Questions about performance from a potential new Mac user

Hello all, i'm new in this forum. I have finally take the decision of going mac. I visited the online Store in order to buy a Macbook (I preffer the 13.3" than 15.4"). But since the customing mac page loaded, i'm in a big doubt. My explanation: I am costumed to Windows Xp(1GB RAM, 2.6 Intel DC) and previos versions, and i hated the 'No response' messages, which took me to the famous alt+ctrl+del keys many many times. In particular, when i was gaming and watching a movie at the same time, or running 'eMule' and...nothing more, only eMule made my computer to have problems opening word documents/jpg images. And when I tried to upgrade Vista with 1 Gb... it was ridiculous. I could'nt open almost anything. That's basically why I moved to Mac: I've been told that Macs are much more efficient than Windows systems are. But I'm afraid that 4GB will be too much for me, because I'm not going to run any game nor use emule (maybe sometimes Torrent, or other programs which take less requirements, but not often). My intentions are to save at least 12-15 movies, lots of music, pics, and work programs. Also I noted that MacBook's haven't the 8600Gefore grapich card, (only 64Mb), so when I use graphing programs, the RAM memory will be spared (And also notice that 2,2 Ghz aren't 2.6 which I have in my Windows PC). My final arguments are that I usually have 30 web pages opened, with 2 or 3 videos, etc. and that I'm not thinking about buying a new mac next year... I wish having this one at least for 3 half or maybe 4 years.

So here i leave the question: Do you encourage me to buy the 4GB, instead of the basic 2 GB?, or is it an insanity to pay that money for 2 GB plus?

Start with 2GB.
If you find that you need more, you can always add it later.

I usually have 30 web pages opened

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WOW!!! I can't keep track of 3 or 4!

Agreed with DB, start with the 2GB. If you find later you need more, buy it yourself and save a lot of $$$. NewEgg has some good deals on RAM.

2 GB is about a perfect amount for standard web, email, regular stuff. Right now I have running on my 2nd gen Macbook with 2GB (and Tiger) Safari 3 with...4 windows with 9 tabs total (three to five on one, none on others as required), Mail.app, iCal, DVD Player, iTunes, Azureus downloading some iso's, and a bunch of widgets on dashboard. With that load at any given time I'll fire up iChat, Photoshop to edit some CD's, iWork to work on my resume, or Audacity to edit some sound files.

It cooks along like a champ. Now, if I fire up my Parallels VM, it's a slightly different story, but I rarely do that.

macquestion2 said:

My intentions are to save at least 12-15 movies, lots of music, pics, and work programs.

Click to expand...

Just to make sure, you do understand that OS X does not run Windows programs natively, right. I'm making an asumption that your work programs are MS Windows programs.

As far as memory goes for your description of use, I agree with the others.

Personally, I'd order the Macbook with 1GB and buy a 2GB stick from someone else, which after replacing one of the two Apple supplied sticks, will give you 2.5GB an less cost than Apples $150 premium price. Make sure to buy quality RAM though.

macquestion2 said:

Hello all, i'm new in this forum. I have finally take the decision of going mac. I visited the online Store in order to buy a Macbook (I preffer the 13.3" than 15.4"). But since the customing mac page loaded, i'm in a big doubt. My explanation: I am costumed to Windows Xp(1GB RAM, 2.6 Intel DC) and previos versions, and i hated the 'No response' messages, which took me to the famous alt+ctrl+del keys many many times. In particular, when i was gaming and watching a movie at the same time, or running 'eMule' and...nothing more, only eMule made my computer to have problems opening word documents/jpg images. And when I tried to upgrade Vista with 1 Gb... it was ridiculous. I could'nt open almost anything.

Click to expand...

iduno... my vista laptop runs fine with PS CS3 and premiere pro 2 open at the same time, along with a few brower windows. and thats with only 2GB. dunno whats causing your PC to lag so much...

but if that is the road you take; going to mac, then its always best to get as much ram as you can afford. there is no such thing as too much memory.

Just to make it very clear in case it is not - do not buy additional RAM from Apple.

Ok, many thanks everybody for answering so fast. I have one more doubt, why do Apple sell RAM's as expensive? Are them better or work better with Apple computers? I have seen 2 gig RAM's from $120, so why are sold in the Store for near $350 ? I don't catch it...

Have a good day

macquestion2 said:

...why do Apple sell RAM's as expensive? Are them better or work better with Apple computers?

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You'll find it is not just Apple who puts a premium price on additional RAM. It has been the industry norm for, like, ever. The premium can vary from vendor to vendor, and even for the same vendor over time, or during sales.

The one thing you should be able to have high confidence in is that Apple has tested, very well, the memory they sell with their systems. The thing is, if you buy from a reputable third party Mac specialist, you should end up with a great result also.

Look at it like this; the car industry has a similar issue where you can buy a part direct from the car manufacturer, or you can buy from a third party manufacturer for less money. You need to decide if the third party can deliver a reliable part in either case.

and also you can find the same rams apple sells in their stores in somewhere else much cheaper..in my country apple stores are selling kingston rams and this is a true story in the same mall in another computer shop i saw the same rams 60$cheaper...just look around a little bit

As a good close to this thread, today I was iChatting with a friend who mentioned that Dell wanted $459 for 4GB of memory for a laptop. He said he found the same thing directly from Kingston for $110.

Get the minimum amount of RAM and upgrade it yourself. I think you get get 2GB for $70 these days. Brand is all preference really. All brands will perform the same. Hynix is the brand that comes in the MacBooks. Ever heard of them being a leading, high end RAM manufacturer?? I haven't.
One thing to note from your original post is the comment about the 64MB GeForce 8600 video card. MacBooks have integrated cards, so it's technically Intel based memory. Secondly the newest MacBooks have the GMA X3100 graphics processor with 144MB of DDR2 SDRAM. Older MacBooks have the GMA 950 graphics processor with 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM.
Because it is shared memory, if your computer needs more graphics processing power, it will use some of the memory from your RAM as you noted. 2GB is a minimum to run everything smoothly.
Good luck with your purchase.

Any reason why you are getting the MacBook over the iMac? If you don't need the portability, the iMac is a better machine.