[X4U] Re: RAM/MacBook Pro question

[Zane H. Healy]

> I really would like to see the material you read. If true, 3X is  
> worth a lot more
> than one splat!!!!

I believe that is somewhere in the material that was released at the
beginning of the year when the first Intel based systems were released.

> My experiences with Excel and Word on a 512MB MacBook is that they
> generally appear to run at the same speed as on a 1.3GHz PBook. One real
> plus is that my spreadsheet, 16400 rows long, takes only 5 sec to save on
> the MacBook, compared to 15 sec on the PB. Now that's significant to me!!
> (I assume Excel uses some file system calls that have been converted to
> universal.)
>
> However, there are occasional delays or pauses during some finder or file
> type activities that are annoying but not crippling.

I can't even imagine running a Mac 10.4 system with only 512MB of RAM, and
it is obvious that Apple can't either.  I finally had the opporunity to play
with some of the Intel based systems at our local Mac store a couple
weekends ago, and I found it most interesting that while they're sold with
only 512MB RAM *ALL* of the Demo machines have 1GB RAM.  I find that *VERY*
*DISHONEST* of Apple!

I'd recommend not running any Dashboard Widgets.  Is there anyway to turn
that pig off yet?  It is one of the reasons I went back to 10.3.9 on my G5
2x2 w/3.5GB RAM.  Also, either exit out of Safari regularly, or better yet,
use Firefox as it is far more efficient than Safari.  I'm using the first
Firefox 2 beta, and the difference in memory usage is quite impressive.  I've
yet to be *forced* to restart Firefox, while after a couple weeks of running
Safari it would get so sluggish, I'd have to restart it (the memory usage
would also go through the roof).
 
> I should receive 2GB of memory and a 7200 rpm drive today, so I'll have a
> before/after comparison soon.

That 2GB will do wonders for you!  The faster drive will also speed you up, 
but what will it do for the system heat?

	Zane