[Dennis Matuch]

Yes, at home I do use the retail version. I am upgrading my school computer (I am a teacher) and the school got a bundle deal with Apple (while buying new computers) so they got it at a considerable discount, I believe it was way more than the $100) Thanks though, you are right under normal circumstances.
-Dennis

[Dennis Matuch]

I just purchased a 24 inch iMac
With the following configuration:
3.06GHZ INTEL CORE 2 DUO
4GB 800MHZ DDR2 SDRAM – 2x2GB
NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 GS W/512MB
750GB SERIAL ATA DRIVE

I thank everyone for their advice. I am new to the forum and was very impressed by everyones quick and knowledgeable information.
I will let you all know how it works out in a week or so. Thanks again!

[Dennis Matuch]

I just went to Best Buy to check them out in person. It is much closer than the nearest Apple store for me. The Best Buy I went to actually has an Apple Booth and Apple rep there to help with questions. I will acually purchase from Apple when the time comes as it is $100-200 cheaper with a better graphics card. MacBook Pro would be nice but timing is bad right now as far as the extra money is concerned.

[Dennis Matuch]

Thanks for all the responses so far. I just got back from Best Buy and they have a 24″imac 2.8 GHZ 2GB Mem. 320GB Hard Drive and the ATI Radeon HD 2600Pro Graphics w 256MB dedicated mem. for 1799.99 can upgrade the RAM to 4GB for $140.00 more if it is needed.

I can get a 20″ iMac for 1499.00. Everything is the same except it is 2.66GHZ. Again I can upgrade to 4GB if needed for the same price above.

Lastly is the cheapest iMac 20″ for $1199.99
ATI RADEON HD 2400 XT graphics with 128MB GDDR3 memory
250GB HD
1GB DDR2 SDRAM again expandable to 4GB for $160.00

I’ve decided the mobility is not as important as the mac as I will be working in my house and I already have a laptop from school.
I have only a few days to decide as the school G5 that leaked coolant and possibly fried the motherboard ultimately might not be repaired soon enough or at all. I already had half of a $1000 project started which is due in 2 weeks.
My gut is the middle one. Will that do fine? Do I need to upgrade to 4GB? Any last advice. Again I am looking for the lowest bang for my buck since I have to listen to my wife later. Thanks again!