How to quadruple your efficiency, at a quarter of the cost, with minimum effort: Memory, the best MacBook accessory

Monday, 21 August 2006 @ 10:43pm by Kathleen Bright

No, it's not a piece of shareware software, although I love TextMate (amazing text editor), Transmit (FTP program) & NewsFire (RSS reader). (I highly recommend all of these – they are well worth paying for the full programs).

No, it's not even an accessory, per se, although I love my lap protector (essential if you plan to use your new Mac laptop on your lap).

It's something that sounds & looks rather dull – RAM, that is, extra memory. It's a bit techy (you have to unscrew things), it's not sexy (it's not even white) and it's expensive (even more so if you buy it from Apple (here's a tip, don't – I recommend the PNY brand)), but you will not regret it. If you don't want to fiddle with the innards of your Mac, get a geekier friend to do it, like I did.

If you use Office, PhotoShop or Dreamweaver on your MacBook, you will certainly notice the difference immediately. I mainly use Firefox, TextMate & NewsFire and it's made such a difference, which is why I'm eulogising about it here.

This advice is specific to MacBooks, rather than MacBook Pros, although I recommend an upgrade for users of the latter too. (My business partner & another colleague of mine both upgraded their MacBook Pros and are loving it too).

We all got our memory from eBay and saved £300; I recommend you do too. (2 GB of RAM cost us just over £100 from eBay, but is priced at over £400 at Apple). The MacBook ships with 512 MB of memory; I upgraded to the maximum you can, i.e. 2 GB, so it really is four times faster. MacBook Pros ship with 1G, so you can 'only' double their memory.

Update: Glenn Wolsey has some insights on the best setups for professional bloggers in Which Mac for Me? Blogger

Countdown: Two days to new Apple products? iPod? iPhone? iWiFi?! 10 Jan 2007: See Best iPhone news and reviews or,...
Buy a Mac! Mac review, debunking the myths In homage to the World Wide Developers' Conference, which I...
Best iPhone news and reviews or, New iPhone debunks myths Well, Apple announced their brand new iPhone yesterday. Since I...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Posted in Apple

Permalink 4 comments, add yours »

4 responses to “How to quadruple your efficiency, at a quarter of the cost, with minimum effort: Memory, the best MacBook accessory”

on 24 Aug 2006 at 7:09pm Glenn Wolsey

I couldn't agree more, invest your money and max the RAM out on your Mac, it makes the world of a difference in every single task.
on 24 Aug 2006 at 7:59pm Kathleen

Thanks for the comment, Glenn. I couldn't believe the difference it made, but now that I know I feel everyone needs to see the truth! The more bloggers spreading the word, the better.

Kx
on 09 Sep 2006 at 7:56am hostile

Just did it…the results are immediate and you will not regret it. RAM upgrade is a must.
on 13 Sep 2006 at 2:22pm Kathleen

Thanks, hostile. Glad to hear you're feeling the benefits.

Kx