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Add RAM using ExpressCard/34?

O

oacory

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 11, 2008
126
0
New Jersey
I am sorry if this is a repost because I did a quick search and I found no questions pertaining to it which makes me think this is totally not possible but...

I have a Aluminum MBP (Early 2008) with the ExpressCard/34 slot. I have never used this slot and I was wondering if it is possible to put something in their and boost up the RAM. I am only running 2GB at the moment and I definitely should get more since I video edit. The laptop is under warranty for another 2 years so I don't really want to void the warranty by adding more RAM if it is avoidable.

I know that in windows vista (and presumable in Windows 7) you can add a memory card and you can supposedly set it up so you can use that memory card as RAM for the computer. Is anything like that feasible for my MBP. I am running 10.6.1 but I am not worrying about compatibility issues right now because if it is possible, I would assuming the hardware/software will catch up. This is not something I NEED right now but something I am looking into doing.
 
oacory said:
I am sorry if this is a repost because I did a quick search and I found no questions pertaining to it which makes me think this is totally not possible but...

I have a Aluminum MBP (Early 2008) with the ExpressCard/34 slot. I have never used this slot and I was wondering if it is possible to put something in their and boost up the RAM. I am only running 2GB at the moment and I definitely should get more since I video edit. The laptop is under warranty for another 2 years so I don't really want to void the warranty by adding more RAM if it is avoidable.

I know that in windows vista (and presumable in Windows 7) you can add a memory card and you can supposedly set it up so you can use that memory card as RAM for the computer. Is anything like that feasible for my MBP. I am running 10.6.1 but I am not worrying about compatibility issues right now because if it is possible, I would assuming the hardware/software will catch up. This is not something I NEED right now but something I am looking into doing.
Click to expand...

You will not void your warranty by adding more RAM.
 
Has anyone heard of any credible rumors that they are adding this feature in the future? They have added SD card slots...
 
oacory said:
Has anyone heard of any credible rumors that they are adding this feature in the future? They have added SD card slots...
Click to expand...

there is absolutely no indicator that this will happen. apple does not implement a feature just because microsoft does. :rolleyes:

OSX's RAM management is really good anyway, so i wouldnt worry too much.
 
oacory said:
Has anyone heard of any credible rumors that they are adding this feature in the future? They have added SD card slots...
Click to expand...

Also... Most of the MBP with the built in SD slot has the ability to support 4GB (13 & 15") and 8Gb (17") of RAM. What on earth are you gonna do with that much RAM in a natebook? :rolleyes: The MacOSX utilized memory so efferently, forexample, you can pretty much run FinalCutPro's Motion on the bare minimum and it'll still chuckle along, happily. Adding more RAM will only make such applications run more smoothly.

The implementation of the ExpressCard34 allowed certain users whom want to access RAID arrays directly, expand various ports, use various card readers and more recently allow SSD's to be inserted. MBP with SC slots are slightly more limited... You can only insert SD cards in them but can't be used to 'boost' the OS.
 
NEO apparently the unibody 13s & 15s support 8GB (unofficial). so there is really no need to even worry about that wierd M$ RAM thingo.. flash drives/SD cards are SOO much slower then RAM its not even funny.
 
wtf?
whats the difference between virtual flashdrive/sddrive ram or dedicated Virtual Memory scratch space?
 
UltraNEO* said:
Also... Most of the MBP with the built in SD slot has the ability to support 4GB (13 & 15") and 8Gb (17") of RAM. What on earth are you gonna do with that much RAM in a natebook? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

EDIT: DoFoT9 beat me to it.
Not to be a jerk, but all the newest MBP's with the SD card slot can support up to 8GB of RAM. Even the low end 13' MBP.

To the OP, it's really easy to add RAM and like others said, it doesn't void your warranty. It's also relatively cheap to double your RAM. I'm not sure if your computer came with 2 x 1GB sticks, or 1 x 2GB stick. It's even cheaper if you just need 1 more 2GB stick.
 
oacory said:
Thanks guys, I will probably look into adding more RAM myself then:)
Click to expand...

Yes.

Everything that has been said has value, but they don't address your core problem. You only have 2GB of RAM, you need more and you were somehow under the impression that adding more RAM somehow voided your warranty. It does not. Nothing could be farther from the truth. RAM has always been user upgradeable and is the simplest and easiest thing to do.

Should be around $60 on newegg.com, 5 minutes of work.

Forget this ExpressCard stuff.
 
UltraNEO* said:
Also... Most of the MBP with the built in SD slot has the ability to support 4GB (13 & 15") and 8Gb (17") of RAM. What on earth are you gonna do with that much RAM in a natebook?
Click to expand...

I thought all '09 MBPs can handle 8GB?

To the op: the RAM will be so slow if you did it anyway...
 
cawesjmu said:
EDIT: DoFoT9 beat me to it.
Not to be a jerk, but all the newest MBP's with the SD card slot can support up to 8GB of RAM. Even the low end 13' MBP.
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm human... I make errors, occasionally.

DoFoT9 said:
NEO apparently the unibody 13s & 15s support 8GB (unofficial). so there is really no need to even worry about that wierd M$ RAM thingo.. flash drives/SD cards are SOO much slower then RAM its not even funny.
Click to expand...

Okay.. i made a mistake.
But still, what in god's name would you do with 8Gb if ram in a notebook?
 
UltraNEO* said:
Okay.. i made a mistake.
But still, what in god's name would you do with 8Gb if ram in a notebook?
Click to expand...

I know you're younger and you haven't been there yet but there will come some time in the future when you look upon this statement you made in the here and now and you will find it absolutely preposterous.

As a guy who was trying to eke out 4 more KB of RAM by screwing around himem in config.sys and autoexec.bat so he could run F-19 Stealth Fighter when he was a kid, the very concept of finding 4GB of RAM on a portable computer would have blown my mind. Yet, I bang my head against it every day.

There will come a day when you'll find 4 petabytes of RAM (or whatever the equivalent will be when that day comes) to be not nearly enough.

This is not a dig against you or youth. Rather, you'll think about this statement and chuckle about how primitive things were back in the day (today, 16 SEP 2009).
 
But still, what in god's name would you do with 8Gb if ram in a notebook?[/QUOTE]

Run a VM and still do other stuff.
 
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