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How much RAM do I need in a new iBook?

Dippo

Dippo

macrumors 65816
Original poster
I am really looking at getting one of the new 12" iBooks for school.
It going to be used mainly for papers, web, music, watching movies, and some development.

Would having 1.256GB make a big difference over just 768MB of RAM?
The cost difference between the two is about $350 ($250 difference at crucial).

I would rather not spend the extra cash, but I don't want a crippled iBook either.
 
You'll be fine with 768. I've had 640 in mine for almost a year now and am plenty fine with it. Right now I'm compressing a DVD to avi, have Mail open, Quicken, Safari, iChat, MSN Messenger, and iTunes going. Yeah it's a tad slow but only because of the video compression... if it wasn't for that there wouldn't be any slow down.
 
Dippo said:
I would rather not spend the extra cash, but I don't want a crippled iBook either.
Click to expand...
Get as much as you can afford. I'll be a perfectly adequate machine with 512MB, this one certainly is. You'd only need to spend peanuts on a 3rd party 256M SODIMM.

768 would be better if you want to run Virtual PC (although that runs just fine here too). I don't really notice slowdown at all, even with a hungry old VPC running in the background.
 
I'm running one with 384MB, it and runs just fine for most tasks. Even with many applications and processes running in the background, it does everything adequately, without any noticeable slowdowns. 512 would certainly be fine, and for the purposes you described, I think that 1.2GB would be overkill.
 
installing memory in iBook

I think I'm going to purchase a new iBook. Does anyone know how easy/difficult it is to install memory? I have never installed memory before in a laptop (or a desktop for that matter).
 
I've got a PB, but the experience is relevant. I went from 512 to 768, and noticed a big difference. 768 to 1 Gig is a negligible difference in day to day useability - and was a waste of money for me. There are apps and uses that need more RAM - but you probably won't be using them on an iBook.

Installing the RAM is almost painfully easy. Instructions for doing so are included in the box, in one of the books. No sweat, just make sure you ground yourself first.
 
As far as differences in RAM amounts are concerned my resent experience is this;
I've got a cruddy PC at work with a 1.1 Ghz Anthlon MD processor. I was running 1GB of ram up untill about a month ago, but because of another job in the office that needed the ram we had to strip out the 2 X 512 sticks and replace them with 2 X 256 sticks. BIG difference I tell ya.
With a gig I was able to run Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and Dreamweaver at the same time with out a substantial amount of lag, sure there was some but it was workable.
But with 512 I can only really get away with running 2 at a time, and even then if I'm running a web browser and MSN it slows it down.
So I would definalty say don't go lower than 512.
Then again I also tend to abuse computers.
 
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