MacBook Pro 1.8GHz 512MB RAM -> SLOW...

[skp574]

Just been playing with my new MB.

I was holding out for the 2GHz version, but my local Apple store had the 1.8s in stock, so couldn't resist.

Anyway, got it home, loaded up some apps and it's not as fast as I expected. It definitely needs more RAM.

Switching between apps can be very slow. Even the smallest apps such as MS Messenger. I have iChat, Mail and Safari open at the moment and Activity Monitor shows just 8MB physical RAM free(!).

I have installed MS Office, which takes a little while to open up, but once it's open it's ok. Switching to another app takes a while, with lots of beach balls. I never had this with my PB.

I have ordered 2 x 1GB sticks of RAM and gonna rip out the 512MB stick. That will give it a new lease of life.

This isn't a rant just as such, just a pointer to anyone thinking of getting the 1.8 MB and not thinking about upping the RAM... Do increase the RAM otherwise you will be disappointed.

 

[eva01]

eh you do know some of those programs run under rosetta right?

 

[skp574]

eh you do know some of those programs run under rosetta right?

err, yes!

I'm just saying that don't go for just the stock 512MB ram.

 

[Unorthodox]

Good thing Macs don't ship with 256mb RAM anymore. Sometimes Safari alone takes 256mb of RAM.
I have 1GB, still wish I had more.

 

[skp574]

Good thing Macs don't ship with 256mb RAM anymore. Sometimes Safari alone takes 256mb of RAM.
I have 1GB, still wish I had more.

Interesteing point....

Forget the money for the moment, can 2GB RAM sticks go into a MB Pro?

 

[Unorthodox]

Interesteing point....

Forget the money for the moment, can 2GB RAM sticks go into a MB Pro?

You bet. 2GB is the max. Go for it! More RAM will never hurt your computer.
You might never have to quit applications again!

 

[corywoolf]

You bet. 2GB is the max. Go for it! More RAM will never hurt your computer.
You might never have to quit applications again!

He means 2 GB sticks, which I believe are not available and would be extremely expensive. I know they are available for the PowerMacs (although expensive as heck), and would assume they will be available for the MBP at some point.

 

[GilGrissom]

How slow is it? (sorry if its an ambiguous question!...oo, big word!) but my friend has an Intel iMac 17" (1.83GHz) and obviously a lot (if not most) of the stuff he uses is through Rosetta, and to be honest the iMac doesn't even flinch, you can't tell Rosetta is there. The only times you notice it is when it cannot emulate something, like a codec, but otherwise all seems completely native in performance. It does have 1Gb RAM however, so not a direct comparision (apart from the fact one is a desktop the other a portable) but they still shouldn't be that far apart.

I'm just asking incase it is really really slow for basic stuff, makes me wonder if something dodgy is inside, a duff model perhaps, or that it is ok, but just a little slow at times and a little more RAM will do fine???...

 

[Unorthodox]

He means 2 GB sticks, which I believe are not available and would be extremely expensive. I know they are available for the PowerMacs (although expensive as heck), and would assume they will be available for the MBP at some point.

You mean he wanted to put ONE 2GB stick in there?
Why not 2 1GB sticks?
The max RAM a MBP can handle is 2GB, so putting a 2GB and a 512Mb stick in there would yield 2GBs.

 

[alexstein]

I have ordered 2 x 1GB sticks of RAM and gonna rip out the 512MB stick. That will give it a new lease of life.

To solve the mystery about the RAM on the OP's MacBook Pro.

 

[skp574]

How slow is it? (sorry if its an ambiguous question!...oo, big word!) but my friend has an Intel iMac 17" (1.83GHz) and obviously a lot (if not most) of the stuff he uses is through Rosetta, and to be honest the iMac doesn't even flinch, you can't tell Rosetta is there. The only times you notice it is when it cannot emulate something, like a codec, but otherwise all seems completely native in performance. It does have 1Gb RAM however, so not a direct comparision (apart from the fact one is a desktop the other a portable) but they still shouldn't be that far apart.

I'm just asking incase it is really really slow for basic stuff, makes me wonder if something dodgy is inside, a duff model perhaps, or that it is ok, but just a little slow at times and a little more RAM will do fine???...

Not painfully slow, but I am seeing more beach balls than I did with my PB. Admittedly, my PB has 1.5 GB RAM which does distort things. I am running the two side my side at the moment. I can't afford to switch completely over to the MB just yet because of this.

MS Excel seems a quirky with the two finger scrolling, but this has been reported elsewhere.

It's going to be a nice machine once the bugs are ironed out.

For the moment though I'm going to keep using my PB for work, as I must have access to VPC.

I'm gonna keep the MB at home in a safe havern until it's ready to go out into the wilderness!

It's still good for those late night iTMS music purchases.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

You mean he wanted to put ONE 2GB stick in there?
Why not 2 1GB sticks?
The max RAM a MBP can handle is 2GB, so putting a 2GB and a 512Mb stick in there would yield 2GBs.

Actually, Apple is famous for advertising as 'max memory' only the amount that can be put in using current technology. The chipset in the MacBook Pro has no 2 GB limit, and it could, indeed, support 2 GB modules, if they existed. (The desktop version of the chipset does support 2 GB modules just fine, and those actually exist, although they're over $2000 each right now. Not very cost effective when a 1 GB module is $100.)

But, 2 GB PC2-667 SO-DIMMs don't exist right now, so it's moot.

 

[QCassidy352]

I'm kinda surprised to be honest. My ibook (see sig) was getting repaired this past week, and I was using a 1.2 Ghz ibook with 512 RAM. I expected it to be pretty painful, but it was actually not all that different from this ibook. I could tell the difference, but I still found the 1.2 Ghz ibook to be responsive and quick, with very few beach balls all week.

Hope your new RAM solves the problem, though!

 

[bousozoku]

err, yes!

I'm just saying that don't go for just the stock 512MB ram.

They don't run all that well on PowerPC machines with 512MB of RAM.

Glad that you're fixing the situation. It should be much more enjoyable. Still, it's going to be about like the early PowerPC days still. All those 680x0 applications were a little bit slow, even using Connectix Speed Doubler.