Upgrading old MacBook HD & RAM

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Level 1

10 points

Upgrading old MacBook HD & RAM

My 1.83 MacBook's hard drive died, so I'm looking to replace it. At the Apple Store I was told to look for any 2.5" internal drive up to 500 GB. I want to make sure this one will work in my laptop before I buy it. (I don't think I *need* 500 GB, but I can't find smaller ones for much less money)

Also, my laptop has 1 GB RAM, and I was told it can go up to 2 GB. I think I'd like to do that as long as I'm getting a bigger hard drive. This may be a really stupid question, but are the memory chips sold in pairs or single? It looks like the latter to me. If I buy one 1 GB RAM chip, do I need to buy two so it's a pair, or could 1.5 GB RAM work? And again, how do I make sure I'm buying the right kind for my computer? I see the specification(?) here, and I can find results searching on that on Macmall.com but not Newegg.

Thanks!

iMac G4 15" & MacBook 80 GB, 13", Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Feb 5, 2012 1:01 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 5, 2012 1:07 AM in response to Jon Morgan2

Yes, that hard drive will work. If you macbook has 1GB ram, that means that it has a 512MB ram module installed in each of the 2 ram slots. You could buy a 1GB ram module, but it would be easier just to purchase two 1GB modules.

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Answer 2

Jon Morgan2 Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 5, 2012 1:26 AM in response to shldr2thewheel

Awesome, thanks. Yeah, I took the current RAM out to see what I had, and it's two 512 MB chips. Seems cheap enough to buy two 1 GB chips, I just want to be sure I'm buying something that works in my laptop. 😝

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Answer 3

Feb 5, 2012 1:32 AM in response to Jon Morgan2

which mac do you have and I will tell you the exact type of ram to look for.

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Answer 4

Jon Morgan2 Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 5, 2012 1:44 AM in response to shldr2thewheel

I think the model number is A1181. It's a white plastic MacBook, 13", got it in September 2006.

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Answer 5

Feb 5, 2012 2:03 AM in response to Jon Morgan2

200-pin PC2-5300 (667MHz) DDR2 SO-DIMM

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Answer 6

Feb 5, 2012 8:23 AM in response to Jon Morgan2

These are good online stores for Mac compatible RAM

OWC http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/MacBook/DDR2/ - Similar to DMS, they offer Mac tested RAM at very good prices.

Crucial Memory http://www.crucial.com/ - good place to buy RAM from all over the world. They also have an excellent memory selector that allows you to choose memory based on your computer's model

Data Memory Systems http://www.datamemorysystems.com/apple-memory.asp - another good, cheap place to buying RAM if you live in the U.S.

Macdimms.com - Specializes in supplying Mac compatible RAM at extremely competitive prices. Brands featured include Crucial, Samsung, Hynix, and Micron. All brands carry a lifetime warranty. Discounts offered to educational institutions and students, active and retired military, resellers, and government agencies.

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Answer 7

Jon Morgan2 Author

Level 1

10 points

Feb 5, 2012 2:32 PM in response to frederic1943

Thank you, that's very helpful!

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