Can I have the same POP3 account running on both by desktop and my MacBook at the same time?

The answer is yes

Since I won't be using any graphics intensive programs, I would think that 1GB of memory should be enough. Do I really need 2GB?

A word to the wise if you can afford it max the ram. As the old saying goes, "better to have it and not need it then to need it and not have". Almost every Mac user that i know has never regreted maxing the ram. Besides your needs now are based on what you believe you will be doing at this point. As you become a part of the Mac community you may stretch out and as you do it's a course of wisdom to be prepared. As you already know headroom is a good thing.

This is not to say that the opinion of others is wrong. It's just that they have already established their needs. For me, i never know what i will be adding to the system and how intensive the application will be. Add to that the fact that i can have a number of applications open at any given time and it's easy to see how that can draw on avaliable memory. But here's a nice article that explains it. Save it and refer later.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...&client=safari

__________________
"What you hear in a great jazz band is the sound of democracy. “The jazz band works best when participation is shaped by intelligent communication.”
Harmony happens whenever different parts get to form a whole by means of congruity, concord, symetry, consistency, conformity, correspondence, agreement, accord, unity, consonance…….