Buying iMac 27'' (from resale perspective)

27-inch iMac with 512GB Flash Storage

The retail price for 512GB SSDs has been dropping at a linear rate since 2010. In comparison, HDD pricing and new technology introductions have been stagnant. The HDD industry's highest capacity in a 2.5" 2-disk configuration has been the same for the last year. If SSD pricing continued to fall at the same rate, then mathematically SSDs would match HDD pricing by late 2014 / early 2015.

The real question is whether or not it’s worth it. I'm personally a much bigger fan of going all solid state. Fusion Drive doesn't do anything to mitigate the likelihood that a hard drive will likely fail sooner than a good SSD, whereas if you go with an internal SSD and external Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 HDD RAID NAS array you can control your destiny much better. With a Fusion Drive you don't have that flexibility.

Good response, Dr Mac.

I think it all depends on what you think you will be able to get on resale in 5 years. If you go to Gazelle and look at a 2009 27" Imac they are paying about $560 in flawless condition. I think it's more importiant to purchase what you need instead of buying for resale. Buying for resale you'll ending up spending more money you won't recoupe. People who purchase 5 year old Mac's aren't looking for the best thing but are looking for a cost effictive computer. Computers move pretty fast and who knows what will be around in 5 years.