Macbook Pro Dilemma

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weppy

n00b
Joined
May 16, 2006
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12
Hi all,

I've been looking for a laptop for graphic design. I will be using primarily CS3 on it.

I've found a Core2Duo MBP 2.16ghz for sale going for 800CAD. The price on it seems good, however i am concerned about the limitation of 3GBS of ram.

Would it be worth it to pickup this macbook pro, considering the ram limitation - or would it be more worth it to spend a bit more (around 1200) on a 2.2 ghz c2d which can handle 4GBS of ram?

Thanks!
 
Yeah, assuming the $800 one is in great shape and still eligible for Apple care I'd jump on that.
 
You could always upgrade the ram yourself if the 1GB difference effects you that much. The upgrade would be much less than the other model obviously.
 
The newer MBPs are much nicer in terms of build quality and features, but performance wise it's not likely you'll notice a difference. 800 CAD seems like a bargain.
 
If it has 3GB, then it has one 1GB dimm and one 2GB dimm. All you'll really need to do is pull the 1GB dimm out and buy one more 2GB dimm which will probably run you around $20-30, which is to say, a lot cheaper than $400.
 
Just upgraded the GF's MBP from 2GB to 4GB this weekend, cost me about $40 (US) to buy the whole 4GB. Just remember that you're going to need a #0 phillips head screwdriver.

On a somewhat related note - I'm glad we didn't try to replace the HDD - on the model she has it's major surgery that I'd gladly fork over $50-100 to put in the hands of a 'professional'.
 
Aren't some of the first set of Intel Macbooks limited in the amount of memory you can install to 3GB?
 
ameoba said:
On a somewhat related note - I'm glad we didn't try to replace the HDD - on the model she has it's major surgery that I'd gladly fork over $50-100 to put in the hands of a 'professional'.
Click to expand...

I second that. I upgraded my RAM from 2 to 4GB on mine and my GF's laptop as well, but I wouldn't want to start taking out the thousand screws!

It's very easy to upgrade ram in Macs....
 
kirbyrj said:
Aren't some of the first set of Intel Macbooks limited in the amount of memory you can install to 3GB?
Click to expand...

No, I have no idea where the hell that comes from since they use the same intel chipsets as their pc counterparts (that all support 4gb of ram, even the cd's). Everywhere I read said that my 17" mbp couldn't use more than 3gb, I installed 4 and guess what? It works just fine. :rolleyes:

Edit: After looking further the original core duo models only supported 2gb, but every single c2d one should support all 4gb. The 3gb addressable problem looks like a 32bit os limitation, which makes sense since 10.4 was 32bit.
 
MatDef said:
No, I have no idea where the hell that comes from since they use the same intel chipsets as their pc counterparts (that all support 4gb of ram, even the cd's). Everywhere I read said that my 17" mbp couldn't use more than 3gb, I installed 4 and guess what? It works just fine. :rolleyes:

Edit: After looking further the original core duo models only supported 2gb, but every single c2d one should support all 4gb. The 3gb addressable problem looks like a 32bit os limitation, which makes sense since 10.4 was 32bit.
Click to expand...

The first generation C2D Macbook Pros (with the X1600) are based off an older Intel chipset that does not support PAE. This means that you're limited to about 3.5 GB of RAM in any OS. Not a big deal, really, just a waste of half a gig when you load up 4. Any MBP with nvidia graphics will support 4 gigs no problem.
 
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