New to MAC - more RAM?

Hi,

After having used PC´s for 10 years I´v decided to switch to MAC.
I´ve decided for the MB 2.0 GHz.
My needs are quite basic (I´m a university student of finance, so spreadsheets and MS Office since it must be compatible with other students files) - my reading of forums and reviews so far has made me aware of the fact that more RAM (min. 1GB) it desirable. I would be willing to pay the Apple price for 1 GB RAM but certainly not for 2 GB (+600 US$). However, opening up my MAC would mean a goodbye to the 2 year warranty offered in Denmark so I´m not too switched on that idea.

Now my question is: for basic use (internet, office, viewing pictures and watching movies although rarely, if ever, at once and as a general work tool) would I need more than 1 GB of RAM for my MB to be futureproof? (is Leopard gonna require more than 1 GB of RAM to run smoothly?). Should it be so that the 2 GB option is preferred (I mean losing the 2 year warranty by unauthorized opening and risking the perfomance. I´ve read a few posts on this and since I´m no computer wiz I prefer to let the pro´s handle such things) what would be the best choice of RAM and installation(of course to get someone who knows MAC to do it; but I don´t)

Thanks in advance

 

Well I know here in the US replacing RAM does not void the warranty. All it requires is removing 2 or 3 screws and sliding it into place. It is really simple and I doubt it would void your warranty. They would never know that you did it. Just keep the old RAM and put it back in if you need to have it serviced.

As for needing it. You will be using Rosetta to run Office, and the more RAM the better. Although, at 1GB you will get good performance in Office.

 

The RAM is user-installable so you won't void your warranty by replacing it.
But 1GB should be enough for your needs I'd say. You can upgrade it later fairly cheap if you find that you need more.

 

Yeah, i'd try to either get the smallest amount of ram directly from apple and try to find a 1gig stick someplace. That way you can pop in another gig at a later time if need be, and not worry about having to buy 2 sticks if you bought 2 512meg sticks.

 

Thanks for the insight. Would you recommend any RAM modules over others?

 

I recommend the ram I have in my signature, there is a link provided as well to what will work. You can read the reviews as well and you will see tons of other MB/MBP owners use it as well.