I have the previous generation Blackbook. I am interested to know whether the upgrade of RAM from 1gig to 2gig is really that noticeable. I currently don't do any image editing or video converting. But I do run Parallels and other powerful programs. With the upcoming release of Leopard, I don't want my machine to feel sluggish. So would it be worth me buying the extra bit of RAM?
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Ram MacBook.
- Thread starter Tclare
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Going from 1Gb to 2GB will help out all around. With Parallels alone, that will enable you to assign more RAM to your VM and still have a decent amount left for OSX. I think you will be happy with that move.
The extra RAM will be quite helpful. Parallels is more effective when you can give more RAM to the VMs, and itunes in CoverFlow mode can eat RAM like no tomorrow. If you use Firefox 2, you might be an unlucky soul that gets faced with RAM leaks, so now it has more to consume too 
More RAM always better...
I've got a MB C2d 2.0 that came with 1 gig of Ram. While I don't run Parallels, I do usually have open at the same time: Word, Safari, Firfox, iPhoto, iTunes, inspiration, Excel or Numbers and Keynote. With 1 gig, I was getting the spinning ball of boredom consistantly. I upgraded to 2.5 gigs of RAM through OWC (macsales.com) and it has helped tremendously.
The only time I get the spinning ball of boredom is when I've got all those apps open AND I'm trying to edit pictures in either iPhoto or Photoshop elements 3. I'm guessing I get the spinning ball then because the MB does'nt have a dedicated video card.
But, always more RAM is better.
Coachingguy
I've got a MB C2d 2.0 that came with 1 gig of Ram. While I don't run Parallels, I do usually have open at the same time: Word, Safari, Firfox, iPhoto, iTunes, inspiration, Excel or Numbers and Keynote. With 1 gig, I was getting the spinning ball of boredom consistantly. I upgraded to 2.5 gigs of RAM through OWC (macsales.com) and it has helped tremendously.
The only time I get the spinning ball of boredom is when I've got all those apps open AND I'm trying to edit pictures in either iPhoto or Photoshop elements 3. I'm guessing I get the spinning ball then because the MB does'nt have a dedicated video card.
But, always more RAM is better.
Coachingguy
Check out Activity Monitor, it would tell you what your problem is. See the memory usage and the Page Ins and Page Outs.
That'll let you know if you need more RAM. And I guess you'll find out you do need more. I don't think the Video Card is the problem.