1.25gb RAM... Will I appreciate the difference?

[screensaver400]

I've got a 12" Rev. D Powerbook with the stock 512mb of RAM. I'm thinking of taking out the 256 stick and popping in a 1 gig stick, to bring the total to 1.25gb.

I mainly use the machine for internet stuff, school, watching movies, and some creative stuff (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc). What I'm really trying to get is snappyness-- I don't want any hang in clicks. I don't want the spinning beach ball. I want the machine to respond quickly... I want things as snappy as Rice Krispies.

My question: Will bringing up the ram to 1.25 do that? Or will it just make the more intense activities easer?

[Wyatt]

I don't know that it would give you a MASSIVE jump, but more than doubling your RAM is never a bad thing. I'd say if you can afford it, go for it. It will improve your performance, but I don't know how much you really expect.

[screensaver400]

I'm not expecting a Quad 3Ghz G5 out of it... I just want the computer to be able to keep up with me. I don't even have a problem with waiting for a program to start. I just want the effect of Dashboard loading to be smooth, and for Safari windows to close immediately. Stuff like that.

[frizz]

Dashboard... do you mean Expose?

[screensaver400]

Ahem... I mean Konfabulator.

Its not like I have build 8a393 or anything......

[Brad]

Photoshop, et al. are all RAM hogs and would see a great benefit by maxing out the RAM. I have 1.25 GB in my 1.33 GHz 12" PowerBook and I practically never get stalls and spinning cursors waiting for pages to swap. The only times I get that cursor are when apps have genuinely stalled for some other reason.

[screensaver400]

Great, thats the sort of endorsement I was looking for.

My funding is anything but unlimited. I found this ram on newegg... Its got good reviews. Anyone have an objection to it?
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-155-111&depa=0

[Wraven]

Do a search for the maker of that RAM you linked (KingMax) on this board and you will find many mixed reviews.

[baaron]

I cannot reccomend Crucial (www.crucial.com) enough. I've referred to it multiple times in the past.

You'll definitely see an increase in performance, especially when you're running Azureus and Konfabulator in the background all the time... (I know I do!)

Go for it. It will make your machine just that much more snappier, especially with the slow 5400rpm drive.

EDIT: Yet another drive speed boo-boo by yours truly.

[screensaver400]

I'm proud to say that, as I own a Rev D powerbook, I have a 5400 rpm drive. :-D

I would buy from Crucial. But the fact that their prices are more than double those of the Kingmax make me willing to take a chance. NewEgg does have good return/refund policies, after all.

[Wyatt]

I've never gone wrong with Corsair Value Select memory, either. They usually sell for fairly cheap on NewEgg. I definitely recommend them (although I've never used their laptop memory... since I don't have my laptop yet)

[reidman]

I got the 1GB Kingmax stick from Newegg. It works great so far. Good luck.

[Franz Josef]

I've got a 12" Rev. D Powerbook with the stock 512mb of RAM. I'm thinking of taking out the 256 stick and popping in a 1 gig stick, to bring the total to 1.25gb.

I mainly use the machine for internet stuff, school, watching movies, and some creative stuff (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, etc). What I'm really trying to get is snappyness-- I don't want any hang in clicks. I don't want the spinning beach ball. I want the machine to respond quickly... I want things as snappy as Rice Krispies.

My question: Will bringing up the ram to 1.25 do that? Or will it just make the more intense activities easer?

More is always better though I'm not sure the difference will be readily perceptible. My RAM use meter is often above 512 MB but below 1 GB (I have 1.25 GB 12" PB) - which I take me mean 1GB Ok but 512 MB too low for multiple apps / movies / photos