I thought I could put it off. I can’t. I have got to max this MacBook Pro out to 3 GB as soon as possible.

Why do I say that? Um, take a look:

Yikes, check out those Page ins/outs! As the MacBook Pro hits the 5400 rpm drive for virtual memory the disk is yelling back at me, “I’m givin’ it all she’s got, Capt’n! There just isn’t the power!”

I’m getting spinning beach balls a lot more than I’m comfortable with. CPU isn’t the issue…the Intel Core 2 Duo can take it:

Parallels is set at 512MB which is about as low as I can get it. I typically have InDesign, Word and/or Excel and maybe Firefox and iTunes running. I don’t like having to quit and reopen applications constantly to conserve RAM, especially with how long the Rosetta (non Intel Mac-ready) applications take to launch.

So I’m going to bite the bullet and buy the RAM and be done with it.

Apple doesn’t sell 2 GB chips for the MacBook Pro. Period. I’ve spoken to 2 Apple stores, and there’s no option on the website to purchase it. So that’s out.

Crucial wants $841.49 for a 2 GB chip. 18004Memory.com wants $605.00 and Other World Computing want $619.99 for a Samsung chip they say is the same that Apple uses.

I’ve purchased from Other World before, and with overnight shipping and tax I can have it for $646.87. Sold. It will be here by 10:30 am Tuesday morning.

My only comfort is that if I had purchased the MacBook Pro with the 3 GB to start with, it would have added $575 to the cost of the computer. But I wouldn’t have the $230 in rebates from MacConnection, so I’m still coming out ahead.