A series of questions and observations about the 13"

Hola.

Is 2gigs really enough for most users in OSX? I haven't had a mac in 2 or so years and I remember the way they managed resources was fantastic, however I also found that OS X at the time was a bit less snappy when it came to needing the resources in an over all fashion.

For someone who does a lot of writing (word processing/creative writing in StoryMill and Montage) plus IMing, multiple web pages open, itunes, probably iphoto and who knows what else, is two gigs enough to cut it or is it common for people who just upgrade post purchase at home?

Also, does the entry 13" still have the keyboard back lighting? That's a feature I've been DYING to have in a laptop for so long.

And lastly, is the battery life as good as advertised? Is this new integrated battery actually pushing 7 or 8 hours in 'normal' use?

Thanks everyone.
Go sens go.

-Dano

 

I was going to answer you, until I read that.

 

The new 13" mbp got a speed bump, better screen, and backlit keyboard standard. So you're good there.

I think you should be fine with 2 gigs of ram from what you're telling me from your usage. I bought the very base model and all I did was just buy a $60 4gb kit from newegg and installed it myself.

 

I've been pretty shameful of my Sens fanhood these past 18 months or so, so give me a break.

The base 13", the 2gigs that's factory installed, is it default 2 dimms or 1? how many slots are available? Is there a max amount you can install? Thanks.

 

When I upgraded my MBP from 2 to 4 GB of ram, I only noticed the difference when running virtual machines. With Leopard, it seems like you can get by with 1 GB of ram, but I don't think anything beyond 2 GB will be noticed by a typical user.

 

2Gb is enough for your typical usage.

And like other fellow forumers have suggested, after you purchase your computer you can always upgrade the ram yourself for pretty much nothing.

 

Good to know, thanks everyone.

 

I'm a typical user, and here are my stats with 2Gb of RAM and 5 days uptime:

3Gb should be a noticeable improvement. You can get 2 2Gb sticks for quite cheap at most computer stores (NCIX.com).

I have only Firefox open (3 tabs), Safari (3 tabs), several small JPEG files, and an Excel sheet.

 

Theres two slots. The base model use both slots.

You can upgrade the ram to a maximum of 8gb. But this is real expensive.