new macbook pro - new to macs

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I'm about to get a 13" 2.26 ghz macbook pro, that comes with 2GB memory. This is my first Mac, but I have been trying to do research from friends and coworkers who switched from PC's, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive :) I am looking to replace my HP laptop with something that can better handle Photoshop and home movie (digital, HD movies) editing... as it stands right now, my HP overheats when I try to edit photos and just shuts off.

So any recommendations on how to make sure this works? Would bumping up the ram to 4gb improve performance that much?

I am also a .NET programmer (windows forms and web), so I'm interested in making a windows VM work... do I need a bigger hard drive/more memory for that? What would you guys suggest for the minimum amount I need?

Since the 13" screen size is on the small side, I'm getting a monitor to act as a dual screen... but the macbook pro will still be my main computer.

Thanks for any/all advice!!

- Carrie -
[email protected]
 
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That will work just fine for photoshop and iMovie or Final Cut!

Adding more ram is a good idea! But don't buy it directly from apple, fit it yourself! It's very easy to do and saves you a lot of money!

Don't really know how much memory a .Net programmer needs... but surely you do?!

You can always buy an external HDD if space becomes a problem!
 
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Thanks! for the .NET, I guess I was asking how much memory/space is the min I'd need for parallels or vfusion or just in general to run a windows VM?
 
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Thanks! for the .NET, I guess I was asking how much memory/space is the min I'd need for parallels or vfusion or just in general to run a windows VM?

Oh I see haha!

Silly me!

Any Macbook Pro will be able to run VMWare

These are the system requirements:-

Minimum System Requirements for VMware Fusion 3

* Any Intel® Mac.
* Minimum 1GB of RAM (2GB RAM recommended)
* 700MB free disk space for VMware Fusion and at least 5GB for each virtual machine
* Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later; Mac OS X 10.6 or later
* Operating system installation media (disk or disk image) for virtual machines


Note: Microsoft Windows Not Included

Recommended graphics hardware for Windows Aero support:
To experience Windows Aero 3D graphics, you will need the following graphics hardware:

* ATI Radeon 2600 or better
* NVIDIA GeForce 8600M or better

VMware Communities: VMware Fusion 3: System Requirements
 

dtravis7


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Photoshop tends to use a lot of RAM and as much as you can give it might help! :D

So upgrading to 4GB if you can would not hurt.
 
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Ah... thanks... I knew my question was basic, but hoped I wasn't offending people by posting it here :)

And thanks for the update on the requirements! I probably should have just googled it, but figured asking for advice here would work, too.
 

chscag

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Thanks! for the .NET, I guess I was asking how much memory/space is the min I'd need for parallels or vfusion or just in general to run a windows VM?

carrieann:

Just my opinion here... but if you intend to do any serious .NET programming with your new MBP, it might be best to go ahead and install Windows using the Boot Camp option rather than a virtual machine. Windows running natively is going to be a lot more responsive for programming work than when using it in a VM. Of course it's up to you. The disadvantage of running Windows natively is of course having to reboot back and forth whereas running from a VM is just like opening and closing another program.

Regards.
 
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Windows running natively is going to be a lot more responsive for programming work than when using it in a VM.

Is that the case? I'm not doubting the comment but I find it surprising, since I find that Windows applications appear to run faster with VMFusion vm than they did on the PC.
 
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You've probably got more than 2GB of RAM? I dunno, a VM would love to eat as much RAM as it can, that way it and your system can run side by side with a less noticeable performance compromise. I run OpenSolaris in a VM on my machine with 2GB of RAM and it is a bit sluggish.
 
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I bought a new Macbook Pro laptop recently. I went for the cheapest model possible then I took the 15 minutes necessary to replace the 5400 RPM drive with a 7200 RPM and pulled the 2 gig for 8 gig of memory. I bought the memory online for less than half the price Apple is charging. Their price of $1200 for 8 gig of DDR3 memory is way too much.

I run both Windows and Linux virtual machines and I give them 2 gig each. I don't think you can go wrong with 4 gig but I hit 7 gig sometimes with my setup. Dual booting is a pain in my opinion. If you have two monitors VMs are great.

My VMs boot a little slower than native boot speeds (about 50 seconds) but run at native speeds. With 64-bit hardware I would add the max memory possible. If you buy 4 gig now you'll be tossing it later if you ever want 8 gig. I always tell myself I'll reuse my old memory and I never do. More memory just means lots more stuff open without performance degradation. Max it out if you can afford it.
 
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The latest Macbook Pro laptops are capable of 8 gig of memory and it is supported by Apple. Go visit their site. You can customize your Macbook Pro laptop and add up to 8 gig of memory for an additional $700. I opted to buy myself and insert it which technically does void the support contract. The guy in the Apple store helped me remove my back panel then watched me swap out my drive and memory right there so lots of us are doing it. I kept my original memory and disk drive just in case I ever run into any problems. Swap it out if you ever need to visit the Apple Store. Not for everyone but it saved me some dollars.
 
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Don't know about the latest models but . . .

It shows in my handbook how to change RAM modules - and (on my Mac) it certainly didn't void or affect the warranty.
 
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The latest Macbook Pro laptops are capable of 8 gig of memory and it is supported by Apple. Go visit their site. You can customize your Macbook Pro laptop and add up to 8 gig of memory for an additional $700. I opted to buy myself and insert it which technically does void the support contract. The guy in the Apple store helped me remove my back panel then watched me swap out my drive and memory right there so lots of us are doing it. I kept my original memory and disk drive just in case I ever run into any problems. Swap it out if you ever need to visit the Apple Store. Not for everyone but it saved me some dollars.


Oops... you're right, so I stand corrected;D
 

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