Old ibook runs slowly -- worth adding RAM to help it out?

Hi all -- forum noob seeking advice. We have an old ibook -- 1.0ghz power PC ibook. Yep, that one.

It probably won't come as a great surprise that it's running a bit slowly, but our needs for it are pretty modest (internet and word processing, not much else). The hard-drive is relatively new, since the old one died with only a few months left on the APP; unfortunately, they replaced it only with the same 1.0ghz ppc drive instead of a free upgrade

Is it worthwhile to get extra RAM added to it to help speed it up a bit? Unfortunately, not in $ shape to buy new right now.

Thoughts appreciated, and thanks.

Adding RAM won't make a computer faster, but it will make it run more efficiently.
You can add up to a 1 GB stick in that model, giving you a total of 1.25 GB.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the difference between faster and more efficient?

I experience the greatest lags with booting up and opening programs; the actual operations within those programs are less frustrating.

Would additional RAM shorten the lag time with these functions? -- sorry I wasn't more explicit with my first question. And thanks.

What DB means is RAM will not make the processing power any faster. That is the CPU. How much RAM does your iBook currently have? If 512 or less than you do need more RAM especially if you are running Tiger 10.4.

What version of OSX is installed on the iBook? Too little RAM will cause it to bog down for sure. Also you might run ONYX and have it optimize the OS by running all the scripts. That might help a bit also.

It is running Tiger. and I believe that it only has the 256MB of RAM that was standard at the time. So I guess adding a 1gb stick of RAM might be worth the investment?

I've never heard of OnyX, but it looks like it certainly couldn't hurt performance -- thanks for the tip!

Other thoughts?...

Oh my! 256 Megs RAM with Tiger! No wonder it's slow. For sure upgrade!!

If it's DDR2700 or 3200 ram then fyi Staples are selling 1gb sticks on special for $50 this week. Crucial sells at $72

I don't think he needs a technical explanation about efficiency haha, but yes, the ibook will greatly benefit from some more ram, and yes, it will be "faster" and more "efficient". 256 is nothing these days.

I am facing the same problem as mentioned by the original poster, except i'm on a 600mhz 128mb ibook. I previously read that i can only ad 512 more mb or ram, and that it is a pc ddr2700 chip. Am i correct? Any tips or suggestions would be appriciated.