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The iMac line saw a revision this week, and as if they weren't already mind-blowingly fast machines, you can now pick up a 24" all in one machine that runs with Intel Core 2 Duo processors up to 3.06GHz.

Um, wow. They all have the NVIDIA GeForce 880 GS with 512 MB of video memory... this is kind of one of the best gaming boxes on the planet right now in the just-over-$2k price range. You can also burn Dual Layer DVDs, it has a built in iSight camera for video calling with iChat or Skype, three USB ports, a firewire 400 and FireWire 800 port, Wi-Fi 802.11n... the list goes on. They just keep getting better.

This machine continues to be an excellent choice for students and families, but at these speeds, they really are production machines as well. If you don't need lots of expansion slots, gobs of RAM or additional internal hard drives, the iMac is a great editing machine, a great digital audio recording and editing machine, graphic design and layout work, it can really do it all. With the possible exception of pro level photo retouching or graphics color space dependent output - the screen has the "glossy" cover on it, making images rich, dark and clear - but I know designers and photographers want to use specific types of displays, and with the display built into the iMac, you have no options there. I wish Apple had offered the "glossy or non-glossy" screen option with the iMac, as they did with the Mac book. Now that I'm back to a "matte" LCD screen, I'm much happier.