I am using a last generation top-of-the-line iMac. 24 inch, 8gb ram, 1TB drive. It is about a year old and I bought ot for the same reasons you are contemplating one.
In a word it is terrible for profiling, and as such for serious photography as well. I purchased an Eye One Display 2 to profile it. That makes it better but nowhere near good enough. My main gripe is that the monitor is impossibly bright, with no way to tone it down. It defaults to a value of something like 400. The most I can get it down to is 250. Recommended is 100-150. Also uneven corner luminance.
My workflow is typically raw files -> ACR or LR3b -> CS4 -> Imageprint 8 -> Epson 3800. I spend an inordinate amount of time re-doing prints that do not come out as they appear on screen.
I am considering purchasing a NEC PA271W and adding it to the iMac via the mini-DVI adapter cable from Apple. Hopefully this will solve it, and I will use the iMac screen for pallettes & controls.
The iMac is probably a great machine for games & movies, and is attractively priced. But I would not buy one again.
---Kent