Now that the student loan surplus have arrived, I must find ways to spend it.
I’m planning on getting my laptop asap, which may involve my first trip to the dreaded temple of consumption: the mall of america. I’m planning on getting a 14″ iBook with a DVD reader, not writer (doesn’t seem worth $200ish). I’m also planning on upgrading the ram, to like 768MB. This would put me in the awkward circumstance of having more ram on my laptop than on my desktop. Checking on pricewatch, I found a 1 GB ram stick (compatible w/ the desktop) for $77. I Like what Moore’s Law does when I’m not looking. So now the question becomes, is 1 GB enough, or should I shoot for two? Heh. =)
Silly question: what is “Moore’s Law”?
Google “Moore’s Law”, you’re feeling lucky gets you
http://www.intel.com/research/silicon/mooreslaw.htm
Which has more information on it than I do 😉
sorry. I have this phobia of google since the time I tried to figure out what Jon Stewart meant when he talked about “tea-bagging” a hooker.
No more “I’m feeling lucky” searches for me.
After an experience like that I can understand your reluctance. =)
Elvis impersonators and midgets.
No more of that, thank you.
Wikipedia is your friend:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore%27s_Law
If you want to nitpick, as they state in the article it isn’t actually a law (as mathematicians define the term), just an empirical observation on the rate of progression of the semiconductor industry. But whatever, it’s still nice. (If sometimes annoying in how quickly something you bought goes vaguely obselete….)
I share your annoyance at the rapid outclassing of my toys as well. :p
Thanks for the link.
is 1 GB enough, or should I shoot for two?
I found that performance on my Mac increased significantly going from 512 to 1GB, but I did notice even more speed increases at the 2GB level. I always say go for the extra memory. Applications are going to want more and more of it as time goes on.
I’ll go to the mall with you if it will make you less scared and/or disgusted. 🙂
I think I’m going to go to Southdale after classes are over for today. Their mac store is less out of the way. Plus, that way I can simply visit a shrine to materialism and avoid the Cathedral of Consumerism.
I think I asked you this already, but did you check out the Mac store near our house? Their posters advertise something to the effect of being able to order anything you need.
There’s a difference between “order” and “give you today”. =)
I have a G4 933 with just 512K of ram and I’ve never run out of memory. Ever. I bet you’ll be fine without the upgrade even.
Oh, and I didn’t realize they bothered making them with only reader not writer. It was standard when I bought it, and finding a simple non-W DVD was difficult when I had to replace mine.
what do you do with 1 gig of ram?
Keep my usual (ridiculously large) number of tabs open and not suffer for it? =) Plus, for video gaming purposes, tres useful.
I have 768 MB in my Powerbook, and don’t have any noticeable problems with low memory, at least according to MenuMeters memory usage indicators. But then, I don’t do anything too extreme.
The Southdale Apple store has been a zoo recently; I had to get new keyboard Sunday, and the place was insanely busy. Other options include FirstTech and MicroCenter as authorized dealers, but I have no idea if they honor student discounts…
Alas firtTech does not, but the southdale store wasn’t so bad. =)
You should keep an eye on dealram, too.