Comments on David Alison's Blog: Upgrade the memory in a MacBook in 3 minutes

@Paresh Bafna: I gotten product from Memory Americ...

2009-08-24T14:13:53.130-04:00

@Paresh Bafna: I gotten product from Memory America, OWC and Newegg and been very happy with them.

Do you recommend a company to purchase additional ...

2009-08-23T19:59:44.147-04:00

Do you recommend a company to purchase additional memory for my macbook? I need to buy about 2 gigs. Do not want to pay top dollar and not sure what company to trust.

@Jason: The max memory you can use in a MacBook is...

2009-08-14T12:48:07.486-04:00

@Jason: The max memory you can use in a MacBook is 4GB - 2 X 2GB sticks. Best bet is get your MacBook first, then check it against the Other World Computing site to see which memory will work for your model.

Thanks for the info here. I am about to buy a Mac...

2009-08-14T12:45:55.742-04:00

Thanks for the info here. I am about to buy a MacBook Pro 13" and the cheapest option is 4gbps. My question is: When buying additional memory, should I buy another 4g card or do I need to buy the 8g card? Put differently, are there two slots or just on in the 13" MBP model?

@Bijay: Glad to hear it helped!

2009-03-24T16:17:00.000-04:00

@Bijay: Glad to hear it helped!

Thanks David. I just upgraded my early 2009 white ...

2009-03-24T16:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks David. I just upgraded my early 2009 white macbook to 4GB. Your video showed me how to do.

Love love love the video, Dave! Keep 'em coming, a...

2008-10-12T11:44:00.000-04:00

Love love love the video, Dave! Keep 'em coming, and I'll keep featuring them on DeGeeked.com like I did this one.

I just upgraded the RAM on my MacBook Pro (1.83 GH...

2008-10-11T14:26:00.000-04:00

I just upgraded the RAM on my MacBook Pro (1.83 GHz, 15") with a 2GB kit from Crucial.

Am experiencing a gliche, however.
The laptop just (randomly) shuts down and restarts.

Spoke to Crucial ... returned the matched RAM from the first @GB kit. Put in a new replacement set.
Same problem.

Happens more when running streaming video over the Internet, but the latest random restart happened with no apps running and the laptop just sitting there, plugged in.

Tried it on Battery and on Powercord, same problem.

Anyone else encounter the same problem?
Anyone have a recommendation for fixing this?

Thanks for the help!
PBN

Apple upgrades are ridiculously expensive and limi...

2008-10-03T17:16:00.000-04:00

Apple upgrades are ridiculously expensive and limited, too.

I bumped my MacBook to 4GB RAM and a 250 Gig HD for $200. My MacBook can only use 3.3 Gigs but matched RAM is faster and the RAM is so cheap it didn't make sense to have 3Gigs in it.

The hard drive is just as easy as the RAM though you need a Torx T8 driver for the screws that hold the drive mechanism onto the sled.

I got my memory upgrade for my Macbook Pro directl...

2008-09-29T09:23:00.000-04:00

I got my memory upgrade for my Macbook Pro directly from www.crucial.com . They also help you pick the correct RAM for you machine. Great prices too.

Another quality RAM resource: datamem.com

2008-09-28T16:25:00.000-04:00

Another quality RAM resource: datamem.com

@Qka: Nope, no anti-static mat. I used to be very ...

2008-09-27T16:52:00.000-04:00

@Qka: Nope, no anti-static mat. I used to be very concerned about static discharge and the damage it could cause but over the years have not used the anti-static wrist strap very often. I have a hard wood floor in my office so static build up is relatively low and I'm very careful to touch the edges of the circuit boards as well as the metal frame during installs. Over the years I've built several dozen systems and haven't had an issue yet. That's not to say it's not a good idea to use an anti-static wrist strap mind you - it's just not something I've bothered to do every time.

@William: Agreed on the MB HD upgrade and the memory on the MBP. I've done both and they are trivial. I'm avoiding doing the HD upgrade on my MBP though. Fortunately the 200GB drive in it has been adequate.

@Magervalp: I run a streaming stock quote service through my online broker. It's a Java based application that's started up from their web site. Once that baby fires up memory is chewed up for a while. I've also noticed heavy Flash based sites will chew up memory and not release it properly until Firefox is restarted.

@Partners in Grime: This is my second purchase from them. I used to use NewEgg exclusively but OWC is nice because they have so much Mac specific information.

I've always had great service from Other World Com...

2008-09-27T16:15:00.000-04:00

I've always had great service from Other World Computing.

Firefox is using 855MB of memoryYowza! Sounds like...

2008-09-27T14:43:00.000-04:00

Firefox is using 855MB of memory

Yowza! Sounds like you're using a bad extension, as Firefox itself shouldn't grow to that much even with heavy usage over a long time.

Upgrading the memory on a MacBook Pro is just as e...

2008-09-27T14:21:00.000-04:00

Upgrading the memory on a MacBook Pro is just as easy. The hard drive on a MacBook is not much harder to upgrade either. I have upgraded both my wife and daughter's MacBook hard drives. The hard drive on the MacBook Pro is another story.

Dave,It looks like that was an anti-static mat you...

2008-09-27T12:32:00.000-04:00

Dave,

It looks like that was an anti-static mat you were working on. Is that correct?

I am often cavalier concerning electrostatic discharge and anti-static procedures when working on electronics, EXCEPT when working with RAM. There I superstitiously adhere to proper procedure.

So if you don't have an anti-static mat to work on, use an anti-static wrist strap. Some memory vendors will include a disposable one when you buy your memory. One end is attached to an electrical ground, the other to your wrist. Call me weird, but I usually install RAM in laptops by covering the top of the washing machine with a towel to protect the computer, and attach my wrist strap to the cold water pipe before opening the computer.

Static can destroy or damage RAM. There is nothing worse than trying to diagnose computer problems that are caused by bad RAM.

Thanks for the different memory vendors Liz and An...

2008-09-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the different memory vendors Liz and Anon.

@John Derosa: I'm glad it helps - between iMovie and my little Canon SD1100IS it only took about 40 minutes to put together, and most of that is futzing around with different fonts and music selection.

Thank you for posting a video of how to do this. I...

2008-09-27T11:43:00.000-04:00

Thank you for posting a video of how to do this. I'm thinking about buying my wife a refurbished Macbook for Christmas, and have been thinking about going the aftermarket route for system memory. Written directions are great, but seeing it done in a video reduces the fear factor. :-)

I've always get my ram from trans intl.com. I've n...

2008-09-27T09:30:00.000-04:00

I've always get my ram from trans intl.com. I've never had a problem and they're cheaper than owc. For the Macbook, 2GB kit is $34.00, 4GB is $76.00.

I'm using a pair of the aluminum 2.8Ghz iMac Extre...

2008-09-27T09:22:00.000-04:00

I'm using a pair of the aluminum 2.8Ghz iMac Extreme models introduced in August '07. I ran them with 2GB installed for a year, then went to NewEgg (www.newegg.com) for a set of 4GB Crucial chips.

Changing these out is hardly any more difficult than the MacBook and has made using Photoshop and Aperture 2 on them a much more pleasant experience.

Thanks for that informative video. I've always tak...

2008-09-27T09:13:00.000-04:00

Thanks for that informative video. I've always taken my Macs to the Chip Merchant for memory upgrades. Great prices and fast service.

http://www.thechipmerchant.com/