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MBA w/ 4gb ram 256gb or 8gb ram 128gb?? PLEASE HELP

Hey guys,


i'm kinda in a serious dilemma here. 😟


When the MBA first came out, i decided to get the 13 inch model with i5, 8gb ram and 256 ssd.


But that's really expensive, especially for a student like me.


So im either going to upgrade the ram or the ssd capacity, but i honestly have to idea what to upgrade. I can get the base model too, of course.


Anyways, this is what i do...

-Write essays, not a lot though.

-watch movies, but i never store movies, cuz the moment im done watching them i delete them so that won't really interfere with my storage.

-watch news, and when i do i open about 15 tabs at once, but using my laptop with 6gb of ram it works perfectly, and when i check with task manager it only uses like 1.7 gb of ram....

-i DONT play games on a MBA

-I am going to install windows via bootcamp.---probably divide the partition like 3:7 or 4:6.

-i am going to install microsoft word, itunes, etorrent, and all those basic stuff.


Anyways, what do you think? Should i get a 4gb ram with a 256gb ssd? Or 8gb ram with 128gb ssd? Or maybe the base model?


Thanks in advance! I really hope you guys can write all your opinions down so i can finally decided what to buy! 🙂

MacBook Air

Posted on Jul 25, 2013 6:50 AM

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21 replies

Jul 25, 2013 6:53 AM in response to andy1cool

Buy the MacBook Air with 8 GB of RAM. You can use an external drive to store your data, but RAM can't be added after purchasing your MacBook. Also, new OS X versions will need 8 GB of RAM to work correctly, so it's important that you get the MacBook Air with 8 GB.


If you haven't got enough space in the MacBook Air, get an external drive and put the files in it. Also, you can use it to make backups of the Mac with Time Machine > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

Jul 25, 2013 7:02 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

OS X Mountain Lion requires 2 GB of RAM, but the least amount of RAM to run Mountain Lion with a good performance is 4 GB. If you want the best performance, 8 GB of RAM.


I have tested this with my iMac: with 4 GB, Mountain Lion takes a lot of RAM and only leaves some MBs of free RAM. New operating systems will probably take more, so it's better to get the MacBook Air with 8 GB of RAM and make sure that future OS X releases will work properly

Jul 25, 2013 7:17 AM in response to andy1cool

You are right. However, if you are only going to use Windows for light tasks, consider the option of installing Windows on a virtual machine. You just have to get Parallels, VMware Fusion or VirtualBox, and install Windows on the virtual machine. You won't have to create a second partition and you will be able to use Windows and OS X at the same time

Jul 25, 2013 7:29 AM in response to mende1

Please understand that the issue is not if 8 GB RAM is desirable but will it be absolutly necessary for an OS that we do not know anything about.

mende1 wrote:


In the MacBook Air, 8 GB of RAM are a must have, just to be sure that you can run future OS X editions without any problem.

Your statement is valid, but it does not follow that it will be the case, even for MBAs.


If you wish, we can continue this in the WC. 🙂


Ciao.

MBA w/ 4gb ram 256gb or 8gb ram 128gb?? PLEASE HELP

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