Upgrading RAM to 8GB in Macbook Pro

[coreysandler]

I have a 2009 15" 2.8 Macbook Pro with 4GB of RAM. I shoot photography for a living, mostly relying on Photoshop and Aperture for all of my work. I use my laptop alongside a PC desktop with an i7 and 8GB RAM. I am thinking of going completely mobile and am going to sell my PC desktop for $1000 so I have $1000 to spend on new stuff.

Should I sell my 15" laptop and upgrade to an 15" i7 with 4GB RAM or should I purchase an 8GB kit of RAM for my laptop right now and hold off on the i7 upgrade?

Will RAM in the 2009 macbook pro work in the new 2010 macbook pros, should I upgrade to the i7 model in the future?

 

[Vantage Point]

The speed improvements over your 2.8 C2D may not be worth the upgrade. Check out these benchmark tests for Photoshop with your current setup vs the latest models. Speed bumps are very minor and 8gb doesn't do much

http://eshop.macsales.com/Reviews/Framework.cfm?page=/Benchmarks/MacBookPro15UnibodySnowBench.html

CS5 due out the end of next month will be 64 bits for Mac and remove the current 3GB ram limit. At that time it will be worth getting more RAM, ideally at a slightly lower price. Also, the RAM for the new models is the same

 

[Nde]

I agree with the speed gain. I upgraded my MBP 2009 Model to 8GB. Speed is about the same. But one thing you will gain is be open to open more apps without hitting your HD hard. I'm networking guy, not a photoshoper. Compare with 4Gb with 8GB, I was able to open more Fusion VMs. I can open Windows XP VM and Vista VM while in 8GB MacOS with no problem. Previously, 4GB was choppy.