Recommended Ram

[IGotBush]

To the point I want to purchase a 15" macbook pro...I know a good amount about computer hardware (enough that I've made my own very good rig),but macs were never my thing. Honestly though no one can come close to them when it comes to laptops (at least from what I've seen with my family members)why I'm buying one.

I'm aiming for the standard 15" macbook pro quad core 2.0 ghz,4gigs of ram,500gb 5400rpm,64xx videocard. I'm not going for the $2199 b/c .2ghz is not noticeable,extra 250gigs is useless (I store all videos and music on my home made rig..if anything I only store my music on it [working its way up to 150gigs total ] and school work), I cannot for the life of me see the need for the better videocard not when I'm ever going to be gaming on it,but I also do not want to bottleneck it.

In all honestly this laptop will be for school work and around the campus use (pretty much everyday ****). My question is though how does the OS run with only 4gigs of ram? I've been told by a few between safari and Lion it can suck up a lot. Would the 8gigs be a worth while upgrade or unnecessary spending?

Is the High-Res anti glare worth it?

I find it kind of laughable that they want to charge you $250 for .1ghz upgrade on the $2199,but I do like they give you the choice of 500g 7200 rpm or 750 5400 rpm.

Also $200 for 4gigs of ram is a little ridiculous but hey w/e. I'm guessing it would be cheaper to buy an extra 4gigs myself and install but would it be easier? I've read some things saying its somewhat hard to find compatible ram.

So I have two choices (assuming I go with the 8gigs of ram)

Pay $2299.43 (after taxes NJ .07) for

15", 2.0ghz quadcore,8gigs of ram,500g 5400 rpm,64xx videocard

or $2727.43 (after taxes) for
15'',2.2ghz quadcore,8gigs or ram, 500g 7200 rpm (may well get the faster HD over the space since I most likely wont need it),67xx videocard

I may just take a drive to delaware to buy it too lol to save some money


Sorry for the long thread..I always get carried away putting thought for thought into the post..If you made it through the whole thing thank you for the help!

 

[negativzero]

In short...

8 gigs is not necessary for you if you are using it only for school work, but the high-res is essential if you need to use lots of spreadsheets and documents. Aside from that, you should consider going for the 13 inch instead or the MBA. Those are far more portable and would suit your needs better.

 

[Wattser93]

Buy it with the high res, and then add 8gb of RAM on your own (not from Apple) later on.

The $200 to buy it from Apple just isn't worth it when it's only $50 to buy the RAM, and only takes 5 minutes to switch.

 

[IGotBush]

There isn't a way to see a detailed list of the hardware in macs is there?

Edit: again thanks for the replies sorry for the long post really just wanted opinions

 

[GuitarG20]

buying and installing 8 gigs of RAM yourself is much less expensive. Although, honestly, for your needs, you don't need 8 gigs. You could probably even use a 13" MBP or MBA and save some money, plus benefit from the portability.

 

[some idiot]

As others have said, if you want 8GB of RAM, buy it aftermarket for $50 and install it yourself.

You're getting the educational discount, correct?

You may also wish to buy from somewhere like Amazon to avoid sales tax.

 

[IGotBush]

ddd

 

[Young Spade]

ddd

Personally I don't think you'll need more than 4. I just upgraded to 8 because I always have a ton of background applications and programs open all of the time.

Ram is only 50 or so bucks, like everybody stated, so you should get it stock 4 and see how it is before dropping the extra cash and upgrading.

 

[aCondor]

4 GB RAM is all you need. If, in the future, you decide you do need more, you can always upgrade at a fraction of Apple's price. Apple products are already expensive, there's no need to shell out an additional $200 for 4 GB RAM.

I use a base model 2011 MBP, I am a gamer and multi-tasker and have not had any problems whatsoever. Just something to think about.

 

[saberahul]

Personally I don't think you'll need more than 4. I just upgraded to 8 because I always have a ton of background applications and programs open all of the time.

Ram is only 50 or so bucks, like everybody stated, so you should get it stock 4 and see how it is before dropping the extra cash and upgrading.

Yup - got mine off Amazon for $38 + tax... quite a deal.