A note about Apple's portables: every mobile computer sold by Apple comes with a sealed in battery that is not user-swappable; at least, not on the fly, and in some models, not at all. Don't forget to factor in battery life when shopping for the Mac that fits you best.

The iMac follows along the spirit that debuted with the original space egg: after all this time, the all-in-one iMac continues to offer super-easy set up and configuration. Because it's not bound by mobile power constraints, this machine is able to offer more power compared to mobile machines. Like the Air and MacBook Pro, the iMac comes in two distinct models, the 21.5" iMac for $1,199, and the 27" iMac for $1,699. Both models offer LED-backlighting, quad-core performance, 4GB of memory (expandable to 16GB), built-in camera for FaceTime and Skype calls, Thunderbolt ports for fast I/O (1 on the 21.5" model; 2 on the larger one), Mini DisplayPort for external video, FireWire 800, four USB 2.0 ports, SDXC card slots, gigabit Ethernet, wireless N, Bluetooth 4, and a SuperDrive for CD/DVD burning.

All models come equipped with AMD-based graphics processors -- AMD Radeon HD 6750 with 512MB on the low-end entry model, the AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics on the entry level 27" iMac -- which should be more than fine for powering through most games and graphics-intensive programs. The quad-core Intel Core i5 chipset offers good performance, and both models can be custom-configured to a quad-core i7 (recommended, if the budget allows).