The 2011 iMac is still a great machine -- just for goodness' sake don't pay full ticket for it, because it isn't worth that. Refurbs, discounts, etc, are the way to go. Get it for at least 15%-20% or more off MSRP and you've done something that isn't stupid in the slightest.

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Yes, I suppose we all should have known we were going to have the longest refresh period in the Intel Mac era. Don't you make all your crucial buying decisions assuming that historically abnormal circumstances will prevail?
...and it's not JUST the longest, but the longest by such a margin that if we only MATCHED the second-longest refresh interval in the Intel era, the new iMacs would already be here.