Macbook Pro Ram and Screen Questions

[Titan]

Thanks in advance for the great advice.

I am sniffing around the new, low end of the three MBP again. I can actually get the Mt. Royal College rate through my wife so $1899 sounds pretty good to me.

A couple of questions:

1. I would like to upgrade the RAM to the 4 gb max it can take but I think there are only two slots. This means taking out the 2 x qb rams and putting in 2 x 2gb rams. Easy enought. But what about the 2 gb I took out? Is this basically wasted? I could sell it on ebay I guess but not really into that much effort? Any thoughts?

2. Glossy or matte screen? I am leaning towards the glossy as it looks pretty sharp but was wondeing if any current owners had any thoughts?

3. I am thinking of getting a Mighty Mouse. Any thoughts or alternatives that are wireless and more durable?

4. I am going to upgrade my wireless connection at home and want to take advantage of the N capabilities of the MBP. I was thinking one of these three:
D-Link Xtreme N Gigabit Router $139

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...15586(ME).aspx

D-Link Wireless N Router $65

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...18947(ME).aspx

LINKSYS Wireless-N Home Router (Draft 802.11n) $100


http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...17062(ME).aspx

Do I need the extra horsepower in the big one? Is there any difference between the dlink and linksys ones?

Thats all for now.

Thanks for all your anticipated help.

[HotHotHeat]

1. Whatever you do, don't upgrade from the apple site. It's outrageously overpriced.

A place like Other World Computing is great:http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upgr...=Show+Upgrades

2. Shiny things look pretty.

3. IMO, stick with the mac mice. Wired/Wireless might mouse. the ease of setup is worth it alone. Can't speak for 3rd party mice...Most of them are 'designed' for PC, but work.

I know it's a little bit more, but for what it can do, the Airport Wireless Extreme is an awesome buy. Not to mention the configuration actually makes sense.

http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/

[llama64]

Glossy vs Matte: Glossy looks really nice but it can cause a lot of reflections. If you are going to use the laptop in a lot of brightly lit areas, I'd recommend you look at the matte. Otherwise, glossy will do. I got a glossy LCD for my office and left my laptop as a matte.

I can't stand the "Mighty Mouse". Test it out before spending the cash. Apple does a lot of things right, but it cannot figure out how to design a proper mouse. Any Logitech or Microsoft mouse will work as both manufacturers have released OS X configuration software. I prefer MS mice, but it's up to you.

If you're tight on cash, get the Linksys router. The Dlink is decent but if you want to more stuff (network backups, lots of throughput traffic), you'll end up replacing it. The Airport might be more then you need but it's definitely a good product. I'll probably replace my D-Link with an Airport Extreme just for the network hard-drive features so it can interface with Time Machine.

When I upgraded my Macbook's memory, I bought a 2Gb single stick from Memory Express and replaced one side. I now have 2.5 Gb of Ram in my Laptop and it's purring along very happily. Haven't felt a need to get anymore since my free RAM has never dropped below 1GB... As HotHotHeat said, do not buy memory from Apple. It's ~40$ cheaper if you go third-party. Just ask at Memory Express for some Apple laptop memory and they will know what you want.

Join us on the dark side.

[Titan]

Thanks H# and Llama.

Third party for sure for the Ram. I like the idea of only upgrading one slot. I was thinking they had to be paired.

I read some pretty negative stuff about the airport that has scared me off. You think this is not an issue?

I did try the MM a bit at London Drugs and thought it was pretty good. I am leaning that way and if I don't like it, or at least can't get used to it I will explore others.

Thanks again.

[Barnes]

I have a glossy screen and i don't really like it. I have heard that it is better on the LED backlit panels though.

I hate the mighty mouse. I tend to click with my entire hand as per how the original apple mouse was designed. With the mighty mouse I am always right clicking. If its new to you, it would be a great mouse but I can't use it.