[dave morgan] “how much time about do you think you would get out of that machine? 6 years? “
NOBODY can really say.
NOBODY knows what the demands of software will be in the next few years, and whether or not todays machines will be up to the challenge.
NOBODY knows what YOUR needs will be down the road.
NOBODY can give you a guarantee that the machine will not breakdown and die once the warranty is over, and the cost of repair may easily be far more then the machine is worth.
Computers should NEVER be considered a LONG TERM investment. My personal thought is plan on getting a new computer every 3 years, get Apple Care on it and when the Apple Care is up it is time to get a new one. Not only because the computer is no longer covered by a warranty, but because by then there is going to be something 10x faster and better, the speed difference alone could easily make you much more productive.
And I see no reason to max out the ram to 32 GB, there are only a couple of applications that can use more then a fraction of that.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!