A few questions

Hello all, right now I am looking into getting a new laptop for use with school and such. After doing some research it seems that apple computers are very reliable with great customer service (i'm sure you all already know this, but I've been using PC my whole life so its kind of new to me). Really I was just wondering how easy it would be to upgrade a macbook in terms of RAM and hard drive space because I was kind of looking to save some money when I first bought it and just get the one with 2 gigs of ram and 160 gigs of hard drive space and upgrade each one of those later. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated

Welcome!

It's easy... This will give you an idea of how to. (example)
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook-Core-2-Duo/116

Have a look here for some prices.
http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/index.cfm?StartOver=1&TI=3426

Ok, thanks alot for the help . Just wondering though, how easy is it to upgrade the mac book? I took a look at the guide you provided and while it looks very easy, I don't have a whole lot of experience upgrading computers and the last thing I would want to do is to mess up a laptop that I spent around 1500 on.

Upgrading the MB is the easiest out of all the notebooks they offer.

It's extremely easy. As long as you're competent when it come to handling RAM etc and follow the instructions you will have no problems at all.

Just a quick question related to upgrading the RAM...

Will upgrading the RAM or any other parts on my own invalidate the warranty or AppleCare?

No, it wouldn't void the warranty. (for ram and the HDD)
In fact, they actually provide instructions on how to do it. These links are for the latest Macbook.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1651?viewlocale=en_US
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY.pdf

Now I'm very tempted to get a cheaper model to upgrade it on my own! Thanks!

I wouldn't think upgrading the HD is easy. I wouldn't dare opening a $1000 laptop to save $100. If you break something, the warranty would be voided. They give you the instructions but say the HD needs to be upgraded by a certified tech if I am not mistaken.
The RAM upgrade is simple though.

Well, this is from the Macbook HDD DIY install manual.

"Follow the instructions in this document carefully. Failure to follow these instructions could damage your equipment and void its warranty."

Looks easy to me...;D
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY.pdf

Oh wow, that is pretty simple. The old iBooks I am used to working on require you to literally take apart the entire computer just to get to the HD. I thought the early MacBooks were the same. Maybe the newest models are designed a little better.

why is that article saying that The maximum amount of memory that can be recognized Is 3gb for the macbook pro??!
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304662

they say even if you put 4gb in the mbp will only use 3gb and show that you are using 4gb

I also have a question regarding the maximum amount of ram for a mac book. In this article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1651?viewlocale=en_US it says that the maximum amount of RAM that a macbook supports is only 2 GB but on apples website you can upgrade the amount of RAM to 4GB. I'm just wondering is there is something I am missing here or if that article is wrong.

SchneiderStudio said:

why is that article saying that The maximum amount of memory that can be recognized Is 3gb for the macbook pro??!
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304662

they say even if you put 4gb in the mbp will only use 3gb and show that you are using 4gb

Click to expand...

If you'll notice the date for the article you linked to, it was from 2006.
The mid 2007 and up support 4GB.

Orestes said:

I also have a question regarding the maximum amount of ram for a mac book. In this article http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1651?viewlocale=en_US it says that the maximum amount of RAM that a macbook supports is only 2 GB but on apples website you can upgrade the amount of RAM to 4GB. I'm just wondering is there is something I am missing here or if that article is wrong.

Click to expand...

It's 4GB. Started from late 2007 and up for the Macbook.

Ahh ok. Sorry about that, on the article I had read it said it was last modified on may of 2008 so I just kind of figured it would have been recent news. Anywho, thanks for the information. Very helpful and appreciated

Orestes said:

Ahh ok. Sorry about that, on the article I had read it said it was last modified on may of 2008 so I just kind of figured it would have been recent news. Anywho, thanks for the information. Very helpful and appreciated

Click to expand...

Not a problem. I noticed that myself. It must be a misprint...

Good places to look for ram, when you're ready.

http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgrades.cfm?model=293
http://www.crucial.com/mac/index.aspx
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/DDR2/