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    does osx lag?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by syalam, Jul 13, 2007.

  1. syalam

    syalam Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am going to purchase the base configuration for the white macbook. I was just wondering does OSX lag with 1GB of RAM? I will be doing basic web-surfing, music, and word processing. I will also be using Eclipse since I am a programmer. I come from Ubuntu which barely ever lags on my current 512MB RAM machine.
     
    syalam, Jul 13, 2007
    #1
  2. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    lol.

    improper use of the term lag from the ubuntu linuxist?

    what sort of world is this?

    osx itself isn't going to have a problem with 1 gig of ram. however, if you have a bunch of active programs you will experience slow down.

    closing the window in osx does not close the program...
     
    masterchef341, Jul 13, 2007
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  3. Budding

    Budding Notebook Virtuoso

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    It won't 'lag', as in become unresponsive or something, but it will be noticably slower than if you had 2GB or more RAM. Things will take longer to open and load etc.
     
    Budding, Jul 13, 2007
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  4. queshy

    queshy Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

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    there was a point where my 24" iMac had a gig of ram and it was pretty fast. it shouldn't lag, but it's a good idea to upgrade to 2 gigs if you can afford it.
     
    queshy, Jul 14, 2007
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  5. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    well, in general... no, but OSX likes to cache on the RAM A LOT, so if you open many/big program or leave the program open while the computer is put to sleep, it will lag as the computer is swapping the file from the RAM to HDD, but after it do that, its okay again. i'am using 1GB on my macbook right now, and i would explain my experience as; 'i don't mind having 1gb of ram, but don't mind also to get 2gb of ram'

    edit: oh btw, i open, HEAPS and i mean HEAPS of webpages at once, so i think at your condition, you'll be adequate with 1gb. and besides, it is very easy to change RAM. and besides i think its better to buy your apple at a retailer rather than online shop. as it is easier to get support.
     
    wobble987, Jul 16, 2007
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  6. jimboutilier

    jimboutilier Notebook Evangelist NBR Reviewer

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    OS X runs pretty well in 1GB (Faster than Win XP with 1gb with equivalent hardware). Like XP with 1gb however it will slow down as you start running applications.

    OS X in 2gb however is extremely quick and you can run lots of apps without a noticeable slow down.
     
    jimboutilier, Jul 16, 2007
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  7. l33t_c0w

    l33t_c0w Notebook Deity

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    I've had the opposite experience of jim. In my case, one gig of ram in xp is plenty for most uses, but I've felt that was a little thin for my use of my Macbook. I thought I was being reasonable enough, but it was obviously craving more ram (extra beachballs). I remember having Skype, several browser tabs, and iTunes open. There were probably a couple/few other programs in that vein that I had running as well.
     
    l33t_c0w, Jul 16, 2007
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  8. Paul

    Paul Mom! Hot Pockets! NBR Reviewer

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    iTunes is a pretty big memory eater. As is Firefox if you have a bunch of tabs open. An iTunes/Firefox combo will bring a 512MB PC to its knees if it's not a really fresh installation, so you'll notice plenty of lag with only 1GB. Especially with iTunes 7, things are even worse (especially if you use Cover Flow). I think this will be one thing that will slow down Leopard quite a bit (these features are now in Finder).
     
    Paul, Jul 16, 2007
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  9. wobble987

    wobble987 Notebook Virtuoso

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    yes, XP with 1GB is plenty enough! it would probably only uses around ~500+ when u do light activites. (web-browse listen to music, etc.) it is this machintosh that takes 1GB of ram when u just doing web-browsing, luckily it manages memmory just fine. it does lag when it swap between memmory and HDD but after that things went fine again. all in all mac is a lot more memmory hungry if you ask me..

    btw, in mac, with 1gb of ram, i usually only have 40-15mb of free memmory, yet it does not lag.
     
    wobble987, Jul 17, 2007
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