Advice on RAM and CPU Speed on 13" MBP

[FaScO]

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[tempusfugit]

The ram will make more of a difference than the cpu difference, but thats not to say that extra CPU doesn't do anything...


You can upgrade the ram on your own for cheaper than apple charges, but you can never upgrade the processor so I would take both those things into account.

I don't regret getting the 2.53 at all. 2.26 with 4 GB ram would be more than fine too, but I have what I have.

Good luck, I know its a tough decision.

BTW its $100 off for the 2.53 instead of $50 off for the 2.26. Doesn't close the gap that significantly but an extra $50 off is always nice

 

[qacjared]

Hello,

I have been waiting for Apple to release a Macbook like the 13" MBP for over a year now so I can finally get a chance to switch over to OSX. I will be using the Back To School promo.

I would like to know if I need 4GB of RAM and if I need the 2.53GHz processor? I will mainly be using this Macbook for the following things:

• Word, Excel, Powerpoint or Apple equivalents(will try them)
• Very light photo editing, for mainly contrast, brightness, sharpness, etc, so mainly photo enhancements of personally taken photos. I will be trying out iPhoto and Aperture.
• Plenty of browsing, iTunes, movies, mail, tons of widgets

Most on the list will be done simultaneously. Since I never had a Mac, and do not know how OSX behaves with power users, I am wondering if I need to spend extra cash on the RAM and CPU? Is it a good idea to get the extra RAM and not the faster CPU? Things are different on the PC side...
Upgrading it myself is out of the question since it will be the same price because I live in Canada and prices and shipping aren't always a deal.

Thank you in advance.

My 2 and half year old broken white MacBook that only has a 1.83 GHz processor, 2gb of slower ram, and a crappy Intel GMA can do all of that very well even 2 and half years later after I got it, dropped it, and took the whole display assembly off.
Any Mac you buy will work great for what you want to do and yes Ram is by far the most important. I have 3 Macs, 1 with 1 gb of Ram, that MacBook with 2gb, and my newer MacBook with 4gb. I can deff notice a difference, even if I never have used all of my 4 gigs on the 4gb machine.

 

[mac4matt]

BTW its $100 off for the 2.53 instead of $50 off for the 2.26. Doesn't close the gap that significantly but an extra $50 off is always nice [/QUOTE]

It's actually $100 for both. I just bought the 2.26 from Best Buy today. They gave me $100 to match Apple plus $100 an accessory (I bought Office for Mac) to "match" Apple's iPod deal.

 

[Hellhammer]

Get the base MBP and upgrade RAM yourself. You won't notice the tiny, 270MHz difference. Buy RAM Crucial, it's just $60

 

[FaScO]

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[Hellhammer]

I cannot find RAM anywhere that will end up being cheaper than getting it from Apple. The reason being is that I live in Canada and shipping from the States is expensive and Canadian stores have much higher prices. So in the end, it will be the same as buying from Apple. Plus, I wouldn't have a set of RAM just lying around. Thank you for all the advice. If anyone has anything else to add, please do.

2 x 2GB DDR3 kit from Crucial costs 63.99USD (~74CAD) and shipping is free or 15USD (I'm not sure). That's about 90CAD which is 30CAD cheaper than from Apple. Buying RAM from Apple is always more expensive

 

[FaScO]

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[Shu15]

I am also thinking over upgrading my ram in my new macbook pro (refurb late 2008). Should I buy from crucial or owc? And what kind do you think would be best? I have 2gb in it now and I'm gonna buy 2x2gb. Any suggestions for installing and such?

 

[Hellhammer]

I am also thinking over upgrading my ram in my new macbook pro (refurb late 2008). Should I buy from crucial or owc? And what kind do you think would be best? I have 2gb in it now and I'm gonna buy 2x2gb. Any suggestions for installing and such?

I've always liked Crucial more. Fast shipping times and you can't buy wrong RAM.

 

[heesey1010]

I'm kind of in the same situation and I do the following when I'm at an Apple store (if there's one near you, try doing this too). I've done this with Mac Minis, Macbook Pros and iMacs (call me insane, I know, I just can't decide what will be my next Mac!)

Open up a bunch of random things like Safari, iPhoto, Word (or Pages), Excel (or Numbers). Just simulate a random, typical day that you might face when using your computer. For good measure, open up iMovie to simulate a memory hog of sorts. Go to sites like ESPN.com or Facebook which have a tendency to use up memory over time, type some stuff on Word, etc.

Then open up Activity Monitor and click the "System Memory" tab on the bottom and see how much free RAM is available; don't worry so much about Active/Inactive. If you find that, after all that, you still have about 200+MB RAM free left, I'd say 2GB is good to go. Otherwise, you can always go for the 4GB.

If you don't have an Apple store near you, I can tell you firsthand that I've found for the most part that 2GB is fine if you keep Safari (about 3 tabs), iChat, iTunes and a Word document open constantly.

 

[FaScO]

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