I have a macbook that is over a year old.. specs(10.4.11): 1.83ghz, 512mb memory, 30gb of 60gb hdd available. When I run multiple programs (msn, firefox, word/powerpoint) my macbook gets a bit warm and usually makes noises if more than 2-3 programs are running. Is it the memory that I should consider upgrading or is it something else? And how easy is it to upgrade it myself, considering that I've never taken apart a computer/laptop?
Thanks,
Daisy
It is quite easy to upgrade a Macbook of any vintage (first generation to current) to 2+ gig of RAM, and somewhat cheap. Check newegg.com or crucial.com for RAM upgrades. You basically shut down the machine, remove the battery, four (very small) screws, pop out the old RAM and jam in the new RAM. I say "jam" because the RAM chips require a bit of force to seat them, but it is something that you can definitely do. Then replace those screws. Put the battery back in, boot up Macbook. Enjoy the speed increase.
It will speed up your computer considerably. I went from one gig to two with my second generation Core2Duo Macbook and the speed difference was very noticeable.
Same with the disk space. You can buy a much larger SATA hard drive and replace it in the same way. Does not void your warrantee (if you are concerned with that) and there are many videos out on the 'net which show you how to do it.
Do not buy RAM or HDD upgrades from Apple.
The noises you hear are the fan and swapping because 512MB of RAM is small for Tiger or Leopard.