i dont really understand the specific specs of computers. how is 4 GB ram different from 8 GB ram and what difference does it make? i think 320 GB is how much memory you can have but does it make a big diff if you have 500 GB instead of 320? would it make the computer run faster? i mostly surf the web and do school stuff. is it worth upgrading once you already have the computer?
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320 GB hard drive and 4 GB ram
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You should be fine. If you plan to run lots of programs at any one time, and I mean lots, then you may see a slowdown. For the average user, tooling around on the web and writing with Word or Pages you'll be ok, heck, you could even use a 5 year old Mac and still be ok.
It's when you start to do stuff with really big files, like professional video editing or high end graphics you'll benefit from more ram but 4gigs is really the sweet spot I think. My brother in law and mom have the same identical 6 year old Macbook. Great machine but he has 1gig of ram and she has 4gigs. His machine grinds to a halt often now and newer programs need more ram but my moms machine is as smooth as butter.
320gigs refers to your hard drive space, should be fine.
It's when you start to do stuff with really big files, like professional video editing or high end graphics you'll benefit from more ram but 4gigs is really the sweet spot I think. My brother in law and mom have the same identical 6 year old Macbook. Great machine but he has 1gig of ram and she has 4gigs. His machine grinds to a halt often now and newer programs need more ram but my moms machine is as smooth as butter.
320gigs refers to your hard drive space, should be fine.
The extra ram should help with faster boot times i think. If you want a faster boot time, replace the hard drive with something faster. the low end MBP's come with a 5400 RMP HDD. Get a 7200 RMP HDD, that should make a difference.
Having 8GB of ram only helps when running a large number of applications, or running intense software (Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, etc.) Even gaming runs perfectly smooth on 4GB of ram. I have 8GB and I don't even use 30% of it most of the time.
HDD size depends on your usage. I would personally recommend a Seagate Momentus XT (many people love it). It has some built in flash memory to cache your most used files. Here's the link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591
Hope your upgrades go well!
You think a bigger HD would make your computer run faster?
You should probably just stick to a netbook.
Take it easy. At one point in time, you had to learn what RAM and HDD meant, too. I could give you a hard time about using HD (which is short for "high definition") instead of HDD (which is short for "hard disk drive"), but I don't, because people here generally try to be helpful and keep the smugness to a minimum.
But then he can't run OS X
Whatever you choose will suit you well, as it seems you want to sit back and relax and enjoy your Mac. So there's no need to really worry about the specifics. Although I would recommend and SSD.
The amount of RAM determines how many applications (programs) you can run simultaneously.
The Hard Drive size (320GB in your case) determines how many files you can store on your computer (i.e. documents, music, pictures, video, etc..).
That being said, having 8GB RAM and/or 500GB Hard Drive will not give you boost in speed/performance unless you're stressing their capacity.
From what you've described, 4GB of RAM and 320GB Hard Drive is more than enough for you.
Just as an example, on 320GB Hard Drive you can store:
over 600,000-1,000,000 Documents (In MS Office or iWork format, depending on size)
or
over 40,000 Highest quality MP3s (at 320Kbps)
or
over 30,000 High quality photos (at 10 megapixels)
or
approx. 70hrs of High quality video (720p HD, in H.264)
Hope that helps