Macbook Pro

[juiced 0]

I've been looking at laptops for the past month and i am really wanting the macbook pro. it seems pretty expensive for the specs you get, compared to some other brands. for example it comes with 2g of ram as opposed to say 3g. My buddy told me that vista eats up almost an entire gig of ram to run. i was wondering if this was the reason that laptops with vista on them come with more ram. does the mac operating system not require as much ram to run? is 2gigs enough? i'm not really that computer savvy but i like to get my money's worth..

[Rustpot 1]

Vista is a memory hog. I'm running a Vista laptop with 2gb and it's very similar to my desktop running XP with 1gb. I don't use the laptop for much of anything though, and would bump it up if I did.

2gig should be fine. Talk to someone and make sure it's upgradeable and just pop open the cover and stick in another gig on the cheap if you can. Memory prices have gone way down lately. You can easily add 1-2gig yourself (if apples let you, idk how they're setup) for $100, give or take.

[mack 44]

This late in the game you may as well wait for the new MBPs.

[crazy-luke-finch 0]

my macbook has 1gb of RAM and is VERY fast.

boot time - 24 secs

shut down time - 3 secs

and to launch photoshop CS3 - 2.5 secs

Way faster than a PC with a better, more stable and safe OS.

[Trooper 8]

I'm running a PowerMac G5 with 512 MB of RAM. I will add more only because I've been doing a lot of video editing and it limits the amount I can render at one time. Other than that, my system resources are never taxed. It depends on what you are going to use it for. Surfing the net and using Office don't put much of a demand on a system.

[budro727 0]

This late in the game you may as well wait for the new MBPs.

This Tuesday correct?

[D3nZ 0]

I personally have 2GB and I'm running fine, I might update my RAM and my Hard Drive as soon as I get the $$. But yeah, you should wait for tuesday there will be a whole lot of updates for the notebooks. Good new for me is that I want a new mac desktop and that should be next up for an upgrade.

[juiced 0]

This late in the game you may as well wait for the new MBPs.

This Tuesday correct?

will the new ones be more expensive too though?

i will be using the laptop as my desktop replacement, so i don't have to deal with my family's slow computers anymore. i also will take it to uni most days. i don't do any video editing but who knows, i might get into it.

[Fletch 219]

They should be pretty comparable, but as others have said there is no reason in shopping right now if the newer models will be available on Tuesday-Wednesday (after the press conference).

As for memory - don't even think about ordering extra memory from Apple. For whatever reason, they are stuck in the mid-90's memory price range and still charge an arm and a leg for it. Go with OWC - much cheaper, and its great memory with a lifetime memory. My iMac came with 1 gig of RAM and I bought 4 gigs of OWC RAM for $100 and haven't looked back.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/

[budro727 0]

I just talked to someone at Best Buy and they said they will have them in stock on Tuesday. Isn't the conference on Tuesday though?

[juiced 0]

now you guys have gotten me excited. i've been trying to look around on the internet for new specs and info on the new ones but am so far unsuccesful. does anyone know anything?

[budro727 0]

The guy at Best Buy said that Apple is being really hush hush about the specs as they want them to be known on the day of the conference.

[juiced 0]

The guy at Best Buy said that Apple is being really hush hush about the specs as they want them to be known on the day of the conference.

oh yeah that makes sense. if the new ones come out and they are way more expensive, am i going to still be able to buy the old one?

[AnthonyJTa 0]

There's grumblings about an $800 Macbook on the horizon (Obviously not as spec'd out at the MBP).... I guess we'll know on Tuesday.

I have a G4 Powerbook (pre-Macbook Pro) that I spec'd out with 1gb of ram (an upgrade at the time), and at about 3+ years old, it still screams. Easily out performs any Vista machine I've encountered so far. I've been thinking of upping to 2gb of ram, or just saving my pennies for a new Macbook once my wedding is out the way.

I just talked to someone at Best Buy and they said they will have them in stock on Tuesday. Isn't the conference on Tuesday though?

From what I gathered from a friend, select Apple stores already have them in stock.... "do not open until"

[juiced 0]

There's grumblings about an $800 Macbook on the horizon (Obviously not as spec'd out at the MBP).... I guess we'll know on Tuesday.

I have a G4 Powerbook (pre-Macbook Pro) that I spec'd out with 1gb of ram (an upgrade at the time), and at about 3+ years old, it still screams. Easily out performs any Vista machine I've encountered so far. I've been thinking of upping to 2gb of ram, or just saving my pennies for a new Macbook once my wedding is out the way.

I just talked to someone at Best Buy and they said they will have them in stock on Tuesday. Isn't the conference on Tuesday though?

From what I gathered from a friend, select Apple stores already have them in stock.... "do not open until"

i get a student discount if i buy it at the uni bookstore so i'm hoping they have them there already in stock but behind the counter kind of thing.

[mack 44]

If not, you get a discount from their online store as well.

[JR Boucicaut 3802]

Only thing that scares me about them is how much it costs to repair. My sister owns her own graphic design house and about a month ago her MBP went poof. Unrepairable so the next day had to walk into the store and plunk down $2200 for another one. When she wanted her HD recovered they quoted her $1300. Ouch.

Not only that, she does say that the MBP seems to be buggier than previous Macs. She does run a lot of intense programs on it though so it may vary in your case.

[hockeysc23 0]

Only thing that scares me about them is how much it costs to repair. My sister owns her own graphic design house and about a month ago her MBP went poof. Unrepairable so the next day had to walk into the store and plunk down $2200 for another one. When she wanted her HD recovered they quoted her $1300. Ouch.

Not only that, she does say that the MBP seems to be buggier than previous Macs. She does run a lot of intense programs on it though so it may vary in your case.

Applecare for Apple laptops is a great investment. I never get them for my desktops but it seems with laptops any problem is an expensive problem.

[AnthonyJTa 0]

Not only that, she does say that the MBP seems to be buggier than previous Macs. She does run a lot of intense programs on it though so it may vary in your case.

Another rumor that has kept me away from an Intel-Mac... I'm still having decent results with my G4 (Aperture, Garageband, etc) so hopefully I get another year out of it.

[JR Boucicaut 3802]

Yeah, she kept on getting crashed on a week-old machine. Strange when compared to old Macs.

[AnthonyJTa 0]

Applecare for Apple laptops is a great investment. I never get them for my desktops but it seems with laptops any problem is an expensive problem.

That may be the case again, with the newer Macs... I spent the $350 for the G4. Never needed it once. So I unloaded just about $3K on the computer + upgrades from Apple, and Applecare.......2 weeks after I got it shipped to me, the launched the Macbook Pro, with basically the same specs I got my G4 upgraded to, for $2300

[wildebeest 0]

To answer the original question(s):

Yes, OS X uses less RAM than Vista, it also pages in/out more efficiently. There are 2 SO-DIMM slots in the MBP, and the sticks have to be installed in matched pairs for the best performance. Any PC5300 DDR2 SO-DIMMS will work, so shop around for the best prices.

Any Apple Store or certified reseller will give you your student discount provided you have a student ID. Any old stock still around after the rev will be marked down, which may give you an even better deal than your student discount.

[acollette49 0]

i got a mbp about 3 weeks ago...with cs3.

cs4 just came out and now the new mbps...damn it!

i did get serious student discounts..so i guess i shouldnt complain too much.

i will say this...my mac crushes my pc, with similar specs, performance wise.

[juiced 0]

There are 2 SO-DIMM slots in the MBP, and the sticks have to be installed in matched pairs for the best performance. Any PC5300 DDR2 SO-DIMMS will work, so shop around for the best prices.

sorry, i'm dumb. i have no idea what you mean. :(

[wildebeest 0]

There are 2 SO-DIMM slots in the MBP, and the sticks have to be installed in matched pairs for the best performance. Any PC5300 DDR2 SO-DIMMS will work, so shop around for the best prices.

sorry, i'm dumb. i have no idea what you mean. :(

A SO-DIMM (Small outline dual inline memory module, specific to laptops and machines with small logic boards) is what some people call "RAM sticks" or "memory cards" or something to that effect. They're the smaller version of a DIMM (for your desktop at home). The specific type of SO-DIMM that the MBP uses (as of right this minute, no idea about what lies in the future) is a PC5300 DDR2. PC5300 denotes the bandwidth of the RAM bus and the DDR2 is what describes the data rate of the particular SO-DIMM.

The fact that they have to be matched pairs, means that since there are 2 slots on the logic board, the firmware needs to see 2 identical sticks, one in each slot.

Basically, when you're looking on tigerdirect or crucial, make sure you're getting 2 of the same stick (if you want 4GB total, you need 2 2GB SO-DIMMs). Since nobody really makes 1.5GB SO-DIMMS (or at least I haven't seen any), you can pretty much only upgrade to 4GB total.

Basically, look for a 2GB PC5300 SO-DIMM and buy 2 of them. Installation is super easy (less than 5 minutes, and if you have a small phillips head screwdriver, you can do it yourself) and you can sell your old ones on ebay or craigslist and make some of that money back.