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Cool. This is unrelated but I'm about to get Snow Leopard from a friend and then buy Lion. Will Lion slow down my Macbook at all? Is it even worth buying it. I know the gestures feature won't work but will that detract from its value at all?

I've only just installed Lion on my second partition. I haven't noticed anything slow about it. Then again, I only spent 30 minutes playing with it. Snow Leopard though, it makes it much faster then Leopard or Tiger.
 
On my MacBook, Lion runs great. I've been running it as my only OS since the day it was released, and I have no speed issues.

It will be slow at first, but that is because Spotlight will be indexing your entire drive.
 
I've only just installed Lion on my second partition. I haven't noticed anything slow about it. Then again, I only spent 30 minutes playing with it. Snow Leopard though, it makes it much faster then Leopard or Tiger.

Alright I purchased the 2 sticks of RAM for $60...in October of 2011 I will have owned this MacBook for 4 years. How much longer do you think I've got left?

Also, I only have like 12 GB of hard drive space available. I don't know what is taking up so many gigs I don't even have that many files and stuff...anything I can do to free up some hard drive space?
 
Alright I purchased the 2 sticks of RAM for $60...in October of 2011 I will have owned this MacBook for 4 years. How much longer do you think I've got left?

Also, I only have like 12 GB of hard drive space available. I don't know what is taking up so many gigs I don't even have that many files and stuff...anything I can do to free up some hard drive space?

Mine hit 4 years in June. I'm planning on using it for another two years.

If you still have the stock drive, a good upgrade would be the hard drive. I put a Seagate Momentous 7200.4 (500Gb) in mine and it got much faster.
 
Mine hit 4 years in June. I'm planning on using it for another two years.

If you still have the stock drive, a good upgrade would be the hard drive. I put a Seagate Momentous 7200.4 (500Gb) in mine and it got much faster.

On Amazon it's roughly the same price as the RAM I just bought. Should I cancel that order and buy the hard drive? This may sound stupid but whatever will make this computer faster is really what I'm looking for.
 
On Amazon it's roughly the same price as the RAM I just bought. Should I cancel that order and buy the hard drive? This may sound stupid but whatever will make this computer faster is really what I'm looking for.

Its hard to say which will make it faster. If you're already running on 2Gb of ram, the hard drive may make the best gain. If you're on 1Gb, then go for the RAM. Also, if iMacThinker pops back in, maybe he'll give you his incite as to which to get.
 
Its hard to say which will make it faster. If you're already running on 2Gb of ram, the hard drive may make the best gain. If you're on 1Gb, then go for the RAM. Also, if iMacThinker pops back in, maybe he'll give you his incite as to which to get.

When I go to About This Mac --> System Profiler, it says I have 1 GB of memory. Is that total or in each memory slot? If it's total then I'm only gaining 1 GB of ram with this purchase and I might go with the Hard Drive.
 
When I go to About This Mac --> System Profiler, it says I have 1 GB of memory. Is that total or in each memory slot? If it's total then I'm only gaining 1 GB of ram with this purchase and I might go with the Hard Drive.

That means you only have 1Gb. In that case, the ram upgrade for an additional 2Gb is a better buy in my opinion.
 
That means you only have 1Gb. In that case, the ram upgrade for an additional 2Gb is a better buy in my opinion.

Okay yeah worst case scenario I buy a hard drive in 6 months or whatever. If I buy a new macbook pro can I transfer it to that?

Edit: Just saw minimum hard drive space on new MBP was 320 GB. Nevermind. I'm going to bed Intell - I see you have a screen name I may ask you more questions tomorrow night haha thanks for everything man
 
Okay yeah worst case scenario I buy a hard drive in 6 months or whatever. If I buy a new macbook pro can I transfer it to that?

Edit: Just saw minimum hard drive space on new MBP was 320 GB. Nevermind. I'm going to bed Intell - I see you have a screen name I may ask you more questions tomorrow night haha thanks for everything man

Yes, you can transfer the hard drive to a new Macbook Pro in the future.

Ask away. I'm online often.
 
On my MacBook, Lion runs great. I've been running it as my only OS since the day it was released, and I have no speed issues.

It will be slow at first, but that is because Spotlight will be indexing your entire drive.

My desire for more RAM was caused by Lion. I got to see a new — and annoying — feature: the Force Quit dialog came up automatically, paused a ton of apps, and demanded that I quit something. But after hitting it with Drive Genius, removing a ton of apps, and installing beta Lion versions of other apps, it seems quick and awesome.

Next step: SSD. Not sure if going to 3GB of RAM would be worth it after that...
 
On Amazon it's roughly the same price as the RAM I just bought. Should I cancel that order and buy the hard drive? This may sound stupid but whatever will make this computer faster is really what I'm looking for.

I'm with Intell, get the RAM. Or, if you can afford it, get both. When I first got this MacBook, it had 1 GB RAM and a 5400 rpm HDD. I very quickly upgraded it to 6 GB RAM and a 7200 rpm HDD. The difference was astounding. The Momentus is even faster (for some things, at least, though it's not slower in any way).

Also, just to keep things clear here, RAM doesn't make your computer faster unless you are running out of it. Under Lion with 1 GB, I can almost guarantee you are, so adding more RAM will bring the computer back up to the speed it's supposed to run at. Adding a faster HDD, OTOH, will actually increase the overall speed of your computer. RAM will likely be the bigger single boost in your case.
 
So I ordered a 4GB kit for my MacBook from Crucial. As with the RAM from my friend, my MacBook will not boot with the RAM installed. I hear the SuperDrive come on, but the screen stays black and there's no boot chime.

I'm forced to conclude that either every report I've read is wrong, or there's something else wrong with my MacBook. Is there anything I can do to make this work? If it makes any difference, this MacBook was BTO with 2GB.
 
Interesting, no response at all? Btw, the Seagate Momentus 500GB XT Hybrid is a good choice. I'm going to install 8GB in my 1,7 Macbook so I'd be interested in your progress. Though I have no immediate solution. Did you put the old ram back in?
 
Yes, I put the original 2GB back in and it booted right up. At first I thought I broke something b/c I also popped off the top case and put new thermal paste on (and cleaned out dust and dog hair), but it turns out it just doesn't like the new RAM.

Quick specs:
MacBook 2,1 2GHz
BTO 2GB
Ordered 2x 2GB PC2-5300S

Update: I tried each of my 2GB chips individually, with and without each of the original 1GB modules. No matter what combo I try, it will not boot with a 2GB chip installed. I read something somewhere about the 2GB limit being imposed by firmware – is it possible that *some* Macbook 2,1 models have this limit, and others don't? I really can't understand why this works for so many other MacBook owners but not for me.
 
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Yes, I put the original 2GB back in and it booted right up. At first I thought I broke something b/c I also popped off the top case and put new thermal paste on (and cleaned out dust and dog hair), but it turns out it just doesn't like the new RAM.

Quick specs:
MacBook 2,1 2GHz
BTO 2GB
Ordered 2x 2GB PC2-5300S

Update: I tried each of my 2GB chips individually, with and without each of the original 1GB modules. No matter what combo I try, it will not boot with a 2GB chip installed. I read something somewhere about the 2GB limit being imposed by firmware – is it possible that *some* Macbook 2,1 models have this limit, and others don't? I really can't understand why this works for so many other MacBook owners but not for me.

Hmm..I forgot we were working with a 2,1. It very well could be that 2GB is the limit.

Check this out:

http://eshop.macsales.com/memory/maxram
 
I tried each of my 2GB chips individually, with and without each of the original 1GB modules. No matter what combo I try, it will not boot with a 2GB chip installed. I read something somewhere about the 2GB limit being imposed by firmware – is it possible that *some* Macbook 2,1 models have this limit, and others don't? I really can't understand why this works for so many other MacBook owners but not for me.

I don't think that only some 2,1 support 2x2Gb. I think all do, but can only see 3Gb.
 
i have a late 2008 (i think) macbook unibody 2.4 core 2 duo. things starting to get sluggish (only 2 gigs ram). whats the max capacity ram on this? i want to buy a 4+2 kit so i have 6 gigs but is this gonna be supported? i know 4 (2+2) is supported but i want a little more speed to my macbook seeing as though its my primary computer and im going to college for video and audio production
 
i have a late 2008 (i think) macbook unibody 2.4 core 2 duo. things starting to get sluggish (only 2 gigs ram). whats the max capacity ram on this? i want to buy a 4+2 kit so i have 6 gigs but is this gonna be supported? i know 4 (2+2) is supported but i want a little more speed to my macbook seeing as though its my primary computer and im going to college for video and audio production

The Macbook Unibody's can take up to 8Gb of ram.
 
awesome. just wanted to make sure that it wouldnt be a waste of money, time, and patience
 
This is what I was hoping for, and have verified from multiple sources. I can only wonder if it's a bad logic board.

Are you absolutely sure you have a Macbook2,1 and not a 1,1? I know it seems like a stupid question, but I'm just checking.
 
Are you absolutely sure you have a Macbook2,1 and not a 1,1? I know it seems like a stupid question, but I'm just checking.

A 1,1 definitely would not be able to handle the RAM properly without some serious tinkering. So, overall its good question to ask before he makes the purchase.
 
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