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Which one would you choose for MBP?
- Thread starter jneckert
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Assuming 
pre-orders ram in bulk at significant discounts how much is Apple making for example, on an upgrade from 1GB to 2GB. While you guys on the forums may know to buy and upgrade yourselves most customers walking in to Apple retail from the mall will not know any better or want to be bothered with doing it themselves.
Many criticize the music labels for selling $15 CD's when the production costs are so low. I love products and concede that a certain price is to be expected with the design and build quality that you get with machines. However, this is a bit much.
My .02...
Even if money were no issue $500/2GB stick is a lot.
pre-orders ram in bulk at significant discounts how much is Apple making for example, on an upgrade from 1GB to 2GB. While you guys on the forums may know to buy and upgrade yourselves most customers walking in to Apple retail from the mall will not know any better or want to be bothered with doing it themselves.Many criticize the music labels for selling $15 CD's when the production costs are so low. I love
products and concede that a certain price is to be expected with the design and build quality that you get with machines. However, this is a bit much.My .02...
Even if money were no issue $500/2GB stick is a lot.
I totally agree with you...
I just tried to find a reason why someone would buy RAMs from apple directly and that was the only one I could come up with.
RAMs are ridiculously overpriced on the apple site.
I know OWC is a reputable seller but is the OWC brand memory a good value?
Thanks everyone.
Apple install your RAM beforehand so I suppose there is some "service charge" incorporated into that inflated price. Plus third party RAM won't be covered by your Applecare, so you have that reassurance.
Still expensive as ass though. I'd never buy more than the stock config of RAM through Apple.
Still expensive as ass though. I'd never buy more than the stock config of RAM through Apple.
The price listed in the first post is for post-purchase RAM. In other words the RAM is shipped by Apple for you to install yourself so there is no "service charge" involved. It's actually cheaper to have Apple install the RAM when you first buy it. And cheapest to order it 3rd party and DIY.
Still, I know this is a Mac website but it seems a bit close to price gouging for those w/o knowledge of how to do self-upgrades. I also wonder if this reinforces the myth that Apple is more expensive than PC's. I do have a Macbook after years in the PC trenches and I feel like computers are fun again which I appreciate Apple for. As more people switch though they're going to question these prices.
bad ram can cause freezes and crashes. Bad ram can be replaced under warranty. There is effectively no difference between buying nice crucial ram for $100 and generic ram for $50 for a laptop unless you are overclocking. For desktops, there is something called timings which denote speed. Laptops ram timings are all about the same.
You can get a dell with similar internal specs to a MBP for cheaper. Everyone agrees on that. But, you cannot get all the extra stuff that isn't related to internal components and benchmarks. MBP has generally longer battery life, LED screen, backlit keyboard, and lighter than any 15" or 17" dell available. Also, no OSX..if that matters to you. All that stuff is definitely important for a laptop. Desktops though..apple's value pound for pound tends to drop off significantly.
I think the most telling comparison is to the actual Apple RAM, which is also sold at OWC. It is the Samsung brand, which means $1000 vs $175 for 4GB for the EXACT SAME THING.
I just bought a 1GB stick of OWC brand for a MB. Seems to be perfect.
I just bought a 1GB stick of OWC brand for a MB. Seems to be perfect.
I really hope nobody has bought that ram from apple, because that is probably one of the worst rip-offs that I have ever seen
I agree that Apple's design and internal builds are some of the best in the business. I'm only talking about the price of RAM in a BTO model or buying it from Apple directly (see the first post comparisons).
@JAT: That's what I'm talking about. The OWC ram prices at $109 for a 4GB kit. From Apple it's $1000. Am I missing something?
The point of my post, unfortunately is that MAC newcomers/switchers will most likely be the ones to defer to Apple for RAM upgrades. I really appreciate these forums to get the inside scoops. Searching the threads has helped me to dig into all that the Macs have to offer. I don't want people to be scared away by the ridiculous ram prices. I want others to enjoy computers as much as I have with Apple. I'm not arguing the MB/MBP overall prices which I think are fairly reasonable for what they deliver, quality costs. Please,
consider your customers who can't afford the current ram prices.