So, recently adquired one of their machines and learned some things in the process that might be useful to people looking to buy one.
a) apple will gouge you on ram/hd prices, and I mean OMIGODITHURTZ kind of gouging. However, swapping ram on imacs and macpros is a simple and streamlined process. Their machines are rather snotty about ram, I found crucial has a line of mac certified ram they sell much cheaper than apple. Swapping the harddisk on the macpro is a rather trivial endeavor, but you are pretty much sol on that department if you intend to adquire an imac. It's doable, there are tutorials on the web, but it's complicated.
b) mac models last for a year, sometimes even more but apple does not modify the prices as the components in the machines drop in price. In other words, the more time it has passed since the model was launched, the worse the price/performance ratio goes. This link keeps a record of launches so you can judge things:
Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone
c) you are stuck with whatever graphics card the machine has in. MACOS requires some especific bios on the card that no one else needs, so the only cards that get it are those apple is buying to make their computers. They eventually become available for the general public, at outrageous prices. The only exception to this is if you want your mac just as a windows machine - any card that's compatible with the motherboard bus will work (just like in wintel machines).
Hoping it's useful to anyone.
