If I go through with this... is 512MB enough?

[Demon Hunter]

Sorry if this is a repeat, but I could really use some more opinions about this.

Case in point, 12-inch PowerBook, needs to run iLife '06, iWork '06 and all basic apps without a hitch. Need reliable, fast performance for about a year, but cost-cutting is important. 512MB is standard. Do I need 1.25GB?

I appreciate it.

 

[wordmunger]

512 should be fine for basic tasks. It will slow down as you try to multi task -- e.g. if you have iPhoto, iTunes, Garageband, and Safari all running at once. But if you only do two or three things at a time, it should be fine. You can always add memory later if it turns out it's not enough. If cost cutting is an issue, why not get a G4 iBook with maxed out memory? That's going to be less money and should meet your needs just fine.

 

[Demon Hunter]

Well, I was hoping the PowerBook would have a better screen, for one. My dad's iBook has a horrible brightness level, and overall it's rather poor.

The 64MB VRAM, 167MHz bus, lighter casing... if I keep this for over a year, I'll really appreciate those specs later.

 

[DerekW69]

I'll second what wordmunger says. I have a 12-inch PB 1.33 running similar progs. The 512 seems to be a comfortable minimum spot. I've had this in three RAM configs — 256, 512 and 768. The difference was very noticeable when going from 256 to 512. Less so when going from 512 to 768.

However, if you start talking about rendering photos or video, I would go the absolute max. That seems to be where it really makes a difference.

Derek

 

[dornoforpyros]

if you can afford more ram, get it.

 

[DerekW69]

I went from a 1.33 12-inch iBook to a 1.33 12-inch PowerBook and the difference is very noticeable. My iBook was brand new and I'm actually happy that I traded for a higher-end, yet older, machine.

Derek

 

[dmw007]

I would go with at least 1GB of RAM.

 

[adk]

Which parts of iLife will you be using most? Imove/Idvd are big ram hogs.

 

[Demon Hunter]

Which parts of iLife will you be using most? Imove/Idvd are big ram hogs.

iWork and iTunes, mostly.

 

[McBain]

Since the difference between a 256MB stick and a 512MB stick is only about $35 (at Crucial - you're not buying extra RAM from Apple, are you?), I would definitely recommend going with 768MB total.

 

[lonelemur90]

well, if it is only a one year computer, then i dont think you will need to max out the ram, and i think that 1 gig would be enough for running itunes, iwork, and most of the ilife apps smoothly. (that is if yur not running all at the same time.)