[Armind]

Can anyone help me compare these two? I might consider buying one very soon. Thanks in advance!

[mrks]

MacBook Pro = bigger and better screen + better video card

[Jmac]

Also has faster processor choices available for it, more input/output connections (Firewire 800, ExpressCard 34, etc.), and more standard features (i.e. backlit keyboard)

[lilaznviper]

also a lot more money

[Armind]

How much is it to upgrade to 4GB of ram from 2GB?

[InvisibleSoul]

I believe it just uses regular DDR2 SODIMM, and you can get 2GB sticks for $24.

I don't think Macbooks can use 4GB RAM though. Could be wrong.

[!Aznboi128]

macbooks (plastic housing) can be up to 4Gb in DDR2

new macbook and macbook pro (unibody) can be up to 4GB DDR3

[hongy]

Unless you're doing something that requires the better videocard and extra ports, I think the macbook should serve you fine.

[Armind]

I think i'm gonna go for the 15" that doesn't have 4gb ram and bigger HD.. 13.3 is a bit too small for me. Gonna get that and make it 4gb of ram and i should be good :D

[lilaznviper]

the new macbooks use ddr3 so its gunna be more expensive to upgrade the ram

[Armind]

^How much we talking about? Is it easy to install myself?

[roastpuff]

^How much we talking about? Is it easy to install myself?

Check here: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=DDR3+sodimm&x=0&y=0

NCIX will have better price on their sales but today's is not up yet. Check NCIX.com at 6PM tonight.

[Armind]

There's so many brand, I don't know which one is bang for the buck.

I don't know much about Macbook Pro's, but there's only two "slots" for ram right? =S

[InvisibleSoul]

Looks like 2GB DDR3 SODIMM can be had for about $37.

http://www.directcanada.com/products/?sku=1241111036J&vpn=KVR1066D3S7/2G&manufacture=KINGSTON

Usually upgrading RAM is very easy. There is a back panel that you remove, and the modules just pop in and out to be replaced.

[iamon]

I have a white macbook C2D and bought buffalo 2X2gb sticks from ncix and installed it myself. it was pretty easy, im not sure if it's any different now because they've changed the new body style.

[skholla]

Macbook (plastic) uses DDR2, max 4GB
Macbook (aluminum) uses DDR3, max 4GB
Macbook Pro 15", uses DDR3, max 4GB
Macbook Pro 17", uses DDR3, max 8GB

If you go with the Macbook make sure you buy the Aluminum model. I have a 2 year old plastic one and the body has many hairline cracks and discoloured areas. I also have a 2 year old Macbook Pro 15" and its takes a beating, a few scratches here and there but no cracks. Also the new aluminum Macbooks offer LED backlit screens and backlit keyboards just like the Macbook Pro. The only thing you are missing is the bigger screen, more powerful videocard, firewire and express card slot (next generation of PCMCIA, aka PC card)

Here's a review of the Geforce 9400M in the aluminum Macbooks.... if that is not powerful enough for you then you will have to go with the Macbook Pro instead.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9400M-G.11949.0.html

If you plan on upgrading the RAM make sure you place a custom order from Apple.ca or the Apple store in Pacific Centre. It only costs $120 more to go from 2GB to 4GB. If you do it yourself the RAM will cost almost $200 after taxes (DDR3 is more expensive than DDR2) and in the end you will be left with 2x 1GB DIMMS laying around collecting dust.

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=36059&vpn=VSA4GSDSKIT1066&manufacture=Corsair

Keep in mind that Apple is not going to cover any troubleshooting under warranty for issues related to your 3rd party RAM. You will have to pay for their time (or any other technician's time) diagnosing any problems where the RAM is the culprit. Be safe and go the painless route, place a custom order, the shipping is free too!

My biggest advice is to make sure that you purchase AppleCare (Apple's 3 year extended warranty) for $299 on your Macbook. You have 1 year to purchase it from the date your buy your Mac. The sooner you buy it the quicker you can call in for hardware and software tech support though (yes they cover software, call in with questions on any preloaded software). I repaired laptops for many years, both Macs and PCs and they both break down. Mac OS X is great and Mac laptops offer much better/convenient/innovative/stylish features than PC laptops but in the end a laptop is a laptop and it will break one day. That day may be after 2 years of user or may be after 6 years of user, unfortunately Apple parts are really expensive (ie. $700 for a motherboard or LCD panel), buy AppleCare and be worry free.

[iamon]

WHOA i didnt realize the new macbook used ddr3 sodimm's, damn that bumps the price up considerably, i just picked up 2X1GB sticks on the weekend for my buddy's laptop and it was 30$ for the 2, it may be awhile until ddr3 hits prices that are in the ballpark of ddr2

[Armind]

I'm planning to get the unibody 15" MBP. Sweet, i'm gonna use my student discount ($100 off), so it's almost free memory upgrade hmm.. if I were to get it custom built with the upgraded memory, I would have to wait for em' to get it shipped right? Or can it be done on the spot at the Apple store?

[skholla]

I'm planning to get the unibody 15" MBP. Sweet, i'm gonna use my student discount ($100 off), so it's almost free memory upgrade hmm.. if I were to get it custom built with the upgraded memory, I would have to wait for em' to get it shipped right? Or can it be done on the spot at the Apple store?

im not sure.... give the apple store a call and see what they say.... if not they place the order online. i believe that you should get it within 10 business days. also applecare is cheap with a student discount, only about $200 instead of $299 (think of it as the same cost as replacing a failed hard drive but instead it covers the whole machine, not bad eh?).

[Armind]

Shit.. i'm not baller T_T

[skholla]

werd, i hear ya bro... but think of applecare as insurance, you pay a few hundred now and if something happens down the road then you are covered. that something could be a $100 hard drive replacement or a $700 screen or motherboard replacement. if you were buying a crappy $600 laptop then i would say dont bother but this is a little different, think about it and do what you think is best. the good thing is that you dont have to buy applecare now, you have up to one year from the original purchase date.

[!MiKrofT]

Memory upgrades are user replaceable and do not void warranty. I know because I've warrantied an older Macbook pro with my own memory installed. No problems. You should be able to tell right away if it's not compatible as the system will be unstable and random errors. I've upgraded my ram to 4GB DDR3. Got Kingston ones from NCIX. No compability probs.

[skholla]

correct a diy ram upgrade will not void your warranty.

keep in mind that the new macbooks use ddr3 and its not worth upgrading the ram yourself unless you can not afford the extra $120 when you make your purchase from apple. currently a 4gb ddr3 notebook ram kit costs $200 from ncix.

[!MiKrofT]

$39x2 from ncix. Kingston. Lifetime warranty.

[Jmac]

LOL @ Lifetime warranty on RAM. It's about as useful as a lifetime warranty on flash memory or recordable DVDs.

No one in their right mind is going to pay $20 shipping and be without it for a month when one can buy a newer, larger-capacity version for about the same as the shipping cost ...

[!MiKrofT]

doesn't cost $20. And who cares.. it just comes with lifetime warranty. The thing is it's cheap.

[skholla]

i guess you go could with 2 of these, they are on sale and are even cheaper, $33.99 each! if you dont want to pay for shipping just walk in to any ncix.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=35351&vpn=CT25664BC1067&manufacture=CRUCIAL%20TECHNOLOGY&promoid=1029

previously i was quoting the following 4gb ram kit... buying ram in matched pairs/kits does have its advantages but you probably wont notice difference except for the extra $100 missing from your wallet.

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=36059&vpn=VSA4GSDSKIT1066&manufacture=Corsair

[!MiKrofT]

Yeah I just googled and found a few forums that mentioned most users had no problems using Kingston before I bought. BTW. I totally agree with the applecare. It's great to have and you can buy it anytime before your 1 year runs out. Will probably be my next purchase as I've already got the ram and hdd upgraded.

[Armind]

Ahh ic, i'll just purchase the apple care as my 1 year expires when i go buy it or something =)

[Armind]

Would 2GB of RAM consider good enough for running adobe programs?

[roastpuff]

Would 2GB of RAM consider good enough for running adobe programs?

Should be fine as long as you're not running multiple heavy-load programs (Photoshop, Final Cut, Lightroom, After-Effects) etc at the same time. It's HDD that's probably going to slow things down because it'd be swapping files if more than 1 or 2 are running at the same time.

[Armind]

Where would you guys recommend buying a macbook from? My buddy told me to stay away from bestbuy and futureshop.. but i dont know why =S

[roastpuff]

Are you a student? Then your respective student bookstore if you happen to go to UBC or SFU... they've got the discount pre-applied.

Otherwise, go downtown to the Apple Store at Pacific Mall. If you're too lazy, try Simply Computing on West Broadway and Pine.

[Jmac]

The guys at Futureshop (less so at Best Buy) will harass the crap out of you to buy extra accessories and services.

Prices, products, and warranties are the same no matter what Apple reseller you get it from, but the service and return policies may vary.

[Armind]

There's no where else that I could get the $100 off for students? Just the Apple Store and online right? T_T

[!MiKrofT]

What's wrong with getting it from the Apple store?

[Armind]

Too far.. for me.

[skyxx]

Order online....Simple as that.

[nns]

How easy is it to swap in a new harddrive into the new Macbooks?

[lilaznviper]

really easy to do

[Armind]

So hmm.. do you guys think it's worth upgrading the ram from 2gb to 4gb? The loading time difference is only 18 secs with Photoshop CS3

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/Macbook_Pro_15_Memory_Benchmarks

[roastpuff]

So hmm.. do you guys think it's worth upgrading the ram from 2gb to 4gb? The loading time difference is only 18 secs with Photoshop CS3

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/Macbook_Pro_15_Memory_Benchmarks
Load time is not the issue - performance during usage of application is. More RAM, smoother the app is.

[Armind]

I totally forgot about that -_-"

So where may I find the performance etc based on this?

[Armind]

So I called the Apple Store in downtown. They do the ram upgrade on the spot too, but it might take from 30 mins to 1 hour. T_T

[!MiKrofT]

Yeah that's reasonable. Because you have to take the entire baseplate off before you can get at the RAM

[Armind]

Oh well, hopefully I feel better tomorrow. I'm so sick right now, GG.

[!SG]

they can, you just buy 2x2G, and u can swap a 500G hdd in a macbook.

I believe it just uses regular DDR2 SODIMM, and you can get 2GB sticks for $24.

I don't think Macbooks can use 4GB RAM though. Could be wrong.

[Armind]

Okay, I got my very first mac today :D

[iamon]

Okay, I got my very first mac today :D

congrats

[Armind]

Still trying to figure out which torrent program is best for torrents. Gotta get my hands on adobe cs4 and install it =\

Vuze vs Transmission vs uTorrent?

If anyone have done this before, PM me :)

[iamon]

last time i looked utorrent didnt exist on osx but maybe im wrong, i used transmission, very easy to use

[Armind]

Oh hmm.. the beta for uTorrent is out so yeah =P

[iamon]

nice thanks for the headsup

[skholla]

Transmission kicks ass, the web interface is really handy for checking, stopping or adding torrents from almost anywhere (from a diff computer, on your phone, at work, etc). uTorrent for Mac is good too, Azureus/Vuze sucks balls!

Check my posts in this thread for a list of essential Mac apps... http://www.revscene.net/forums/new-mac-user-t564000.html

[Armind]

Thanks!

[skyxx]

http://www.ifixit.com/

Great site for tutorials of how to install ram, HDD, etc etc
Also great for aisassembling and reassembling your Apple products.
:D