Imac/Macbook Upgrades

Imac/Macbook Upgrades RAM upgrades etc.

#1 Jerry_Digweed

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Posted 05 May 2009 - 08:22 PM

Hello

I'm just about to purchase an Imac and a MBP. I've been a PC user all my life and never made any upgrades to any of my machines. I've never been happy with any of my machines either though. I would like to know if it's worth getting the RAM maxed out and do you actually notice the difference when you are using your computer? Or even any other hardware upgrades that are worth considering or a must have. Keeping in mind that they will be fairly new and recent machines if not brand new 09 models.

Also, I've done a bit of shopping around, is it easiest just to buy off the net say (OWC) or is it safer to go into your local computer store where they can do everything for you, eg-installation.

Thankyou!

#2 skyhawkmatthew

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Posted 05 May 2009 - 08:36 PM

In general, the more RAM the better - I'd say 1GB at the minimum (All Macs come with at least that now, IIRC), but if you're planning on doing something like Adobe CS, Aperture, Final Cut, etc, you will probably want some more. Going from 2GB to 3GB (the most my MacBook will take) yielded some performance improvements, but in the laptop the best thing you can do to boost performance is get a 7200rpm hard drive, or even an SSD.

Upgrading the RAM in the MacBook/MacBook Pro and iMac isn't difficult at all - it's easier/safer in the non-unibody laptops (you have to take the whole underside off on the new ones - on the old ones it was under a panel near the battery on the MBP, and inside the battery compartment on the MacBook), but nothing you couldn't do yourself.

Hope this helps!

Never owned a PC...

#3 mickdevlin

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Posted 05 May 2009 - 09:52 PM

Depending upon the MBP you choose you'll get at least 2GB of RAM. The 2.66GHz model and the 17-inch model both feature 4GB.

The iMac is similar: The bottom machine has 2GB and all the others have 4GB as standard.

Mick

#4 Jerry_Digweed

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Posted 06 May 2009 - 11:08 PM

Okay, so plans are for about a 2GB ram, with around 2.66ghz and then upgrade to 4GB ram. Do I only need to buy an extra 2GB ram or should I replace the existing 2GB ram as well and buy 4GB ram all of the same product?

Any other hardware upgrades or extras worth looking into aside from ram to make the machine the ultimate computing experience without breaking the budget?? So buying your ram online and putting it in yourself is safe, would that affect warranties or anything like that?
ps. thanks