By now you've surely heard some people complain that the iMac, though only $1299, is "too expensive." (Frankly, we find that complaint scarcely believable, given all you get for the money, but people have different priorities.) And despite the fact that the iMac was the best-selling computer of any platform last month, there are those who feel that the iMac doesn't stand a chance of competing long-term in the fiercely-contested consumer computer market unless Apple drops the price. And there have been plenty of rumors circulating that Apple's planning to do just that-- several sources claim that the iMac, in its current configuration, will drop to $999 for the holiday season, when Apple releases a $1299 sequel that will most likely boast a faster G3 processor, more RAM, and possibly a DVD-ROM drive capable of displaying movies on the integrated screen.

However, for those of you who are dying for an iMac but can't afford to spend $1299 and don't want to wait until Thanksgiving for the prices to drop (maybe), there's now yet another option. Refurbished iMacs are already starting to surface at some mail order retail houses. For instance, MacConnection lists refurb iMacs with a 90-day warranty with a price of $1099. Our assumption is that since these units aren't described as "factory-refurbished," they might actually just be iMacs that were returned to MacConnection by customers who decided that they needed something with PCI slots or a SCSI port; Apple's made it notoriously difficult for manufacturers to return iMacs to Apple, charging them a $400 restocking fee for returned iMacs that aren't actually damaged. Rather than eat the cost, MacConnection might be selling these perfectly-good but opened-box models for $200 less than a brand new model. Heck, it's cheaper than paying the restocking fee. (Please note, this is entirely speculation on AtAT's part-- we haven't a shred of actual evidence that MacConnection's refurbed iMacs are just returns.)

Of course, it's up to you to decide if saving $200 is worth trading in nine months of warranty coverage. Plus, most places selling iMacs for $1299 are also throwing in an extra 32 MB (and, in MacZone's case, 64 MB) of RAM. Our personal take on things is that the vast majority of buyers would be better off spending the extra $200 for a new system with extra RAM, but hey, isn't it nice to have a choice?