[Skypat]

Hi
I have a new PowerBook 12 since last Tuesday with the standard 256 MB DDR RAM in it. I would like to upgrade to 512 or 768 MB. I can't decide between the 2.

The difference in term of price is important (€43-113) and I'de like to know if the difference in term of performance (between 512 and 768) would be *really* noticable.

Furthermore : could a big amount of RAM (768 MB)lower the heat of the computer since more operations would be performed by the RAM instead of the hard disk (ROM) ? It could reduce disk access ... (but maybe the heat comes more from the processor than the disk by the way)

Thank you

[sheer]

Go for 768 unless you can afford a 1gig stick to go for 1.25gig. More is better with OS X. A 512mb PC2100 SODIMM cost me £85 delivered next day (UK) from Crucial, had no problems at all with it.

[uv23]

I recently upgraded my 12" PB to 768mb of ram and love it. I was wondering the same thing about cooler running because of less hard disk access but haven't noticed anything yet. The main two places I've noticed improvement are faster app loading times and last night I had Mail, Safari, Word, Photoshop, and InDesign all open and working smoothly. Not bad for a wee 1GHz laptop.

[Skypat]

Hi UV23 (I think we bought our PowerBook more or less at the same time haven't we ?).

My more precize question is : what difference would it make between 512 and 768 MB of RAM ... I guess the difference is noticable between 256 and 512 but 768 ... A 512 stick is way more expensive than a 256

[bkb]

Hello,
I am also considering upgrading my Rev B 12" to 768 from 256. My concern is battery life. Do you notice an improvement or reduction in battery life at 768? I have heard mixed things.

Thanks,
BKB.

[uv23]

Ehhh money shmoney. In all honesty though, I think you should upgrade to as much ram as you can possibly afford. The reason being that you can't simply add more later and you're stuck selling whatever you get now if you want more down the road. For me, that was a 512mb upgrade to 768 total. At its price point, I feel that it's the best value for the money and will give you the most life from your PowerBook. If the 1 gig upgrades weren't so ridiculously expensive, I'd have gotten one of those.

And yeah it seems like there are a few of us who all got our 12" PowerBooks at the same time. By the way, if you haven't already could you respond to my 12" poll at http://forums.macnn.com/69/mac-notebooks/192266/12-pb-owners-does-your-screen/

Cheers

[Skypat]

Yep UV, I have already answered your question in your poll (my answer was "no")

[jamester]

I agree completely with uv23. I bought 512 extra because it was the most I could reasonably afford. The 256 was less than $50, the 512 was aroudn $110, and the 1GB was over $400. It was clear to me that the 512 was the best value at the time, and I've not regretted it once.

Even if I didn't *need* 512 extra for what apps I run today, I try to think of what I'll run on the system in a year or two - more is better. Also like uv23, if the 1GB had been cheaper, I would have bought it instead of the 512.

But all told, I'm a happy guy with 768 total. =)