Is 256MB enough memory on the eMac?

For the stuff you mentioned, yeah 256MB is probably enough... things might slow down if you're using all of those at once though...

... but the more the merrier. More RAM will mean better performance of course, especially with many applications open simultaneously.

[EDIT] I was off by a few orders of magnitude... sorry

 

Duff-Man says...for what you are doing, the 256mb will run "okay" but if you have that little bit extra to grab an extra 512mb dimm (from a 3rd party, not apple's price) then you should do it....or save up and buy a bit later when you have the money....oh yeah!

 

Duff-Man is absolutely right. Your machine will run just "ok". If you want to have solid performance get the 1 stick of 256 thats included with the machine and then later on when you get the cash go to www.crucial.com and buy a stick of 256 or even 512. A stick of 512 goes for about $120 i believe. 256 is about $60. So it's well worth it to buy there instead of spending rediculous amounts of money on ram from apple.

 

Okay. Extra ram is nice. and every one on these boards say that you should buy crucial. I am going to go againts the grain. If you have a micro-center nearby, head there. They have simple-tech ram. Simple-tech is the same memory that apple uses for there "Apple memory", but at micro-center its way cheaper. I just pick up a stick of 512MB SO-DIMM 2100 for an ibook for $110. And if you go there you might get some that was returned (don't worry micro-center tests all returns, i feel better buying their returned stuff b/c it gets a good test before going back on the self) and its like $20 cheaper.

one more thing. if you still don't feel good with the simple-tech. you can get apple ram at micro-center for 1/2 the price apple gets(or some where around there)

 

i've got that setup right now (except the 1.0 and the radeon 7500). 256 will get you by just fine (while doing all of that), but more is deff. better - there are times you can feel you're running low on ram. generally, no. so if you don't have the cash, don't do it. but if you have the cash, you'll be happier.

and if you start using fast user switching, and you have people in your household *cough* *wife* *cough* who continually stay logged in, that extra ram will help out quite a bit, as each open user will be taking up some of that ram.

oh, and if you plan on diddling in garage band, its nice. w/the 256, it just barely gets by...

matt

 

you can't have too much RAM in OS X, even on basic tasks. The OS itself just loves RAM so much...

I wouldn't go with 256, unless you really can't afford more. People spend hundreds or thousands to get a new computer, but then balk at $100 more for RAM. That small investment will increase the performance of your computer so much more per-dollar than buying a faster CPU.

I think Apple really does people a disservice by shipping new units with only 256 RAM. New macs on panther are operable with 256, but they don't run like they should. It's pretty ugly. By selling base models with 256, Apple sends the message that 256 is an "OK" amount for average users, and I don't really think that's the case.

 

I couldn't agree more... I wish ALL of the machines would come with at least 512... 256 just isn't enough with OSX, imho...