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Which one to buy? 10.5 vs RAM?

Which one to buy? 10.5 Leopard vs. 1 GB RAM

  • Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

    Votes: 15 35.7%

  • 1GB RAM for Macbook Pro

    Votes: 27 64.3%
  • Total voters
    42
L

lu0s3r322

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
My birthday is coming up and if Leopard comes out in late March as expected, it'll be out by the time my birthday arrives. I have a base model C2D Macbook Pro with 1GB RAM and more ram would speed up my system.

Which one should I get? 1GB RAM or OS X 10.5 Leopard?
 
i vote ram, as nothing about leopard has particularly impressed me. some of the new features are pretty cool, but i don't plan on upgrading to leopard for quite sometime. i think more ram is more useful, but that's just me.
 
It depends. If you're a poweruser, i.e. you use your macbook pro for professional needs, I'd go with the RAM. But I'm going to infer that you're not a professional user, so I'd say go buy 10.5 Leopard first. Leopard's going to have a lot of great features, and I think you'll appreciate the upgrade. Besides, it's always good to have the latest OS for compatibility.
 
well i have a lot of apps open at the same time and i use like iphoto, word and imovie at the same time

another option would be to buy an airport extreme base station
 
I'd say ram, The newer the OS, the slower the computer runs 🙁
Personally I havent found 1gb to be sufficient for slow laptop HDD's, a new OS will make the situation worse.
 
booksacool1 said:
I'd say ram, The newer the OS, the slower the computer runs 🙁
Click to expand...

Is only true for Windows 😉, OS X gets faster, especially with the Intel chips, but it also uses more RAM.

If you are a programmer or like the look of Leopard get that, otherwise if you are use Photoshop a lot then go for the RAM.
 
First, are you a student? That way you can purchase Leopard at the student price 🙂

If so, purchase the RAM. You'll need it to run Leopard more smoothly.
 
i hear alot of people saying ram but
when you call apple tech assuming your still under apple care they ask what version number you are running and when i ws still on panther they really couldnt help me fully because i didnt have
"the latest and the greatest"
so if you are still under apple care i suggest getting leopard
you will get more out of your support needs especially if you were planning on buying non apple ram and run into kernel panics then call in with outdated software well ... you are up the creek then
just my two cents
 
RAM most def. Even 1GB is pushing it with Tiger not to talk of Leopard. What's the point buying a new OS that runs the risk of pushing your system to the limits and also has that significant chance of being buggy as a fresh piece of software.
 
I would get the ram and then save money and get Leopard later after Apple has had more time to fix any bugs in the first version.
 
I would say, as many others have done, that the RAM sounds the best, but you should buy Leopard ASAP. Excellent chance that Leopard will absolutely blaze on an Intel Mac, and will be a lot more stable. Yes, OSX has been developed for Intel alongside IBM, but this is the first time that the development of an OSX system has been focussed towards Intel Macs, as opposed to towards IBM's chips.

Of course if you want to run Vista on your computer, the RAM is essential, and will make verything run faster in both Tiger and Leopard when you get it.

Anyway, Apple wouldn't leave a slot empty in the MBP if they didn't expect you to fill it real soon.
 
Eraserhead said:
Is only true for Windows 😉, OS X gets faster, especially with the Intel chips, but it also uses more RAM.
Click to expand...

lol, i don't think so, if osx is like u said, why 10.4 asks for 256mb ram base vs. 10.3's 128 mb base ram?

and its interesting u are relating ram consumption to cpu type, care to share some detail and references?

for op, ram, hands down
 
Leopard of course! 😀

Then again Leopard can be pirated, but a physical object like ram can't. Ultimately it is your call :apple:
 
clevin said:
lol, i don't think so, if osx is like u said, why 10.4 asks for 256mb ram base vs. 10.3's 128 mb base ram?

and its interesting u are relating ram consumption to cpu type, care to share some detail and references?

for op, ram, hands down
Click to expand...

clevin, i think you're misunderstanding, I'm saying that as OS X's version increases it uses more RAM but acts more responsive given that you have enough RAM. And it will be better optimised for Intel in Leopard than in Tiger.

Basically my iMac G5 with 2GB will be faster with Leopard than Tiger, as will my Macbook.
 
booksacool1 said:
I'd say ram, The newer the OS, the slower the computer runs 🙁
Click to expand...

The history of OS X doesn't bear this out. That said, 1GB is not enough for Tiger, and OS's do seem to enjoy more and more RAM as they grow.

The truth is you really should have more RAM, and you are going to want Leopard, at least by the time it gets to 10.5.1
 
i voted RAM for the reason mrkramer made, but RAM comes down in price; Leopard won't. It may be more cost effective to buy 10.5 when its released and more RAM a bit later.

Or you could do yourself a treat and buy both at the same time! 😀
 
Eraserhead said:
i think you're misunderstanding, I'm saying that as OS X's version increases it uses more RAM but acts more responsive given that you have enough RAM. And it will be better optimised for Intel in Leopard than in Tiger.

Basically my iMac G5 with 2GB will be faster with Leopard than Tiger, as will my Macbook.
Click to expand...

well, u probably have several points. first, I don't have experience to compare 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, so I can't comment on your statements of every OSX new version increase efficiency of using RAM. I will take it as you stated.😀

But let me make a guess, I agree 10.5 probably (but can't be sure) oped for intel chip more than 10.4. but I just don't think that kind of optimization can compete with the effects of 1G more RAM.
 
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