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2GB vs. 4GB dilemma
- Thread starter diablo900t
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Obviously, Apple thinks that 2GB is enough, as that's standard. And I would think they have given some thought about average use.
So therefore, I would think that if you are an average user that 2GB is enough.
Make sense?
Uhm, no. Ever heard of marketing to a price point. Gees.
I believe you make a determination on how you plan to use the Air and how long you plan on keeping it. When I bought my Powerbook 12" back in late 2004, I planned on keeping it for a long time. I got the max memory that was available and several years down the line, I'm happy that I did as I wouldn't know how slow Leopard and other apps would run with 256MB vs. 1.25GB memory. I plan on getting a 13" and max it out as I'll keep this guy for many many years. For $200 to max it out, it's a no brainer since you're doubling memory and storage.
Please help me out here. I see all these negative comments on the 2GB RAM in the stock models like a disease that everyone should avoid. Surely, more RAM will only help and never hurt the performance. But it's not like the computer will crash or benchball to the point that it's unbearable during moderate multitasking. I also don't see people having the stock models complaining their MBAs slowing to a crawl when doing something that the targeted MBA users would do routinely.
Please tell me, am I missing something here, or are you guy just exaggerating?
Please tell me, am I missing something here, or are you guy just exaggerating?
Are you even reading any of the posts in this thread?
2gb is fine. The air works fast and there are no delays. The 4gb is for heavy multitasking and big apps like virtualization, along with extending your air's usefulness in the future.
2gb is fine. The air works fast and there are no delays. The 4gb is for heavy multitasking and big apps like virtualization, along with extending your air's usefulness in the future.
Has anyone used citrix or a remote desktop on a new 2gb air? Any problems? I'm just going to use it for word, iTunes, movies, maybe light photo importing, but I need to be able to use citrix to access my work account without problems.
having used mine for a few hours now.. yes, wait the week or whatever, pay the $100 and get 4 gigs. It's just not worth saving money on ( I bought the base, and at this point feel that it was a mistake for processor and memory). On this machine I could care less about hdd storage.. but the other two should be maxed imo.
It's hard to say with the other shortcomings of this machine, but if I were to order all over again, i'd definitely get 4gb... and skip the base 1.4 processor.
Fact is, this machine is very likely to be returned or sold on, both at a loss.. and as of right now (early on) I feel I made a poor decision.
It's hard to say with the other shortcomings of this machine, but if I were to order all over again, i'd definitely get 4gb... and skip the base 1.4 processor.
Fact is, this machine is very likely to be returned or sold on, both at a loss.. and as of right now (early on) I feel I made a poor decision.
2GB should be okay for now. But, if you are planning on keeping it for next 2-3 years, then you need to go for 4GB, period. Did you see that OS lion demo? Yea. 2GB is going to be minimum and 4GB would be recommended for Ram. Multiple apps running on the background?
4GB RAM should be standard on every damn laptops now. Since apple is refusing to call their MBA as netbook category, then fine. Make them with laptop specs, then people will stop calling them as netbook.
I am a uni student and I need to use Citrix to remote access my uni computer and use some of their softwares.
Is Citrix similar to say VM or Parallels? they seem to all virtualise another OS/platform inside the original OS.
So is 2GB enough for that?
cheers,
on-the-fence MBA newbie, first time poster
Why is buying at Bestbuy any better than at Apple store?
Just curious, not saying either is better/worse..
Just curious, not saying either is better/worse..
I couldn't wait for the 4gb (sold mbp '09) so got the base. I was worried then I realized that I never experienced a problem with the mbp (2 gb and slower hd) so now the air feels snappy to me. All apps pop in 2 seconds, office mac '11 opens super fast. I know I'm a light user so you must evaluate yourself. Honestly though, if you're a power user...you shouldn't be eying the mba 11 anyway.
Citrix allows you to remote control another computer. The only thing that would run locally would be a sort of viewer application. All of the programs run on the remote computer and use it's processor, memory, storage and network access.
Fusion and parallels allow you to run a virtual machine locally, within OS X. The Vm's operating system and applications are using YOUR processor, memory and storage. 4GB is adequate for this - I personally wouldn't even bother with 2GB.
I've never used Citrix specifically on my Mac, but I've used other remote connections- MS Remote Desktop, VNC, etc. Remote control takes up very few local resources, especially since you will have options to tone down the eye candy. The most important aspect of remote desktop performance is your network - not processor or memory specs.
There really is no dilemma. The main problem with the original MBA was its 2GB limitation. All the sudden when Apple put the same old tech in a shiny new enclosure, people think it'll work better. This is not the case.
If you want a future-resistant machine, you must get 4 GB.
If you want a future-resistant machine, you must get 4 GB.
I use VMware Fusion and 4GB is minimum to be honest...But if you dun use any of that, then I guess 2GB is fine.
My local store didn't have the 4GB option, so I played with the 2GB model and it seemed to handle everything I threw at it just fine. I prefer to buy in the store rather than online because I like the option of popping back into the store for an exchange if something's not right, something I've taken advantage of on a couple occasions (dead pixels, a bad firewire port).
Anyway, I've got the machine home and have been running my apps (Xcode, light use w/ CS5, Office 2008, Vmware fusion w/ XP), and so far so good. I'm going to try some more test cases where I push past 2GB and see how things run, but just by feel so far the 2GB doesn't seem to be a real hardship for me.
Anyway, I've got the machine home and have been running my apps (Xcode, light use w/ CS5, Office 2008, Vmware fusion w/ XP), and so far so good. I'm going to try some more test cases where I push past 2GB and see how things run, but just by feel so far the 2GB doesn't seem to be a real hardship for me.
Almost same dilemma.
Hey Guys
I know you say there isn't any dilemma, but i'm only 15 and must invest my money right.
I'm hooked on the 13.3" but i don't think i have the extra money for 4 gigs of ram inside. I'm soon going to gym and i need a transportable Mac w/ long lasting battery. Although i wanna to do some really light editing (CS5) and some light gaming. I want to keep this Air in about 2-3 years. Do you think 2 Gigs of Ram will be enough. I'm really in doubt.
Someone says that it is fine if you only doing lightweight editing, but i also wanted to have this notebook for about 2.5 years. Should i go for 4 gigs of ram and spend a little bit money? Or should i maybe buy the 11.6" w/4gigs for the same price? Please, help me. Come with some good reasons. I don't travel alot and i already have an iMac at home. Just need a transportable primary notebook.
Thansk
/MB
Hey Guys
I know you say there isn't any dilemma, but i'm only 15 and must invest my money right.
I'm hooked on the 13.3" but i don't think i have the extra money for 4 gigs of ram inside. I'm soon going to gym and i need a transportable Mac w/ long lasting battery. Although i wanna to do some really light editing (CS5) and some light gaming. I want to keep this Air in about 2-3 years. Do you think 2 Gigs of Ram will be enough. I'm really in doubt.
Someone says that it is fine if you only doing lightweight editing, but i also wanted to have this notebook for about 2.5 years. Should i go for 4 gigs of ram and spend a little bit money? Or should i maybe buy the 11.6" w/4gigs for the same price? Please, help me. Come with some good reasons. I don't travel alot and i already have an iMac at home. Just need a transportable primary notebook.
Thansk
/MB
There is no dilemma. Get the 2 GB base model. For most tasks intended for MBA, 2 GB is perfectly fine.
So using fusion and parallels are like running 2 OS at the same time.. so the resources need to be allocated to each of them, right? (that's why 4GB is needed)
What is the main difference from boot camp (dual boot) then? I believe 2GB RAM would be just fine. But every time you want to switch between OS, you have to reboot? is it the main difference/drawback?
sorry if that sounds stupid
You're not thinking about the future.
People that buy the 2 GB model will of course be happy with the performance now. But in two years, they will regret not spending the extra $100. It's as simple as that.
If the Macbook Air is going to be your main computer, get the extra ram. $100 isn't much in the long run.
But if this is just an extra toy, and you'll be getting another toy when the next best thing comes out, then go with the cheap and have fun.
But if this is just an extra toy, and you'll be getting another toy when the next best thing comes out, then go with the cheap and have fun.
This is exactly the problem. You guys made it sounds like the computer is going to explode when it fills the RAM. It won't!! It'll happily access the 6 GB of VM, which happens to be very fast for the FS. Yes, there will be a slow down, but nothing intolerable like the 1st Gen MBA. Sure, 4 GB will help to speed it up -- but only by a little bit.
It won't explode. It'll just feel older quicker.
And $100 is very little to ensure that your beautiful new MBA isn't outdated or unusable in a few years.