[guod]

I am having problems with airport on my computer but I will probably get it fixed so i am looking ahead to upgrades. Should I get 256MB ram for it? Does it need more for os 10.2.8 or 10.3? Is the dvd drive upgrade hard?

[Cold Warrior]

Sure. RAM is always good. 512 MB though would be even better.

[guod]

how can i install more ram. it only had 1 ram slot? so my max is 512? or is there a way i can buy another stick of something and install it somewhere?

[megasad]

Originally Posted by guod 

I am having problems with airport on my computer but I will probably get it fixed so i am looking ahead to upgrades. Should I get 256MB ram for it? Does it need more for os 10.2.8 or 10.3? Is the dvd drive upgrade hard?

Originally Posted by guod 

how can i install more ram. it only had 1 ram slot? so my max is 512? or is there a way i can buy another stick of something and install it somewhere?

I probably have the same spec. iBook as you, or one very similar.

There is 128MB RAM soldered to the logic board that you cannot get to and then one free slot beneath the keyboard into which you can put up to 512MB, making for a total of 640MB RAM. There are easy to follow instructions at iFixit.com. 256MB will cost you $57.99 whilst 512MB will cost $87.99.

I'd recommend the 512MB and installing Mac OS X 10.4 if you have a copy; Dashboard and the like will be a little slow on account of the puny graphics card, but you will be able to use the latest versions of various software. If you don't have 10.4, 10.3.9 is much better than 10.2.8 and will run a little faster than 10.4 as well.

To change the optical drive is a moderately involved process. I've taken my iBook apart several times in order to change the hard drive and display and I find it not too bad. Have a look at the instructions at iFixit.com again to see if it's something you think you would like to do. If you decide to do it, you might as well upgrade the hard drive too, as 15GB/20GB is pretty dang tiny by today's standards; I have 60GB in my iBook and just put 250GB in my MacBook.

As for finding a replacement optical drive, that is the reason I've not changed mine from a DVD drive to a Combo one, but any ATA tray-loading one should be okay, you might just need to look for a special one if you want to transfer the bezel from the existing drive.

Hope that was of some help.

[guod]

well I dont really need a bigger hard drive as i am just going to take this computer to college to take notes and surf the web

do i need a specific brand of ram? or can i just buy this?

512 MB CENTON PC133/100 SODIMM for Latops / Notebooks - (eBay item 270159375922 end time Sep-02-07 13:20:33 PDT)

[Cold Warrior]

If it's your first year, new to college, and new to broadband, you'll find ways to eat up HD space. Otherwise, if you've had broadband and you're not into file sharing, then you probably won't go overboard on storage needs.

[megasad]

Originally Posted by guod 

well I dont really need a bigger hard drive as i am just going to take this computer to college to take notes and surf the web

do i need a specific brand of ram? or can i just buy this?

512 MB CENTON PC133/100 SODIMM for Latops / Notebooks - (eBay item 270159375922 end time Sep-02-07 13:20:33 PDT)

No particular brand required, no, and that one you linked to should be fine.

[guod]

Originally Posted by Cold Warrior 

If it's your first year, new to college, and new to broadband, you'll find ways to eat up HD space. Otherwise, if you've had broadband and you're not into file sharing, then you probably won't go overboard on storage needs.

no i am very into computers and am still living at home. i would just use this as a way to get my notes home and stuff. i have another computer at home( a pc) but was able to get an ibook for a very nice price so i thought i would enter the apple world

[guod]

is there any special TYPE of pc133 sodimm ram that i need to buy? Should it all work?