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So I'm pretty close to picking up a new computer, and I'm thinking of getting an iMac and loading it with parallels or bootcamp so i can keep running Windows 7 on it.

My only concern is being able to upgrade.

Apple doesn't give you much in the way of customization, especially with video cards.

So, can you even upgrade them? If so, is it a pretty arduous task?

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You can add more RAM. That's about it. Its possible to do hard drive swaps as well, but its a much more tedious task. If you are really concerned about upgrading, get a Mac Pro.

Oh, and I'd go with VMWare Fusion and not Parallels.

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Is the video card embedded? damn you apple! – Jack Marchetti Aug 18 '10 at 14:39
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+1: I have an iMac and the upgrade path is very limited. I'd give you another +1 for VMWare as well, if I could :-) – Josh Aug 18 '10 at 14:39
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@Jack: The iMac is designed for users who are not as tech-savvy and are less likely to want to upgrade/tinker with their machines. The Mac Pro is more what you want, although it will carry a very different price tag. – Josh Aug 18 '10 at 14:40
Why is the video card being embedded such a bad thing? Dude, You get a FULL COMPUTER, that is HELLA POWERFUL, a minimum of a 21" screen, and its smaller than most 21" LCDs from almost any other company. You're trading upgradability for a kick ass form factor. My 2008-era Mac Pro has dual ATI 2600XT's or whatever they are. The only bad thing about them is they don't support OpenCL. Other than that, I never notice. They handle everything I throw at them. And the chips in the new iMacs are like four times as powerful. – peelman Aug 18 '10 at 14:43
Right - I love the form factor. I don't like laptops, but I want some portability. My iPad isn't cutting it for productivity, so I'm looking at an iMac. I just don't like the fact that I'm going to spend $2000 on something, and can't really upgrade it. – Jack Marchetti Aug 18 '10 at 14:54
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