More important? RAM or 10.4

[Cloudgazer]

I'm saving for an upgrade for my pbook.

Which is a better choice, upgrading to Tiger (currently running 10.3.9) or adding an additional 1gb RAM?

 

[emaja]

If the PB is the one in your sig, then it certainly can run Tiger with 512MB RAM. It will be a little faster with more RAM, but it will run.

I guess it boils down to what you do with your PB - and what you want to do. If you are getting by with 512 in Panther, then I assume that you are not handling massive PS and Motion projects, so that RAM would suffice for Tiger as well.

RAM runs about $100 and so does Tiger. Flip a coin. Buy one now and the other later.

 

[Cloudgazer]

If the PB is the one in your sig, then it certainly can run Tiger with 512MB RAM. It will be a little faster with more RAM, but it will run.

I guess it boils down to what you do with your PB - and what you want to do. If you are getting by with 512 in Panther, then I assume that you are not handling massive PS and Motion projects, so that RAM would suffice for Tiger as well.

RAM runs about $100 and so does Tiger. Flip a coin. Buy one now and the other later.

where did you see 1gb of RAM for $100?
Its almost double that on Crucial's website.

I do a bit of photoshop stuff, and use iDvd, but its never huuuge stuff.

Its gonna be a tough choice, which is why I'm seeking opinions.

 

[Play Ultimate]

Ram

Buy the RAM. I think you will be happier with the results. Besides, you will still need the RAM even if you upgrade to 10.4.

Personally, I'm skipping 10.4 entirely and waiting for 10.5; at which time I will most likely buy a new computer as well.

 

[munckee]

I upgraded recently from Panter to Tiger. Not a ton of difference, IMO. Go for the Ram.

 

[Cloudgazer]

Do you guys think the RAM prices for these pbooks will go up or down, now that they are no longer making powerbooks?

In SA Tiger costs R1000 (approx $166) and 1gb ram costs R1400 (approx $233)

 

[~Shard~]

I'd go for the RAM myself, as a fellow Mac user running 10.3.9. You need to decide what your needs are, but for myself, I have no need for Dashboard (chews up extra system resources, wouldn't use it a lot) or Spotlight (I keep my Mac neat and tidy and know where everything is) so there aren''t any real benefits as I see them - plus, Tiger technically needs more RAM than Panther to do what it does. Also, perhaps it would be wise to just wait for Leopard, which is what I am doing. It will probably be out by the end of the year or early 2007. If nothing else, I would wait until August and see what the preview of Leopard looks like at WWDC before making a call on which OS to go with.

But in the meantime, I'd say go with the RAM. Just make sure to buy your RAM from a reputable dealer who explicitly guarantees Mac-compatibility and has a lifetime warranty. Otherwise, you're rolling the dice, and I prefer not to do that when it comes to something as important as my Mac..

 

[Cloudgazer]

But in the meantime, I'd say go with the RAM. Just make sure to buy your RAM from a reputable dealer who explicitly guarantees Mac-compatibility and has a lifetime warranty. Otherwise, you're rolling the dice, and I prefer not to do that when it comes to something as important as my Mac..

In SA I have no choice but to buy ram from Apple, there are no alternatives here as far as i know.
Otherwise I'd have to import from Crucial or the likes.

 

[~Shard~]

In SA I have no choice but to buy ram from Apple, there are no alternatives here as far as i know.
Otherwise I'd have to import from Crucial or the likes.

That's unfortunate, as Apple charges a premium for their RAM. There are no online sites like DMS which will ship internationally?

Might I suggest PMing CanadaRAM. He doesn't ship outside of Canada (to my knowledge) but being in the industry he may know of a reputable outfit which does.

 

[Le Big Mac]

Do you guys think the RAM prices for these pbooks will go up or down, now that they are no longer making powerbooks?

In SA Tiger costs R1000 (approx $166) and 1gb ram costs R1400 (approx $233)

I'd go RAM first, Tiger later. If money is an issue, you might skip Tiger and wait for 10.5 (Leopard?). The RAM will still be good then, and Tiger is getting towards the end of it's life.

As for RAM prices, generally they have a u-shaped price curve. Start high, drop as more plants start making them, but then turn up again as those plants get converted to the newer forms of memory. So depending on what version of memory it is, it's better to buy sooner than to wait, because eventually it willbecome scarce again.

 

[Cloudgazer]

I'd go RAM first, Tiger later. If money is an issue, you might skip Tiger and wait for 10.5 (Leopard?). The RAM will still be good then, and Tiger is getting towards the end of it's life.

As for RAM prices, generally they have a u-shaped price curve. Start high, drop as more plants start making them, but then turn up again as those plants get converted to the newer forms of memory. So depending on what version of memory it is, it's better to buy sooner than to wait, because eventually it willbecome scarce again.

Thanks for all the advice people.

I'm now convinced that I should go for the RAM upgrade first.

I figure its bes to get the RAM before stocks dry up.
There will always be availability of the OS, and the price wont change that much.

 

[~Shard~]

Thanks for all the advice people.

I'm now convinced that I should go for the RAM upgrade first.

I figure its bes to get the RAM before stocks dry up.
There will always be availability of the OS, and the price wont change that much.

I think that's a wise move. And as I said, perhaps just wait for August to see what Leopard looks like. If it's something you really want, wait for it - if it doesn't do anything for you, maybe just pick up Tiger, knowing that you'll be happy with it for a while. That being said, if you're going to buy a new OS, you might as well buy the newest.

And that way, whenever you do upgrade your OS, you'll have the RAM already present to make sure it runs smooth as silk.

 

[m-dogg]

I felt like I needed to add RAM after I upgraded my iMac from Panther to Tiger. I only use a few widgets, but I think that draws on your memory.

So after I upgraded to Tiger I got another 512 stick (for 1 gig total). I then ended up passing that computer on to my mother and got a new iSight iMac and added 1 gig right away (1.5 total).

I think you need at least 1 gig for Tiger to run nicely.

 

[princealfie]

RAM is always important. Just make sure you get a good stick.

 

[Cloudgazer]

RAM is always important. Just make sure you get a good stick.

Well, I'm gonna compare prices between Apple SA and importing from Crucial.
If I import from crucial it will cost me approx R1300, and I think (pray actually) that getting it from apple will be similar price.

Will let you guys know.

 

[~Shard~]

I felt like I needed to add RAM after I upgraded my iMac from Panther to Tiger. I only use a few widgets, but I think that draws on your memory.

So after I upgraded to Tiger I got another 512 stick (for 1 gig total). I then ended up passing that computer on to my mother and got a new iSight iMac and added 1 gig right away (1.5 total).

I think you need at least 1 gig for Tiger to run nicely.

I agree, and that's another reason I never moved to Tiger. I have 1 GB in my iMac already, but feel it will go farther in Panther than Tiger. Mind you, if I do indeed want to eventually install Leopard, I'll have to accept that fact then...

 

[mrgreen4242]

I agree, and that's another reason I never moved to Tiger. I have 1 GB in my iMac already, but feel it will go farther in Panther than Tiger. Mind you, if I do indeed want to eventually install Leopard, I'll have to accept that fact then...

Well, comparing Panther and Tiger on the same machine with 768mg RAM (not the one in my sig), and also on another with 640, I would say that Panther may run better when you are at sub 512-640mb levels, but after that point I feel like they perform about the same.

 

[~Shard~]

Well, comparing Panther and Tiger on the same machine with 768mg RAM (not the one in my sig), and also on another with 640, I would say that Panther may run better when you are at sub 512-640mb levels, but after that point I feel like they perform about the same.

Thanks for the feedback, I haven't been in a position to make this comparison. As I said in an earlier post though, even if I wouldn't notice a difference running Tiger due to my 1 GB of RAM, it's just the principle that there are extra features such as Dashboard which use up extra resources which I would never be using in the first place. As you say though, in the end it might be a moot point...

 

[timswim78]

I'd go for the RAM. 10.4 was a bit of a dissapointment, in my opinion.

 

[~Shard~]

I'd go for the RAM. 10.4 was a bit of a dissapointment, in my opinion.

Definitely looking forward to the Leopard preview at WWDC myself.

 

[emaja]

where did you see 1gb of RAM for $100?
Its almost double that on Crucial's website.

OWC is your friend. 1GB RAM for $109.99 and they will ship internationally.

 

[~Shard~]

OWC is your friend. 1GB RAM for $109.99.

I don't believe OWC guarantees Mac-compatibility and has a lifetime warranty. If I'm wrong, please correct me. Otherwise, you can gamble if you wish, but many times you get what you pay for. If a person has paid good money for a Mac (evidence they haven't cheaped out on their computer purchase), then no need to cheap out on a key component such as RAM. The RAM you get from one of these places might work just fine, but I'd rather not take that risk. It's a personal decision I guess.

Also, in this specific instance, as we already discussed, if the OP does not have many options available to him due to his location, he may not have much of a choice anyway...

And again, if OWC does indeed offer a lifetime guarantee and explicitly guarantees Mac-compatibility, then obviously the above does not apply directly to them.

 

[emaja]

I don't believe OWC guarantees Mac-compatibility and has a lifetime warranty. If I'm wrong, please correct me.

Of course they guarantee Mac compatibility! They are a Mac-centric website who sell only Mac upgrades. Why on earth would a huge booster of Apple have a web address of "macsales.com" and then not sell RAM that doesn't work with Macs?

They say right on the link I attached that they have a lifetime advance replacement warrantee also.

I have dealt with them many times and been very satisfied, as have many other Mac users.

 

[Dreadnought]

I saw a huge boost in performance after installing 10.4 on my PB G4 1.33 with a 1 GB of ram. It's much snappier, especially with Safari, but you have to upgrade to the latest version of 10.4. 10.4.0 has a lot of bugs and isn't as fast. But you'll definately need the ram too, though call!

 

[Caitlyn]

I say go with the RAM. Sure the OS upgrade would be nice, but it won't speed up the overall machine. The RAM will be more worth while in the long run.