Want to merge my two systems into one

[Titus]

I currently have a fairly new Dell XPS with a 27 inch monitor and a late 2009 iMac 27 inch. I have lots of peripherals including two sets of Bose speakers, etc.

I want to buy a new iMac 27 inch and use bootcamp to have a PC environment.

I'm a CPA and college professor who uses the PC environment for work and my iMac for play (video, photo, etc.)

I usually buy high-end electronics and my 2009 is running great. I can easily sell both computers to other faculty or students.

I used parallels in the past and it was WAY too slow so that's why I want to try bootcamp.

Do you think this move is logical and feasible? Can you think of any cons involved with this move? I'll probably hire someone to come to my house and set everything up for me since I have airport extreme, and a bunch of other wireless devices running.

Thanks for any comments, advice you can give.

Kim

 

[phrehdd]

I currently have a fairly new Dell XPS with a 27 inch monitor and a late 2009 iMac 27 inch. I have lots of peripherals including two sets of Bose speakers, etc.

I want to buy a new iMac 27 inch and use bootcamp to have a PC environment.

I'm a CPA and college professor who uses the PC environment for work and my iMac for play (video, photo, etc.)

I usually buy high-end electronics and my 2009 is running great. I can easily sell both computers to other faculty or students.

I used parallels in the past and it was WAY too slow so that's why I want to try bootcamp.

Do you think this move is logical and feasible? Can you think of any cons involved with this move? I'll probably hire someone to come to my house and set everything up for me since I have airport extreme, and a bunch of other wireless devices running.

Thanks for any comments, advice you can give.

Kim

Hi Kim

The biggest disadvantage to Bootcamp is you can only run one OS at any given time. The second is that traditionally, Bootcamp is ran off the same drive as OSX (perhaps there are work arounds for this).

As for Parallels, how long ago did you try it and was it optimized for your needs? I use Parallels with some pretty intensive Windows apps and it runs reasonably fast. You never mentioned what apps you would run under Windows and which version of Windows. Both of the latter makes a difference on set up.

 

[Titus]

Hi Kim

The biggest disadvantage to Bootcamp is you can only run one OS at any given time. The second is that traditionally, Bootcamp is ran off the same drive as OSX (perhaps there are work arounds for this).

As for Parallels, how long ago did you try it and was it optimized for your needs? I use Parallels with some pretty intensive Windows apps and it runs reasonably fast. You never mentioned what apps you would run under Windows and which version of Windows. Both of the latter makes a difference on set up.

I use Windows 7 and the software is mainly Excel, QuickBooks Pro, Word, PP, Access, TurboTax, and some graphics design software. I am online 24/7 and need to run several programs at once and interact with students via adobe connect....all at the same time. Since I teach Excel, QuickBooks Pro and TurboTax, I can't use other software for these programs. My main e-mail is outlook.

 

[richard13]

I currently have a fairly new Dell XPS with a 27 inch monitor and a late 2009 iMac 27 inch. I have lots of peripherals including two sets of Bose speakers, etc.

I want to buy a new iMac 27 inch and use bootcamp to have a PC environment.

I'm a CPA and college professor who uses the PC environment for work and my iMac for play (video, photo, etc.)

I usually buy high-end electronics and my 2009 is running great. I can easily sell both computers to other faculty or students.

I used parallels in the past and it was WAY too slow so that's why I want to try bootcamp.

Do you think this move is logical and feasible? Can you think of any cons involved with this move? I'll probably hire someone to come to my house and set everything up for me since I have airport extreme, and a bunch of other wireless devices running.

Thanks for any comments, advice you can give.

Kim

+1 regarding the other person's comments about Parallels. I use it all the time and don't have a problem with it. Maybe you used it a long time ago? Other thoughts are that you need more RAM to be able to run all that stuff at once.

As far as I'm concerned, BootCamp is really only good for gaming and even then it's questionable. I like running all my apps natively in OS X, including games.

But as far as your usage is concerned, I don't see anything wrong with doing what you plan.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Have you considered getting a Mac Mini, using your current Dell with the external monitor and a keyboard & mouse, and using a KVM to switch between the Mac and the Dell?

 

[harcosparky]

I am running a 27" iMac with OSX and Windows 8.1 using Boot Camp.

Yeah you can only run one OS at a time, but I no issue on either side.

Never used Parallels because I don't like the concept.

 

[Titus]

Yes, I haven't used parallels since 2010. It just slowed my iMac down, even with 16g of Ram on board. My PC also has 16g of Ram on board, an i7 chip and lots and lots of hard drive space left.

I don't plan on using the OS for anything other than recreation but I want speed and having a more streamlined workstation, without two 27 inch monitors appeals to me.

My only other thought was to get a Mac Pro and use the existing monitor but I really like the iMac.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Yes, I haven't used parallels since 2010. It just slowed my iMac down, even with 16g of Ram on board. My PC also has 16g of Ram on board, an i7 chip and lots and lots of hard drive space left.

I don't plan on using the OS for anything other than recreation but I want speed and having a more streamlined workstation, without two 27 inch monitors appeals to me.

My only other thought was to get a Mac Pro and use the existing monitor but I really like the iMac.

Or the Mac Mini. With the KVM switch you can use a keyboard, monitor and mouse with both the Mac and the Windows machine and switch between them without having to reboot.