new 20 inch iMac - 2GB RAM or 4?

[taxdad]

In the market for new 20 inch iMac. Don't want the 24 inch iMac. 20 inch comes with 2GB RAM standard.

Question: Do you recommend paying $100 more for 4GB RAM upgrade?

Computer usage:
basic internet surfing
web based yahoo mail
Quicken personal financial software
upload photos from digital camera into iPhoto
create basic newsletters
learn to use Garageband
my kids play games at pbskids.com and CD-based games from library

Thanks.

 

[flopticalcube]

Upgrade it yourself. Much cheaper.

 

[-Ryan-]

Nope, you don't need it. I agree with the previous poster, that if you do want to get it, buy it aftermarket at a later date. If you have the computer for a few months, and feel you need it, buy it for half the price Apple charge.

 

[rjp]

Doesn't the 2009 20" come with a single 2GB module? If so, you can add a second 2 GB for very little, certainly less than $30 these days on newegg.

 

[Peterg2]

Doesn't the 2009 20" come with a single 2GB module? If so, you can add a second 2 GB for very little, certainly less than $30 these days on newegg.

No, it comes as follows:

2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x1GB

But looking at crucial's website a 4 Gig kit comes to $67.98.

 

[rjp]

No, it comes as follows:

2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x1GB

But looking at crucial's website a 4 Gig kit comes to $67.98.

That's too bad. Such a waste to put 1 GB modules in since you then have to replace both to get 4GB.

 

[Tom Dahl]

I suspect that 4GB would be noticeably better (faster) than 2GB, even with the kind of application diversity mentioned in the original post. Few things slow a typical "PC" down more than having to page data in from the hard drive. With more memory such paging is reduced.

If you expect to use the computer for a year or more, I would personally think the $100 extra for twice the RAM would be a welcome investment.