Hey everyone! So I have been going back and forth for months now whether or not to purchase an iMac. I currently have a laptop that is going on year 5 and it is starting to show. I started looking into the iMac back in July but I wanted to make sure that I just didn't buy one because its "Shiny and Apple"! Now, Apple came out with the new 5K retina display and I doubt I can justify the cost for the use I would actually put through it. So, I have been looking at the next iMac down (27" 3.4GHz). I also think it is important to note that my job gives me discounts on Apple products so I would be paying a couple hundred less than list price on the website.
Can you guys share some of your personal stories with the iMac? Both good and bad! I am planning on making a purchase soon but I wanted to see what the MyFico folks had to say!
Weve got one, I use it as little as possible. Just not a fan of Macs or how they are setup. Kids love it, wife uses it as well.
That being said, it runs as fast as our other laptop (not apple) that is newer and a faster comparable proc speed. It hangs less when opening things.
If you like Macs and have a reason to use it, id say go for it 
They are a pretty good machine. (I just cant stand them hah)
I love my Macbook pro.. I'm sure that I would love an iMac if not just as much maybe more, because of the bigger screen!
It really depends on what you plan on using it for.
I'm a hardcore windows guy, but there's some things I just CAN'T do on a windows PC.
Protools and photoshop (and final cut but that's Mac only 
) are just far more user friendly on a mac than on a windows machine. We have a mac pro at work that we spent a ridiculous amount of money on, and it's fantastic for those programs. I still use our less spec'd windows PCs for everything else though simply because that's just me and I prefer them. I grew up using PC's and I feel far more comfortable with them, and I hate some of the little quirks that macs have, but like everything else, they have their uses.
For the price of a decent mac (even with your discount) you could get a very nicely spec'd windows machine, or even build one yourself if you're that kind of tech savvy.
How much is it you're willing to spend, and what do you plan on using it for? I might be able to point you towards some viable alternatives. 
Thanks for all your replies! Ironically, I am typing this post on my brand new 27" iMac. I had no intentions in purchasing one today but I was at the mall today and had some time to kill so I wandered into the Apple store (bad idea). Got to talking to one of the employees and I just couldn't help myself. I walked out of the store with a 27" 3.4GHz iMac with 8GB of RAM. I bought the lowest RAM configuration possible since Apple wants $600 for an upgrade to 32GB and I can upgrade myself for less than half of that.
The main reason I went with a Mac was because all of my computers were PC's up to now and I wanted to try something different this time around. Also, I can't stand the look and feel of Windows 8 (I know there is a way to keep Windows 7 but took the opportunity to try something new).
On a MyFico related note, I did use my American Express Blue Everday card for this purchase. I still have about 10 months on the 0% APR intro offer so I decided to take advantage of that.
I think it would be cool to keep this thread going, however, and just discuss the preferences of different members along with reasons for those preferences.