BUDGET! - Apple iMac (21.5-inch) Late 2013

"Budget!" is the section of this site dedicated to planning your purchases. Let's face it, most of us don't have unlimited budgets and whether its your parents or your significant other - sometimes they take some convincing to "green-light" the endeavor. We calculate the total cost, lay out some suggestions and point out things to avoid. You'll come away with a clear understanding of how much your purchase will cost you and how to get the best value at check-out.

Pretty bird, pretty bird.

The 21.5-inch iMac is a fantastic entry point into Apple's ecosystem. Great screen, great performance, and an even greater value. You'll scratch your head at how they fit it all in there! On Apple's website they have a pretty straightforward customization page and here we'll outline which categories to upgrade from the $1499.00, 2.9Ghz i5 (2013) model. Here are the upgrades to make:

• Processor (3.1GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz) $200.00 - This is the brain of your setup and with Turbo Boost, you'll tear through CPU intensive tasks.
• Memory (16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM -2X8GB) $200.00 - Unfortunately, Apple has taken to making their computers non-user upgradeable. Thankfully, this makes the decision to upgrade your system's RAM to the maximum, an easy one (at least at the time of purchase). This is a smart step to further future-proof your system.

Adding it all up:

($1499.00+ ($200.00) + ($200.00) = ($1899.00) * Sales Tax 10% (estimate) = $2088.90

And for STUDENTS:

($1399.00) + ($180.00) + ($180.00) = ($1759.00) * Sales Tax 10% (estimate) = $1934.90

Ready, Set, BUDGET!

@techandjunk