Has anyone upgraded there mini with ram?

Was it hard? Or did you take it somewhere to have them do it.

Apple wants 300$ for the ram and a free upgrade

I bought the same ram for 75$, I'm jsut debating whether to do it myself or have someone else lookat it.

10/30/2007 8:39:27 AM

you can do it yourself. i've upgraded the RAM and HDD on my Mac Mini. the only hard part is getting the case open. you have to use a thin blade, like a putty knife, and just be careful.
this this guide for step-by-step
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/Mac-Mini-PowerPC/RAM/82/13/

10/30/2007 8:53:17 AM

Was this your first time updating it?

10/30/2007 9:19:28 AM

I actually just did this about a week ago. I was nervous about doing it as well, but trust me, it is EASY! The hardest part is getting the case open, but if you are careful, it goes pretty easy. Once you are inside, putting the ram in takes like 2 minutes.

go here for videos on how to upgrade the ram for whatever mini you are using: http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/installation.cfm

10/30/2007 9:24:51 AM

That's what i saw. it looked slightly hard. but it's worth a shot. Ram should be hear tomorrow. Did you use a putty knife?

10/30/2007 9:27:44 AM

^^^ i did the RAM over a year ago, and it went fine.
Then a few weeks ago I did the HDD. To get to the HDD, you have to basically take it apart - removing the optical drive, fan and wireless antennas. I had several problems with the HDD (not computer-related) so I ended up swapping back and forth between the old and new drive about 6 times, so by now i'm a damned expert at taking that thing apart. But all that said, no, it's not really hard, especially following some of the guides linked here.


^ when i replaced the HDD recently, i couldn't find a putty knife, so I used 2 small flathead screwdrivers, and it worked fine. But it did leave some small marks on the bottom of the case, so it's best if you can get ahold of a putty knife.

[Edited on October 30, 2007 at 9:31 AM. Reason : .]

10/30/2007 9:30:30 AM

^^

I went to Home Depot and grabbed a $1.99 thin putty knife and used it with an old credit card I had lying around. Used the card to hold one side open as I worked around with the knife. It's not really all that hard.

10/30/2007 10:01:28 AM

Quote :

" Apple wants 300$ for the ram and a free upgrade"

what the hell?


for $300, it's better be steve jobs installing my RAM.

10/30/2007 10:04:14 AM

yeah it's ridiculous

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nclm=F9E98CF0

10/30/2007 10:15:19 AM

all vendors charge crazy amounts for RAM upgrades.
the difference between a 1GB and 2GB upgrade is $150 from Apple.
I just checked a Dell Inspiron notebook, and the difference from 1GB (the default) to 2GB is $125. so....

10/30/2007 12:21:53 PM

The same ram apple buys from samsung is 75$ for two gigs

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Samsung/53SDR2SAM1GB/

10/30/2007 12:24:58 PM

I wanna up my Mac mini's RAM to 2 GB too. Does anybody know if Samsung's memory is any better or worse than Crucial's? Their 2 GB kit is only $59.99.

10/31/2007 1:03:10 PM

Make sure your Mini can handle that much RAM. I have a 1st Gen G4 that can only do 1GB DDR. But if you have an Intel Mini, you can probably do 2-4GB.

Samsung and Crucial (Micron) are both fine. I would be potentially damaging my own welfare and future, though, if I didn't mention that Kingston/Qimonda/Aneon are also ok

10/31/2007 3:56:50 PM

I got Samsung

A Core Duo can take 2 gig

Core Duo 2 can take 3 gig.

10/31/2007 9:22:35 PM

I'm not sure if they have changed the case on the Mini since the G4 Mini's, but the case will make a nice Popping sound and sound like you are breaking it. Scared the out of me.


[Edited on November 1, 2007 at 5:24 AM. Reason : asdf]

11/1/2007 5:22:42 AM

^That's what I've heard.

11/1/2007 6:29:22 AM

thanks, fellas

I think I'm gonna go with Crucial this time.

11/1/2007 11:17:44 AM

Apple wants $700 to configure a new macbook pro wiht 4gb of memory. Newegg sells the exact same memory for $81 now thats insane!!!

11/1/2007 11:23:13 AM

what's insane is that the spot price of DDR2 has dropped 78% in the past year. Obviously computer makers are going to charge a premium to make upgrades for you (so, e.g., you will never see 4GB upgrades for $80 from apple or dell or HP) but they are also much slower to respond to spot prices for all the various components than retailers are.

11/1/2007 12:32:49 PM

^ well duh

they are trying to make money, and people that dont know how to upgrade their ram arent going to know the spot prices vs what they are charged by the manufacturer

11/1/2007 1:44:07 PM

i know, that's fine. i expect OEMs to charge more for upgrades.

I'm just saying, right now is a particularly strange time for RAM. Eventually, Apple/Dell/HP will drop their RAM upgrade prices to more closely reflect the market. my point is, Apple probably hasn't dropped their price for 4GB DDR2 much or any in the past year, so it's now/still $700. One year ago, though, 4GB DDR retail would have run you ~$380. So... even if apple was charging $700 then, that would be a perceived markup of <100%. But now that DDR2 prices have dropped so precipitously and OEMs haven't adjusted their upgrade prices, a $700 upgrade just seems like an insane 860% markup. It's not that OEMs are trying to gouge consumers (well..... maybe), it's just that they're much slower to respond to the market

11/1/2007 2:14:13 PM

Upgraded RAM, success. Now if only I can get that left front damn screw back in.

11/1/2007 6:38:47 PM

I ordered 2 x 1GB of Crucial memory from Newegg for $49. I ordered it Friday, and it was delivered today.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145048



I installed 'em using this tutorial, and I didn't have any problems.

http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/tutorials/macmini-ram/

11/20/2007 10:06:32 PM

my G4 Mini still used DDR DIMMs, so I can only put in 1x 1GB max

11/20/2007 10:08:37 PM

Sucks, but it's still worth it

11/20/2007 10:38:04 PM