iMAC - Memory Upgrade / OS Boot Questions

[JamboUK]

Hi,

Being a recent switcher to the joys of a Mac via my dual booting (XP/OSX) works MacBook I am itching to get my hands on a desktop at home and I am seriously considering a 20" iMac on buy now pay in 12 mths...

My questions are:

- Would you advise buying the 1GB and upgrading the memory via Kingston (or similar) due to Apples ridculous memory pricing?
- Any problems with that? What configuration will the memory be in? Two 512MB sticks or one 1GB stick?
- I intend to setup this new machine dual booting via Bootcamp (XP/OSX) BUT I also need a boot into Ubuntu. Anyone have any Experience on how to do this? Can I boot from an external hardrive containing Ubuntu if need be?
- Also - wired keyboard and mouse OR wireless?

Thanks for your advice.

 

[tersono]

Hi,

Being a recent switcher to the joys of a Mac via my dual booting (XP/OSX) works MacBook I am itching to get my hands on a desktop at home and I am seriously considering a 20" iMac on buy now pay in 12 mths...

My questions are:

- Would you advise buying the 1GB and upgrading the memory via Kingston (or similar) due to Apples ridculous memory pricing?
- Any problems with that? What configuration will the memory be in? Two 512MB sticks or one 1GB stick?
- I intend to setup this new machine dual booting via Bootcamp (XP/OSX) BUT I also need a boot into Ubuntu. Anyone have any Experience on how to do this? Can I boot from an external hardrive containing Ubuntu if need be?
- Also - wired keyboard and mouse OR wireless?

Thanks for your advice.

1. Yep. Don't buy RAM from Apple. Crucial, Kingston or suchlike will give you a far better price.
2. No probs - your iMac will come with a single 1gb stick
3. Triple booting is doable although a tad complex to set up - take a look at this url for details. Alternatively, consider running one or both of your additional OS under virtualisation with VMWare Fusion or Parallels. (Worth maxing out the RAM if you go this latter route).
4. I'd go for the wired keyboard (which gives you a numeric keypad and fewer problems if you have to boot into single-user mode). Mouse is down to personal preference, but you might like to go for the wired version to start off with - some people like the Apple mouse (I do), but others don't.

 

[ray648]

Definately upgrade the memory yourself. You will need to replace the memory it comes with with the memory you have purchased not add to it.

No idea about Ubuntu.

The keyboard and mouse are really down to personal preference. I have the wired keyboard because I don't like the reduced number of buttons on the wireless one. The wireless mouse is a good idea I think, but really its up to you whether or not having no cable is worth the extra money. Lots of people seem to buy non apple mice, again it depends entirely on your opinion of the apple ones.