Good afternoon,

Getting ready to purchase a Macbook Pro, 15";, 2 memory slots, 4 G of ram.
The total price needs to be $1,999 or below (per budget availability at work). 
I want to make sure I can purchase the laptop as is and then increase the memory to
8 G later on down the line.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and take care,
Neal

Hey Neal,

Great seeing you this past weekend!  Changing memory is a cinch, and there are quite a few places with reliable and inexpensive memory that will be able tot o get you to that 8GB mark, if you're needing to hold off and upgrade later.  [url=http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/8566DDR3S8GP/]This[/url] is one such place.  The process of swapping out the memory is pretty painless once you get the bottom cover off.

I hope this was the answer you were looking for.

Bryan

Bryan,

Howdy!  Great to see you as well.  What a rewarding
time in Dayton.  Thanks for the memory upgrade info.
It was exactly the answer I was looking for.

Take care,
Neal

Bryan,

Hope you're doing well.  Purchased the memory
upgrade for my laptop.  I looked on the site
for the most recent model of the IMAC.  Do they
sell that RAM or do I need to go the Apple
site.  The computer was ordered with 4 gigs
of Ram and 3.06 ghz processor.

4 gb 1067 MHz RAM

I guess the other question would be:
Is 4 gigs enough?  Would 8 be
distinctly better?

Thanks,
Neal

Macs don't need specific RAM.  You can get the same spec from sites like Newegg.com for around $250-270 for 4GB x 2. 

However, I have yet to reach the limit of my 4GB with a dense score.  Unless you're doing an entire symphony orchestra + full marching percussion ensemble, 4 GB should be more than enough.

hat's not n[quote author=J Mattson link=topic=3619.msg19486#msg19486 date=1276032370]
Unless you're doing an entire symphony orchestra + full marching percussion ensemble, 4 GB should be more than enough.
[/quote]

Not necessarily.  I have 4GB and get very close to maxing it out any time I load a large band score. It's primarily because I have the ";Use same slots for similar sounds"; unchecked, but to have real control over the sounds you're using, you sort of need it set up that way.  For instance, you'd never be able to have two staves access an the same instrument with different mod wheel values i.e. the new Cymbal Rack Combo or Vibes/Marimbas.  Also, any CC7 changes you send to any stave that shares a sound with another also gets affected.  This is particularly annoying when working with synths an the like.  However, with that check box checked, you're right - you'd very rarely come close to filling up your RAM.

Just my take on it. If you've got the money, there's no reason to not upgrade, since you'll be able to load your samples in a more efficient way, being able to devote more RAM to DFD.

Do you load samples for every individual instrument?  I max use 2 marimbas, 2 vibes, and 1 of everything else, even though I'm usually writing for 3 or 4 of each. 

Yeah, I write for groups who want a staff for each instrument e.g. 4 marimbas, 4 vibes, Xylo, bells, crotales, chimes, 3 racks, timps, 2 synths then band being a mix of a few libraries, but none of which are large... yet. I prefer that anyways since it's give you much more control and more options orchestrationally.  I also use the Full/Manual versions to have more control as well, since I don't have the time to go into a DAW later to dial in a recording. So, that being said, I supposed the average user could get by with limited staves, all loading Lite versions of each instrument. 

Jesse, which RAM have you bought that way relatively inexpensive and reliable for your Macbook Pro?  I need to upgrade to 8GB and the only thing I know is that Crucial is reliable but more expensive, and MacSales.com have what seem like decent deals.  Don't know much about the various brands they sell on NewEgg, but G.Skill seems to get decent reviews elsewhere.

[quote author=Bryan Harmsen link=topic=3619.msg19490#msg19490 date=1276039378]
... but G.Skill seems to get decent reviews elsewhere.
[/quote]

I have 4 sticks (6GB) of G.Skill in my PC desktop. No complaints here.

Cool, I'm sold. 8GB here we come.

Bryan, what I mean is even when I have many staves, I don't use more than 2 instances of samples loaded.  If I'm writing for 4 Marimbas, I still load only 2.  That's because they are not usually playing the same part or in the same octave- it sounds the same in the end.

Ever since the switch to intel, Macs are not so picky with the memory.  In fact, you can find faster memory (lower CAS latency) than what ships with the Macs.  I have upgraded maybe intel 10 Macs (friends & family) without paying the extra $ for a ";mac"; version of it.  [url=http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226047]This 8 GB kit[/url] would be slightly faster than the OWC stuff, but probably not noticeably.