Dear Parallels users... I am contemplating the purchase of a new MacBook pro sometime this summer. I will probably be running Parallels 5 with Windows 7 nearly 100% of the time. In Windows 7, I'll be using Internet Explorer, on all the time, then in Mac OS, a word processor with 2-3 documents open, 5-6 Excel Spreadsheets, a decent web browser with, say 3 tabs open. Apple mail or Entourage. iTunes. Occasionally, double that in terms of documents and spreadsheets open. No gaming or high end video editing or anything, though some basic photo editing with photoshop. Do you think I should go up from the default configuration of 4GB of Ram? 2.4, 2.53. or 2.66 GHz processor? (15 inch MBP) Faster/bigger hard drive? (default configurations are for 320 or 500 GB hard drives @ 5400 rpm. What would you buy?? Thanks in advance.
Leonard, If you're still looking for a MacBook Pro, I'll give you some recommendations. If you have the cash, go for the fastest processor you can afford, you won't be sorry. As for the hard drive, 320gb should be fine. As for RAM, don't upgrade when purchasing the MacBook, if you're buying from Apple, you'll pay through the nose for additional ram. (A friend of mine priced it and to go from 4 to 8gb it was a $400 upgrade! I would upgrade to 8gb, however, but search the net, and buy the ram and install it yourself, you'll save at least $250. I have a 2008 model 17" MacBook Pro, with 4gb RAM and a 250gb hard drive, 2.5MHz processor. The best computer I've ever bought (and I've had quite a few). Good luck!
Thanks! Dear Boston, Thanks for the advice. I've made the purchase, but did as you suggested ... at least partially. I got the 15 in. MPB with the 2.53 processor and the standard 500 gb hard drive and 4gb ram. Just upgraded to Parallels 5. No issues at all with it bogging down so far.
