I am coming here because I have learned so much from all of you. I currently use a Toshiba Satellite laptop with a core duo T5550 processor and 3GB RAM, Vista OS. It is fairly slow in Lightroom changing photos and rendering adjustments, and I worry that I am burning it up. It runs warm and hard, always running the fan when I am editing. I take it this is to be expected, but I wonder...bad or ok?
Next area is that I feel I might be at a crossroads. I would like something faster, but not much. The only thing that I really notice is that it does not render fast enough in LR, but most everything else seems fine (except that running fan and heat).
So my question to you is...does all this sound normal, and would I benefit at all from adding more RAM to the 4GB limit to the laptop. Leave the screen out of it, that is not my debate right now. Or...should I upgrade to an i5 laptop or PC (budget is about $700) with Windows 7?
And to throw a monkey wrench in everything...what type of Mac laptop does it take to compete and beat what I have. I see refurbs with the core duo processor and 4GB of RAM, but how does this compare. Can I do something like that and expect to be happy for a few years, or do I need to jump in at the $1,500 mark to be happy with a Mac? Last monkey wrench is will my PC programs work on a Mac or will I have to re-purchase?
Thanks for any and all advice. I just want to hear your opinions and advice.