Say I’m contemplating a MacBook… the base model is $1099. 2.0 ghz intel dual core processor, 1 gb. ram. Finally something I can live with for the price.
Except.
I really like the idea of 2 gb. $150 more dollars. Fine.
Maybe I also like the idea of 4gb. Add $850.
Not fine.
I really don’t want to double the price of the thing just for 3 gigs more ram. What’s the smart thing to do here? Get the ram from an independent source? Or just go with the 2 gb?
If you want to do video editing and 3D stuff then go for 2 gb of ram.
Also Macs come with Garage Band already built in, for $100 buy an M-audio keyboard so you can your own music to add to your Blender movies using Garage Band.
Thanks for the keyboard tip.
I’ve already established that 2 gig is the minimum, for blender at least. The question is: can I get additional ram from an outside source at a better price? If yes, I don’t suppose I can order a macbook without ram:o.
If you want cheap, buy commodity hardware (ie, a PC). You might be able to find something that you can install OS X on… or use Linux 
No. Technically, as soon as you’ve bought your mac your soul belongs to Apple. You’ll have to pay for whatever you want to do (or get done with it, as they only trust you with instaling their software you’ve bought via apple) with it and have no options whatsoever to get parts elsewhere. At least, that’s what I understood from a friend of mine (who is very happy with his macbook, btw).
mac ram - 4gb 2x2:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220258
Apple docs on installing memory:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303491
It states you can only install 3 gigs of memory though, so I’m not sure what’s up with that.
It’s possible that the 3 gig limit is no longer applicable in the new models… Ok, look at this table - seems the 2007 models do support 4gb of ram.
Not without using a pirated version of OS X. Apple uses proprietary EVERYTHING.
If you’re set on a Mac, use Newegg. I don’t know if you’ve bought from them before, but I’ve bought close to $2k of computer parts from them. They’re extremely good.
Otherwise, I would vote Linux… with an OS X theme :D.
You could dual boot Linux on a macbook, no?
Oh, did you know that the core on which OSX is based on, called Darwin, is open source? Of course its not true GPL, but is licensed under the Apple Public Source License. It allows modification and redistribution etc. The FSF has this to say about it.
Not that I am a fan of Apple or anything, but it is an interesting fact that I was not aware of until very recently. I found this out because some of the top computer systems on seti@home use Darwin as their OS.
I wouldn’t recommend Frye’s as your outside source for added memory. I don’t know whether you’ve got them in Canada or not. I’ve only had one experience buying additional memory from them, so it’s just anecdotal, but the additional gig RAM I bought from them only lasted about a year in my laptop (a PC) before it gave out.
Hey, the gig of RAM I bought from Fry’s last year toasted my motherboard in about 10 seconds upon installation…took out a really nice computer system. I am still bitter at them…
You know what Fry’s stands for, right? Forever Returning Your Sh*t! (this from a friend who worked there)
Stay far, far away from Fry’s…
Good thing we don’t have them in Canada then:D.
The other thing annoying me about the macbook atm is how much more expensive it is here. When really it should be a bit cheaper.
Yeah it’s easy to install Ram in the Macbooks too. Same with adding a new hard drive. You just take out the battery, unscrew a plate and pop them in.
I would say that Apple’s Ram is quite well priced up to 2GB. Beyond that, it’s much cheaper elsewhere. I’d say buy it with 2GB installed (unless you can find 2GB cheaper of course) and see how it works out for you. Then if you start running out of Ram, upgrade to 4GB. For most people it’s quite difficult to max out 2GB of Ram so I think it could be enough.
That was the old macbook. It was recently updated with the Santa Rosa chipset so it has 4GB Ram support. It also has better graphics now too with the GMA x3100 so blender’s 3D performance should improve.