desk space for them though personally. I really want a 27" up from our 24" though. The 24" is nice, but you can't put 2 of any program side by side and for a lot of programs (browsing especially) if you maximize it just looks weird.... 27" lets you do 2 things side by side perfectly. 24 isn't bad though, it's great for PS and LR.

3 monitors would be more symmetrical though.... (dreaming of driving simulation using three 27" wrapped around :drool )

If I'm working off of photos stored onto external hard drives would the SSD really benefit? I'm guessing the speed is for accessing files for opening and saving, so I should put it to the SSD until all is edited and then transfer to external drives each month (which is what I've been doing so far with my laptop).

yes, it's faster because your programs use it as a scratch disk. With enough RAM that might not help much though. But it also speeds up your OS and programs since everything they're working with is on it (except the data files).

So far that's

27" iMac
2.93 i7
12GB RAM 2x2GB + 2x4GB
256GB SSD + 1TB ATA
keyboard w/ number pad
= $3004 using education price (it's good to have a 1st grader)

I might have to keep chewing on this because it doesn't doesn't include a Wacom Bamboo. Funny how I was prepared for the creep to the $2500 mark but that "3" is hurting my eyes.

i'll be able to upgrade my machine and monitors twice each over the next 5 years for the amount you will be dropping on that machine. apple tax is too much.

I could make that much money in like 5 seconds!

But Dan, you're talking about building your own, right? I've never built one and am not yet comfortable with that, and I'm tired of dealing with problems I've had with windows be it real or perceived. At this point, I'm willing to pay a tax for something that just works. I'm not liking the price, and I haven't even priced out a similar spec Dell tower. That still puts me back to dealing with the wad of wires all over the place. There is definitely a cost to the all in one design of making the screen virtually useless once the computer is out of date. At least the 27" models have video input to use it as just a monitor should I want to make a Hackintosh tower later. Maybe I should price out what it would take to build a similar tower + monitor. Is it worth it for a first timer?