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[StopMakingSense]

I have a 2011 iMac and I would like to upgrade the ram. Could someone point me in the direction for the type I need and the lowest price? Also how difficult is it to upgrade the ram myself?

DDR3 10600 1333mhz SO-DIMMS. (smaller notebook memory modules, not full-sized banks you would find in a PC or MacPro.

Don't pay more than $40/8GB. You should always be able to find that price or slightly better at any given point.

 

[Crazymoogle]

The native resolution of the monitor is 1080P. Highest display my MBP does is 1280. So, when I output the image to the external monitor, the most it can do with my MBP native resolution is 1024 stretched. Anything higher and I get vertical black bars. When I tell it to not mirror, I can get a full 1080P display on my monitor, full screen, but I then have to manually drag everything from my MBP display up to the 1080P external display.

I guess that's where I was a bit unclear, since I'm not sure what year your MBP is. Usually laptops can output to a seperate display at a much higher resolution than whatever their own LCD supports. It sounds from your last sentence there that it's successfully doing that, but something weird is happening to your MBP LCD instead? (Or do you want it to mirror?)

Have you tried reordering your desktops (Not sure if it could help in your situation but I've definitely talked to people who didn't know they could even do that...)

 

[markatisu]

DDR3 10600 1333mhz SO-DIMMS. (smaller notebook memory modules, not full-sized banks you would find in a PC or MacPro.

Don't pay more than $40/8GB. You should always be able to find that price or slightly better at any given point.

Yup just type this in the search bar at newegg 10600 1333 204 8gb

That will bring you back a list of RAM, most are between $33-39 with free s/h. During the holidays Corsair was doing great rebates, I bought 8gb sets for me and my brother from Newegg

 

[DeadRockstar]

I guess that's where I was a bit unclear, since I'm not sure what year your MBP is. Usually laptops can output to a seperate display at a much higher resolution than whatever their own LCD supports. It sounds from your last sentence there that it's successfully doing that, but something weird is happening to your MBP LCD instead? (Or do you want it to mirror?)

Have you tried reordering your desktops (Not sure if it could help in your situation but I've definitely talked to people who didn't know they could even do that...)

Re-ordering the desktops should solve this problem. For me, whichever display the menu bar is set to is the one that apps open on. I tested it just now with an MBP 15" and Dell U2711.

Personally though I have the MBP in clamshell mode when I'm using the external monitor, so it only has one screen to output to anyway.

 

[Barrett2]

I guess that's where I was a bit unclear, since I'm not sure what year your MBP is. Usually laptops can output to a seperate display at a much higher resolution than whatever their own LCD supports. It sounds from your last sentence there that it's successfully doing that, but something weird is happening to your MBP LCD instead? (Or do you want it to mirror?)

Have you tried reordering your desktops (Not sure if it could help in your situation but I've definitely talked to people who didn't know they could even do that...)

My MBP is a late 2011 model.

Woah, I think I just realized what I was doing. When re-ordering desktops, I didn't realize that I could drag the 'dock' from one to the other. I think that solves it. I am now seeing everything normally on the external display. Thanks!

 

[The Technomancer]

So I had to buy a new wall charger for my Macbook today

Eighty!

Fucking!

Dollars!?

 

[Sanjuro]

Sorry, I edited my above post a few minutes ago for clarification.

The native resolution of the monitor is 1080P. Highest display my MBP does is 1280. So, when I output the image to the external monitor, the most it can do with my MBP native resolution is 1024 stretched. Anything higher and I get vertical black bars. When I tell it to not mirror, I can get a full 1080P display on my monitor, full screen, but I then have to manually drag everything from my MBP display up to the 1080P external display.

lawblob, I have been having problems like this as well with a few of the monitors I have tested. If your monitor has DVI use that. Either purchase a adapter or easier a HDMI to DVI cable with one on each end. For whatever reason, it works and gives you a crisp picture where HDMI to HDMI cable would give me a blurry resolution.

I hope this helps.

 

[noah111]

So I had to buy a new wall charger for my Macbook today

Eighty!

Fucking!

Dollars!?

My original one died on me a year ago, but I am living in a place where they don't sell this shit, so I had to by this chinese 3rd part product for fucking $75 if i'm doing my conversion right.

And THEN THAT ONE BROKE months later, and I ripped both apart and formed this merged piece of shit;

Which worked fine but charged slow. That lasted a week or so before no longer working. Then I bought it fucking again, since I couldn't exactly return the old one in pieces. Last month it was acting up, not charging properly, giving false indications it is charging, MBP says it's charging when it's not, etc. Eventually, it stopped charging unless the laptop was closed altogether. You can imagine how much a pain in the ass that was using.

Recently I bought another one, same fucking model. It's working so far, and this time they gave me a lifetime warrantee. I really need to get an official one, but i'd have to travel to damn lebanon.

 

[Ilive1up]

anyone have an external superdrive?

i bought a 2011 mac mini in august, and would prefer watching dvds from my mac than my xbox.

 

[Blackhead]

anyone have an external superdrive?

i bought a 2011 mac mini in august, and would prefer watching dvds from my mac than my xbox.

I've owned one. It kinda sucks (no eject button). You can get bluray players for about the same price.

 

[Jasoco]

Holding down F12 works as Eject on keyboards without an Eject. Which is pretty much only the Air.

 

[Bboy AJ]

Sentry, can't you have a GAFer ship you one?

 

[Quick]

Thank goodness for Apple Care.

So, a thick vertical line began popping up on my Macbook Pro display. It pops up randomly and stays on the screen for a good minute, then vanishes. Booked an appointment at the Apple Store, got them to look at it, then had the screen replaced. Took a day for them to get it done and I was off on my merry way. All this would have cost me $420 without warranty.

Now, speaking of the Apple Store, I really think that they need to change up their layout, or move to a bigger space. I'm referring to the ones inside the mall, specifically the Eaton Centre location in Toronto. Their Genius Bar is cool, but people had a hard time telling where to pay for their things, and there was very little space with how many people were waiting for their appointment. If anything, there should be one area specifically for the Genius Bar, and another for cashiers. They only have one, so there was a bit of a lineup. A few people had to sit on the kids table with the iPads due to the lack of space.

 

[noah111]

Sentry, can't you have a GAFer ship you one?

I'm in Syria so amazon doesn't ship here, or else I would've gotten one already. Thanks for the thought though.

Anyway, I think i'm in luck because I have a friend who travels to Lebanon every few months and last he went he told the electronic store there to ship one for him (for me), but he left before it came.

Next time he goes it should be there (hopefully) and i'll be good for another few months years.

 

[Alfarif]

I'm about to buy a 2008 single Quad Core Mac Pro for $1,000 and I have no idea why I'm ridiculously excited about that.

Anyone know if it's possible to put two ATI 5770s in this beast? It's going to be a 3D modeling/heavy visual FX/Compositing machine for my production company.

 

[subrock]

So I took the plunge and ordered a refurbed macbook pro 13" 2.7ghz i7 last week and I have a couple questions about making upgrades.

first off, this is an option, returning it and getting a 15" 2.0ghz quad core if it really will make a significant difference. I bought the best I could afford at the time but it actually looks like I may be getting a line of credit so I could always return it and go for something better.

Seagate 750gb hybrid drive, worth it? I would get the 2nd gen one with the 8gb SSD partition. I've heard some negative things about vibration and noise. can anyone comment? '

I already have 8gb of ram coming, anything else I can do to start out on the right foot?

 

[Sanjuro]

I'm about to buy a 2008 single Quad Core Mac Pro for $1,000 and I have no idea why I'm ridiculously excited about that.

Anyone know if it's possible to put two ATI 5770s in this beast? It's going to be a 3D modeling/heavy visual FX/Compositing machine for my production company.

Just be careful. While it's a sexy purchase, the Mac Pros are known to have the most problems and most expensive repair solutions. At the same time that is still a fantastic price.

 

[caramac]

I've just ordered a 21.5 inch imac 2.7ghz. l want to upgrade the RAM to 8gb, can anyone recommend which brand of memory to buy? I don't really want to pay the £160 that Apple want for their memory upgrades.

 

[Ken Masters]

when the hell is Apple to roll out the new Apple TV? 2 year old tech isn't exactly "cutting edge" Apple

 

[zychi]

I've just ordered a 21.5 inch imac 2.7ghz. l want to upgrade the RAM to 8gb, can anyone recommend which brand of memory to buy? I don't really want to pay the £160 that Apple want for their memory upgrades.

literally at the top of this page.

 

[caramac]

literally at the top of this page.

Yeah thanks for that, l was more wondering which brand to go for. l don't mind paying a bit extra for a named brand.

 

[richiek]

.

 

[The_Inquisitor]

I'm in the market for an ultralight everyday laptop to compliment my rather beasty windows rig. I have decided to pick up the new macbook air later this year.

For something that will be in my bag 24/7, 11 or 13 inch?

 

[zychi]

I'm in the market for an ultralight everyday laptop to compliment my rather beasty windows rig. I have decided to pick up the new macbook air later this year.

For something that will be in my bag 24/7, 11 or 13 inch?

I went 13 inch. I bought a tiny sleeve, and it fits in my little messenger bag with two books. The screen size difference really depends on what you're going to do with it. I got the 13 inch so I can read pdf/e-textbooks fullscreen. I also picked the 13 inch because it lasts my entire 6 hour day of class so I don't have to carry my charger with me.

 

[The_Inquisitor]

I went 13 inch. I bought a tiny sleeve, and it fits in my little messenger bag with two books. The screen size difference really depends on what you're going to do with it. I got the 13 inch so I can read pdf/e-textbooks fullscreen. I also picked the 13 inch because it lasts my entire 6 hour day of class so I don't have to carry my charger with me.

Uses: Read long technical papers, view pictures taken from my DSLR on the go, look at cooking recipes, have something on the coffee table I can rapidly look up stuff while playing games or watching netflix, ect.

I really think 13 is the way i should go. Is it really as amazing as a machine as everyone says?

 

[Ephemeris]

I'm in the market for an ultralight everyday laptop to compliment my rather beasty windows rig. I have decided to pick up the new macbook air later this year.

For something that will be in my bag 24/7, 11 or 13 inch?

I'll co-sign the 13.

I wonder if we'll see a new one released around March~April?

 

[The_Inquisitor]

I'll co-sign the 13.

I wonder if we'll see a new one released around March~April?

That's what I am banking on.

 

[zychi]

I'll co-sign the 13.

I wonder if we'll see a new one released around March~April?

I hope not. I literally just got mine this week.

 

[The_Inquisitor]

I hope not. I literally just got mine this week.

Well I got bad news

1) New CPU architecture arriving very soon
2) It's been about 170 days since last refresh (average is a little less than a year I believe)

 

[Alfarif]

Just be careful. While it's a sexy purchase, the Mac Pros are known to have the most problems and most expensive repair solutions. At the same time that is still a fantastic price.

I was talking to the guy I purchased it from and he told me about a local dude who charges 1/10th the price to fix Mac Pro issues that Apple would and his turn around time is roughly the same.

I'm still configuring it, as it's predominantly the studio computer, but I'm already loving it. It's a nice step up from a 2010 Mac Mini, a 2009 Mac Mini, and a 2007 Macbook.

 

[Vinterbird]

Well I got bad news

1) New CPU architecture arriving very soon
2) It's been about 170 days since last refresh (average is a little less than a year I believe)

The bigger question, I think, this year is if the new Air and MacBook will sport a new design.

 

[Jasoco]

Air probably not since it's pretty much perfect. The Pro however, it'll be interesting to see if they have the balls to drop the optical drive or keep it in. And if they keep it, will the design change at all. It can't really get much thinner as the optical drive and HDD take up 90% of the thickness. Dropping both is what makes the Air so thin.

Their best choice is to streamline the MB's across the board. Start with Airs as low-end and work up to high-end ones that are bigger and have more of the older "pro" features like optical drives and HDD's. Frankly, I hate speculating. I'd rather see what Apple has in mind myself than try and guess.

 

[Vinterbird]

Air probably not since it's pretty much perfect. The Pro however, it'll be interesting to see if they have the balls to drop the optical drive or keep it in. And if they keep it, will the design change at all. It can't really get much thinner as the optical drive and HDD take up 90% of the thickness. Dropping both is what makes the Air so thin.

Their best choice is to streamline the MB's across the board. Start with Airs as low-end and work up to high-end ones that are bigger and have more of the older "pro" features like optical drives and HDD's. Frankly, I hate speculating. I'd rather see what Apple has in mind myself than try and guess.

I just want SSD for the OS and a HDD for the rest, thats really all I want out of the next Pro, oh and a new screen resolution in the 13".

 

[CrudeDiatribe]

I'm in the market for an ultralight everyday laptop to compliment my rather beasty windows rig. I have decided to pick up the new macbook air later this year.

I'm loving my 11" MBA. I got the i7 version. I ordered a couple of adaptors from Monoprice so I can hook it up to ethernet and a bigger monitor if needed, but mostly it's great on its own. I'm so used to the size that a 13" MBP feels enormous.

If I didn't have SD cards that plug straight into USB ports, I may have considered the 13" for the slot alone, but the tinniness of the 11" really appealed.

 

[Bboy AJ]

I will eat my hat if Apple has optical drives in the MBP or iMac redesigns.

 

[Jasoco]

What if only the 13" model drops them but the bigger ones keep them?

 

[Sanjuro]

I was talking to the guy I purchased it from and he told me about a local dude who charges 1/10th the price to fix Mac Pro issues that Apple would and his turn around time is roughly the same.

I'm still configuring it, as it's predominantly the studio computer, but I'm already loving it. It's a nice step up from a 2010 Mac Mini, a 2009 Mac Mini, and a 2007 Macbook.

As long as its someone who knows what they're doing and you trust. Power supply and logic boards are bitches with those. If I'm at work I can run a serial.

 

[Barrett2]

Generally will I get a better picture connecting a MacBook Pro to an external monitor using HDMI or VGA?

 

[Erasus]

Generally will I get a better picture connecting a MacBook Pro to an external monitor using HDMI or VGA?

VGA is analog and HDMI is digital

HDMI is always better, basic knowledge

 

[The_Inquisitor]

The bigger question, I think, this year is if the new Air and MacBook will sport a new design.

I actually think yes. CES is revealing ultrabooks even thinner than the current MBA no?

 

[3N16MA]

I will eat my hat if Apple has optical drives in the MBP or iMac redesigns.

I think Apple intros a thinner MBP lineup but not as thin as the MBA line (of course). Optical drive is gone but they're still Apple's pro notebook so they need to be thicker than the MBA line in order to accommodate beefier hardware and heat.

 

[Oppo]

Generally will I get a better picture connecting a MacBook Pro to an external monitor using HDMI or VGA?

What you probably want is DVI. (HDMI = DVI + audio). But yeah.

 

[luoapp]

My MacPro is nearly identical with Alfarif's. What are my options if I want to upgrade the video card to say one year old gaming PC level (preferably nVidia card)?

 

[The_Inquisitor]

My MacPro is nearly identical with Alfarif's. What are my options if I want to upgrade the video card to say one year old gaming PC level (preferably nVidia card)?

I take it back.

 

[FStop7]

My MacPro is nearly identical with Alfarif's. What are my options if I want to upgrade the video card to say one year old gaming PC level (preferably nVidia card)?

The ATI 5870 is currently the fastest card offered that is officially supported in OSX.

There are some hacks out there that let you run a 6000 series card, too.

There is a rumor that that the next Mac Pro refresh will add 7000 series ATI cards to the lineup.

I have an 8 core 2008 Mac Pro. It originally came with a Radeon 2600XT and since then I upgraded it to a 3870, then to a hacked 4890, and now to an OEM 5870.

It's gotten pretty much to the point where I would rather build a PC dedicated to running Windows and games.

 

[Pachimari]

Can someone tell me why my Mac Mini and MacBook Air all of a sudden can't find my WiFi connection? I tried restarting, doesn't work. Though, my iPad and iPhone are connected. =/

Really bad, as I have to work on my Mac.

 

[Blackhead]

Belkin Express dock

$300

WTF! Doesn't even come with the $50 cable

 

[Alfarif]

My MacPro is nearly identical with Alfarif's. What are my options if I want to upgrade the video card to say one year old gaming PC level (preferably nVidia card)?

The ATI 5870 is currently the fastest card offered that is officially supported in OSX.

There are some hacks out there that let you run a 6000 series card, too.

There is a rumor that that the next Mac Pro refresh will add 7000 series ATI cards to the lineup.

I have an 8 core 2008 Mac Pro. It originally came with a Radeon 2600XT and since then I upgraded it to a 3870, then to a hacked 4890, and now to an OEM 5870.

It's gotten pretty much to the point where I would rather build a PC dedicated to running Windows and games.

I'm ordering an OEM 5770 tonight. I was looking at the barefeats tests regarding the 5870 and 5770. It appears that for Pro Apps such as Motion and Apple Color, the two cards are so close that paying extra for the 5870 would be better spent on more RAM.

However, I'm interested in knowing what your benchmarks are, FSTOP, if you wouldn't mind. Has Apple ever said they would support the Crossfire architecture down the line, since it kind of appears like they're support ATI for awhile?

 

[Sye d'Burns]

Can someone tell me why my Mac Mini and MacBook Air all of a sudden can't find my WiFi connection? I tried restarting, doesn't work. Though, my iPad and iPhone are connected. =/

Really bad, as I have to work on my Mac.

More than one device? That sounds more like a router issue than with both the Mini and Air.

You say you tried restarting. Did you reset your router as well?

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Can someone tell me why my Mac Mini and MacBook Air all of a sudden can't find my WiFi connection? I tried restarting, doesn't work. Though, my iPad and iPhone are connected. =/

Really bad, as I have to work on my Mac.

Same thing happens to me a lot. My iPhone, iPad, and iMac work fine with my router all the time. My wife's Toshiba laptop had issues so we had to restart the router. But now she has a MacBook and we had to restart the router. I dont know if it is something in settings when she goes on the wifi at her school then comes home, but I dont know if I have to get a new router soon or what.