First-ever Mac for a switcher
I have an iMac G5 1.9 GHz 17" LCD and I am happy with it. The noise seemed to be an issue until I realized that my hearing aid is adjusted too high. Once that was reset, the noise of the fans faded into the background. The machine is snappy and very capable. I don't think noise is really an issue here. The screen resolution is excellent, although, I will agree that the 20" iMac screen is very impressive. Unless you are going to do some serious video and photo work with your machine, I don't think you will be disappointed with the 17" iMac screen. Do get the superdrive, however. The extra storage space that allows wll come in handy in the future. Also, no matter which Mac you get, max out the RAM. The more RAM the better OS X operates. I have also looked at the Mac mini and like what I See. I priced the 1.42 GHz model at Apple's online store with 80 GB HD, 512 MB RAM, BT, Airport Extreme Card and Apple Care - all for a price of $1052 USD.