Many Questions About Upgrading RAM for iBook

Hello all,

I have a G4 iBook (1.33 GHz, 256 RAM, 60 GB HD). It's relatively old (purchased in Oct. 2004), but hasn't been used intensively for the last couple of years. I am running OS 10.3.9 on it. It basically works fine (I don't do anything too fancy on it- just firefox, itunes, word, and the occasional other app), but it's not as fast as I would ideally like it to be. It can be slow when running 2 applications simultaneously, and certainly when running 3. Thus, I am thinking of upgrading the RAM. Here are some questions I've got regarding that:

1. Who should I buy RAM from? It looks like Apple's is overpriced, but I want to be sure I get something that is compatible.
2. Will I be able to install it myself? I'm no computer whiz, but I'm reasonably competent at following directions and such. I poked around for explanations of how to install it and it didn't look that complicated; how tough is it?
3. I'm planning on upgrading my OS to Leopard when it comes out. How much RAM will I need to be ably to smoothly run some a few basic apps (no video editing or anything) on Leopard? Will an extra 512 do it, or should I splurge for the 1 GB?
4. Anything else I should know?

Thanks so much for any help.

1. Who should I buy RAM from? It looks like Apple's is overpriced, but I want to be sure I get something that is compatible.

Anywhere you like. There are hundreds of reputable vendors both online and in stores. Just make sure that you check the specs for your RAM on Apple's site or by using an online tool like the one on www.crucial.com

2. Will I be able to install it myself? I'm no computer whiz, but I'm reasonably competent at following directions and such. I poked around for explanations of how to install it and it didn't look that complicated; how tough is it?

If you have already found documentation online, then you can see that it is extremely easy to do. It really is as easy as it looks.

3. I'm planning on upgrading my OS to Leopard when it comes out. How much RAM will I need to be ably to smoothly run some a few basic apps (no video editing or anything) on Leopard? Will an extra 512 do it, or should I splurge for the 1 GB?

You will likely need at least 512 MB for Leopard, though no specs have been released yet. Personally, I would simply max it out with an older machine like that.

4. Anything else I should know?

Nope. If you have more questions just take a look around the forums. There are tons upon tons of threads that deal with this question.