itunes import freeze + spinning beachball?

greetings all,
lurker here hoping to glean some assistance from the more knowledgeable -- i've even searched for an answer to my questions.

i got my new macbook 2.0 ghz in the mail yesterday, and was putzing around on it. two issues that i'm having:

first, when i try and import audio CDs with itunes (ANY audio CD, old, new, scratched, not scratched), it will generally import three or four songs and then freeze on the fourth or fifth. the superdrive starts making mechanical noises like it cannot read the disc, and itunes freezes. i have to reboot to remove the cd from the drive. the drive will play these CDs just fine, as well as data and dvd cds. from what i've read on the net, it could either be a software issue (although I updated both the OS and itunes) but more likely the superdrive itself being on the fritz -- i'm just posting here to avoid sending my BRAND NEW COMPUTER back. colour me not so impressed.

second, i bought 2 gigs of third-party ram from www.canada-ram.com, and installed it... About this Mac, system information, and the thorough hardware test all say it is ok and operating at 2Ghz... now, since it is a brand new machine and i haven't installed any processor-intensive programs (like photoshop or cubase) i have no real test of "wow this is faster" BUT... with 512 RAM, photobooth opened up in the blink of an eye, all ready to go.. with the 2 gigs installed, it now takes a few seconds to open the photobooth to a black screen, then the beachball spins for a few more, and then it flashes on finally... is this the RAM, or is something kiaboshed?

thanks so much for any advice you people might have, your other posts have been really really helpful when lurking.. this is sort of a last ditch effort before *sigh* shipping it back for repairs. if it is the superdrive, any chance that the mac store in TO will let me take out the RAM and HD from this box and just switch them into a working one? or are they going to make me wait for an entirely new machine?

thanks again,
devon

Sounds like bad RAM to me.

D3v1L80Y said:

Sounds like bad RAM to me.

Click to expand...

for both problems, or just the second?

yeah, i think the next step is to swap back and see if things work

devo said:

for both problems, or just the second?

yeah, i think the next step is to swap back and see if things work

Click to expand...

looks like i'm not the only one:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2703037

there are a few similar threads there, too.

but that wouldn't explain the beachball with photobooth?

thanks for the reply devilboy!

swapped the original memory back in, same problem
i guess i'll just use my windows pc desktop to import, and move them over... not exactly what i'd expect to be doing with a brand new $2000 computer, but oh well

oh, and embarassingly enough, i figured out the photobooth thing.. i'm a mac newbie, and didn't realize that the program was still RUNNING.. i thought i was closing it.. so ignore the second part..

The Ripping from the CD problem is a problem. To me it sounds like the Superdrive has problems. I would for sure call apple and have them take care of it. That is not normal at all. I rip CD's on all my macs old and new and never have a problem unless the CD itself is damaged.

EDIT, I just read that URL you provided above. I sure hope the CD Drives they are using in the MBP are not all that bad. I still say call Apple and tell them exactly what is going on. At the very end of that thread it was mentioned about a Firmware update. That just might solve it so hang in there.

yeah i think you are right. for some reason i had temporarily convinced myself that it wasn't that bad a problem (probably because i don't want to be without the machine -- i just freakin' got it! hehe). but then i asked myself why i paid $200 whatever bucks for applecare if i'm not even going to use it..