12-18-2006, 04:23 PM

I'm thinking of getting a macbook in January after Macworld just in case there's any major updates.
However, I'm unsure of a few things about it.
Will I need 2gb of RAM for it to run smoothly or will 1gb be enough? How easy is it to add RAM to a macbook myself?
My main issue however is will it be able to handle editing with Illustrator CS3 when it comes out? I plan on doing some editing to some drawings of mine with Illustrator, however, when I asked at the shop that sells Macs they said it wouldn't run because it needs a graphics card. Is this true?

Any help is greatly appreciated,
Thanks!

12-18-2006, 08:06 PM

For your first question, my macbook has 1gb of ram, and it runs really well, and it is pretty easy to add ram to it.

Second, I don't use Illustrator, but I think that if you are only doing simple things, then it will probably be fine.

12-18-2006, 08:12 PM

This link is to another extensive thread on running CS3 on a PowerMac and it's all good news (even better if you own an intel) :

Photoshop CS3 Performance vs. CS2

12-18-2006, 11:16 PM

Originally Posted by JP13829

For your first question, my macbook has 1gb of ram, and it runs really well, and it is pretty easy to add ram to it.

Same here, but I plan on upgrading to 2GB only because I want the system to run more smoothly with Parallels running. If I'm not using Parallels, the system is more than fast enough with 1GB of RAM. I have several programs open right now (about 6 or 7) and several widgets running on Dashboard and I have yet to experience any slowdown. :black:

12-19-2006, 08:23 AM

I have 1gb, hopefully upgrade to 2gb after santa brings me some money.

I have iphoto, itunes, preview, safari, firefox, imail, xtorrent, mac msn and skype open and don't notice a slow down.

When i first got the mac, it loaded up in 15-20 seconds. Now it takes about 30-35.

I think it might be because i have twice as much on the hard drive? correct me if im wrong.

Although, it is still very nippy. Programs initially take 0-5 seconds to load (especially word / excel) and after that pop up immediately.

12-19-2006, 08:47 AM

im rockin out 1 gig of ram and do notice a small slow down but im goin to just live with it. and jonnymac. yes the fact u have more stuff on the hd means its goin to run a lil bit slower. takes a bit longer cause there are more files for the computer to go thru to get to the thing ur accessing. i will eventually move up to 2 gig on my macbook because when i run final cut its goin a lil slow. but either way its faster than anything else i got so im goin to deal till i get some cash.

12-19-2006, 12:45 PM

so it seems the macbook should be able to handle Illustrator? great!

12-19-2006, 05:06 PM

I have 1gb of ram and its super fast. Even the old iBook G4 with 256mb of ram was pretty quick.

12-19-2006, 07:21 PM

Maybe it's only my computer, but I have 1 gig of RAM and it's extremely slow and freezes a lot. And all I use my macbook for is typing school work (with Office for mac), MSN chatting and facebook/myspace, so I don't understand why it's so slow!