[solinari6]

I have 512 megs in my mac Mini, but I'm not really thrilled with the performance. I'm not sure how much the gig upgrade will help, but I'm willing to try.

Where's the best place to get (cheap) compatible ram?

If I bring my own ram stick to the apple store, will they install it, without voiding my warrenty?

[gEEk]

There are plenty of reports on Apple's discussion board (mac mini:expansion) about the mini being quite particular about the RAM you use. Kingston PC2700 seems a no-go, but Kingston PC3200 is a yes, for instance--even though the mini needs only PC2700.

For myself, I went right to Crucial and have had no problems. Extended hardware test ran without flaw, and I haven't had any crashes in ~3 weeks. Crucial is more expensive, but it was worth it for me and the peace of mind. I bought the PC3200 so that I could use it in other products if I wanted to, but Crucial guarantees the PC2700 to work with the mini.

[solinari6]

Did you see a big difference once you added the gig? I'm mainly having problems with having lots of windows open and using expose... it just isn't as smooth as I would like it. I'm also have stutters in DVD playback, but I'm afriad that that's caused by the lack of video ram, and the upgrade won't help that.

I also get the swirly colored "thinking" pizza alot, but I guess that might be caused by the slow CPU (even though I have the faster of the 2). I have the CPU monitor turned on, and it maxes quite frequently.

[SledgeHammer]

I apologize for being sort of OT, but it just interested me...I have a 3.5 year old 500mhz TiBook with 512 megs RAM, and expose always seems smooth, and I don't think I get the beachball a lot, but maybe I do and I'm just used to it. I see a lot of people complaining about the lack of snappiness with their new Macs, but I get the feeling that no matter what I upgrade to in six months time or so, I will be more than happy with its performance.

[Wraven]

solinari6,
The Apple Store I go to (in Plano, TX) will NOT install 3rd party RAM for you. They argue that they cannot warranty the RAM (no sh*t - not asking them to), so Apple "will not let them" install it. Therefore, they suck.

[solinari6]

I guess i should mention, that the majority of the apps I'm running when expose gets chunky are java apps. For some reason, my mac mini chokes on java apps. Will more memory help with that?

[Wraven]

solinari,
I imagine it would. The video card should not be the limiting factor (it is plenty good enough for Java 2D apps), nor the processor (same here). It COULD be the hard drive (loading the JVM and the code from the HD to the RAM), but that is doubtful. My guess is the the JVM and the java code are RAM hogs. I am getting my 1GB within a week. Want to point me to your Java program(s) and I will try them out? It may save you from a pointless upgrade. Fair warning though, I will have a non-standard HD at that time (100GB 5400 RPM).

[solinari6]

It's just one of those java chat programs. Multiple chat rooms open + multiple private chats = sputtering mac mini

[Wraven]

solinari,
That's gotta be RAM (amount, not speed). I think a 1GB upgrade would behoove you.