@Wayne-
If you're going with an Amiga platform machine, cool, but the question of how much "cool" that $500 going to buy you is strictly relative to your desire to be different. Same with Macs. AmigaOne versus PC is much more of an emotional decision than a logical one. It always has been.
Yep... this is about the most accurate advice I've heard. Personally, as cool as the A1 might be (if AOS4 ever ships, but that's a different story) I just don't think it'll be $500 cool.
I mean, I built my PC, and took the $500 and bought a SGI Octane (512MB, R10k, SSI -- $200) and a TiVo ($300). Now THERE'S two cool toys for the $500! ;-)