More ram, Larger Hard drive or a wireless router

More ram, Larger Hard drive or a wireless router-These Are my options.

I'm about to purchase a 12 inch ibook and reading some of the threads of here has convinced me to customise my ibook. I'm only allowed to have one extra thing and i've narrowed it down to three things-More Ram, Larger Hard drive or a wireless Router for the wireless card? Which one would be better and what benefits does each have? I'm allowed to purchase something else later in the year that I could add to my ibook but which one should I purchase about at this present time-More ram, Larger HD or Wireless Router. Cheers.

Satelliteguy

well, depending on the sort of work you intend to do on your ibook, I'd suggest more ram, unless you'll be using it just for browsing, email, simple things like that, more ram would still help when many apps are open at once, but is not a must. again, depending on what you'll use it for, you may not create very many large files, so a large hard drive won't be necessary at the start, unless you plan on video editing or something similar.
if portability is an important feature for you, then a wireless router is the way to go.
if I had to pick one now, I would definitely go with more ram, but only if you can go ahead and max it out, or close to it, because the built in 256 can't be removed, and there's only one more slot. if you plan on buying ram, and want the most out of your money, don't get the extra ram added by apple, they charge way too much, buy it from owc or newegg.com or crucial, you'll get a lot more for your money, and its really easy to install ram yourself.

Yea, RAM would be important if you only had 256MB. If you would like to use your iBook anywhere around the house, like in bed or something, then a wireless router is a must! I so love mine. I spend most of the time on my iBook in bed because I'm quite lazy!

Me too! I cant wait till I have Airport express so I can use it wirelessly and make the most of Airtunes. RAM is the most important though, I opted to get 768MB for my iBook instead of Airport Express, but I'll be getting that sometime soon anyway!

Tel said:

Me too! I cant wait till I have Airport express so I can use it wirelessly and make the most of Airtunes. RAM is the most important though, I opted to get 768MB for my iBook instead of Airport Express, but I'll be getting that sometime soon anyway!

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I'd go for the larger h/d, personally. The router and ram are relatively inexpensive. 256 mb of SODIMM is about $25 at Newegg and a wireless router is about the same. If you were to replace the hard drive it would cost more than $25, however. Just my $.02

I didn't think the default hd now would mean replacing it at a later date, I figure the ideal thing there would be to get the original hd, then buy an external, or if you really need it, replace the internal. but it is really easy to buy the router or ram later and get a bigger hd now.

just a reminder they the ibook doesnt come with airport extreme so not sure if you added that in on your cost or not

Macman said:

I figure the ideal thing there would be to get the original hd, then buy an external, or if you really need it, replace the internal.

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This is true. Also keep in mind, that if you do decide to upgrade the internal HD, you thereby void any warranty you have with Apple. So if you should need any other sort of maintenace or repair from Apple, you are screwed and will have to pay for it out of your own pocket. Not to mention that unless you are rather dexterous, it can be a daunting task upgrading the HD in an iBook...it is definitely not a move to make for someone unfamiliar with laptop repair.
The RAM you can install in a snap, without a problem or voiding your warranty. I would go for the RAM and maybe the router later this year if you can.
Save the internal HD for when your warranty or AppleCare runs out. If you absolutely need the storage space before then, get an external HD. :black:

jsb515 said:

just a reminder they the ibook doesnt come with airport extreme so not sure if you added that in on your cost or not

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Actually all of the Apple laptops come with AirPort Extreme cards intsalled now. There is no reason to buy one seperately now.

I would get the bigger hard drive first, its about the only thing you can't add later with ease. You can upgrade your RAM down the road and you will want to use aftermarket RAM anyway. You can order a wireless router anytime. I know you can change the harddrive yourself, but its not something that the average user wants to mess with, and it voids the warrenty. Before your year is out buy the applecare plan.

Rob