Overall, this was disappointing but expected. Given the list of negatives with the new iMac, I have to say that right now I'm leaning towards either a refurb 2011 or a new Mac mini. I could live with any one of the drawbacks of the new one (December wait, no Firewire, no optical drive, unknown heat issues) but together they seem a bit much for me.
I was determined to replace my limping Mac mini with a top of the line iMac for future-proofing: I'm constantly having issues with this machine and Lion not gracefully handling its pathetic graphics (GMA 950). Windows often don't repaint properly without moving other windows over them, which gets frustrating quickly. 😡 I wanted to make sure the same didn't happen in a few years with my next machine.
But now I'm starting to look at doing the same thing again, and not getting the very top of the line. That new Mac mini is enticing with its price and still fairly modern hardware - 2.6 GHz quad core i7, USB 3, still has Firewire. But will the Intel HD 4000 graphics burn me again a few years down the line? And I also had my heart set on 32 GB memory.
Such a dilemma. 😕😕