The New Macbook Lag

I recently bought the 1.83 Macbook with 512 RAM. I have been forced to close all widget programs, remove all start-up items, and remove some programs in order to get the most out of my RAM. Its like I bought a computer with a speech impairment, it stutters or skips. I will click to tell it to do something and it does nothing - not even recognize that I clicked, so I click again and it goes click happy all at once. Apple recommended to me to get more RAM. It seems to me that apple should not have these macbooks on the market if we need a RAM upgrade just to operate a few programs at the same time in OSX or to take advantage of all the extras OSX has like the widgets. They also said that non-apple programs will cause it to run slower such as firefox, limewire, and ms office. Well, that would have been useful information before I bought the macbook. Does anyone know what version of the macbook runs smoothly with no lags in operation for the operating system and programs? And does anyone know how to get or what program to run to be able to play videos in formats quicktime does not support? hmmm, I thought mac was supposed to be "specialized" for media? I could play almost all video formats in windows media player on a pc.neye:

for your video issues, try the VLC player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/). you could also try getting flip4mac which will help you with .wmv files.

IMO opinion, the biggest valid criticism of Macs is the amount of RAM you get. Apple have nearly ALWAYS shipped half as much as you have needed. Anyonre remember the paltry 64mb of RAM you got in the 1st iBook or the 128MB of RAM you got in the summer 2001 iBook with OS X 10.2?

Like it or not, you need a gig of RAM. I have a MacBook 2.0 ghz wth 1 gig of RAM and it's fine for everything I use it for, including GIMP photo editing, h.264 encoding and even using Logic. My wife has the 1.83ghz iBook and again it has a gig of RAM and there is absolutely no lag at all.

The extra $100 is a must and 1gig on a MacBook is the sweet spot (with 2 gigs costing round $300 extra).

As for WMV. My advice is don't use it. If MS don't want to support OS X, then screw them. When you get a choice of QT or WMV or Real Player and WMV, which many sites offer, use the alternative. When there is no alternative, email the webmaster and tell them. IMO, MS need to either make their codecs available to other operating systems or use standard codecs.

mansperger said:

It seems to me that apple should not have these macbooks on the market if we need a RAM upgrade just to operate a few programs at the same time in OSX or to take advantage of all the extras OSX has like the widgets. They also said that non-apple programs will cause it to run slower such as firefox, limewire, and ms office.

Click to expand...

This is simply not true.
Non-Apple applications will not cause your computer to run slower.

What will is running applications that are not Universal Binary yet, like MS Office. Applications that do not have a Universal version will run under Rosetta Emulation, which is taxing on your RAM. This is because your Mac has to emulate a PPC processor in order to run these non-Universal apps on your Intel system.
Even so, 512 MB of RAM is a good amount to have for everyday things. Nobody 'needs' a GB of RAM or more for everyday operation of their computer. I had never used more than 512 MB in a system for years before the PowerBook I have now. The only reason I have 2GB of RAM now is because I am required to use heavy-duty apps like Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects and Flash on a daily basis. I also need to run these apps simultaneously.
If it weren't for that, I would be fine with the 512 MB I had that came with the machine (which I was fine with for almost a year before I upped the RAM).

Now, your needs may require more RAM than the standard. What applications are you running on a constant basis? That would help to determine how much RAM would be more suitable for your needs.

thats what the apple lady said on the phone

D3v1L80Y said:

Non-Apple applications will not cause your computer to run slower.

Applications that do not have a Universal version will run under Rosetta Emulation, which is taxing on your RAM.

Click to expand...

So non-apple applications that do not have a Universal version run slow, geez thats a squeaky technicality.

I run ms office, limewire, firefox, and windows messenger most of the time. obviously i just converted from pc, so I am looking forward to being able to use my mac with ease and try out the .MAC when Im comfortable. That way I won't waste the trial version trying to figure out how to use the computer.

Zoolook said:

IMO opinion, the biggest valid criticism of Macs is the amount of RAM you get. Apple have nearly ALWAYS shipped half as much as you have needed. Anyonre remember the paltry 64mb of RAM you got in the 1st iBook or the 128MB of RAM you got in the summer 2001 iBook with OS X 10.2?

Like it or not, you need a gig of RAM. I have a MacBook 2.0 ghz wth 1 gig of RAM and it's fine for everything I use it for, including GIMP photo editing, h.264 encoding and even using Logic. My wife has the 1.83ghz iBook and again it has a gig of RAM and there is absolutely no lag at all.

The extra $100 is a must and 1gig on a MacBook is the sweet spot (with 2 gigs costing round $300 extra).

As for WMV. My advice is don't use it. If MS don't want to support OS X, then screw them. When you get a choice of QT or WMV or Real Player and WMV, which many sites offer, use the alternative. When there is no alternative, email the webmaster and tell them. IMO, MS need to either make their codecs available to other operating systems or use standard codecs.

Click to expand...

Where did you get the RAM so cheap? I am seeing $600 for 2g on apple site. 300 on other sites

512 is not going to be enough for multi-tasking and running several applications. You should consider upgrading.

relapse said:

512 is not going to be enough for multi-tasking and running several applications. You should consider upgrading.

Click to expand...

It could be... depends on what applications and how many is considered several.
Safari, Mail, Preview, ,iCal, iPhoto, iChat and iTunes were usually running all the time on my Macs with 512 MB of RAM and I never experienced any lag or slowing. Now if I entered someting like Photoshop or GarageBand into the mix... well, that was a different story.

In the OP's case, he is running a number of applications under Rosetta and yes... he could benefit from a RAM upgrade.

It all comes back to what applications are being used and if your system really requires more RAM or not. More RAM won't automatically make it better in every case... it simply isn't needed in every computer.

Zoolook said:

IMO opinion, the biggest valid criticism of Macs is the amount of RAM you get. Apple have nearly ALWAYS shipped half as much as you have needed. Anyonre remember the paltry 64mb of RAM you got in the 1st iBook or the 128MB of RAM you got in the summer 2001 iBook with OS X 10.2?

Like it or not, you need a gig of RAM. I have a MacBook 2.0 ghz wth 1 gig of RAM and it's fine for everything I use it for, including GIMP photo editing, h.264 encoding and even using Logic. My wife has the 1.83ghz iBook and again it has a gig of RAM and there is absolutely no lag at all.

The extra $100 is a must and 1gig on a MacBook is the sweet spot (with 2 gigs costing round $300 extra).

As for WMV. My advice is don't use it. If MS don't want to support OS X, then screw them. When you get a choice of QT or WMV or Real Player and WMV, which many sites offer, use the alternative. When there is no alternative, email the webmaster and tell them. IMO, MS need to either make their codecs available to other operating systems or use standard codecs.

Click to expand...

With all due respect, there is OBVIOUSLY a problem with the FIRSTGEN Macbook you purchased. Call apple customer retention and let them know you received a busted piece. I was in a similar situation. Apple, despite negative press isn't totally foobar on replacing defective units. I had purchased a refurbished MBP 1.83 in may that was plagued with problems. After 2 months of repairs, I got fed up, called apple and politely asked them to replace the unit. Within 3 business days, the unit was replaced. I've never been more satisfied.

If you buy a used ford taurus and it's got problems, you can sit there and complain about the tranny slip, or do something about it. Go git er done . Come back and let us know what happens!

I don't know if this relevant or not, but I had that exact problem for the first 3 days or so with my Macbook Pro, with 1gb of memory. After a while it stopped.

I remember way back reading something about Spotlight indexing that can make a new machine sluggish. That was way before I became a switcher, so I can't be certain. Does that sound like a crazy notion? If so, it's ok. :dummy:

If the OP has had his for more than a few days then yes, I agree, more (and better?) RAM is in order.