384 MB of the RAM they're giving you is free. The rest you pay for when you buy the computer. They can't say you're getting 512 MB free (even though you're getting a 512 MB module bundled) because technically you're paying for the 128 MB module that ships with the computer. 512-128=384.
yeah.. the reason i believed the chip existed was because of the free ram deals at maczone which would necessitate their existance.
i spoke to them on the phone and they are going to change their deals to reflect reality.
that said, i found the discussion about whether 66mhz more processing speed is better than 128mb more ram to be an interesting one, even if it doesn't apply to this situation (ram vs. processor speed decisions affect all mac buyers working with a budget)
384 mb extra? This cannot work. 128 MB is soldered on the motherboard, so they better leave it there. You will rather get 256 extra to the included 128 end give away the second 128 module, so you end up with 384. Nevertheless it is rubbish to tell you that you pay for additional 384 when you only get 256 extra (but they get the second 128 mb that is not soldered. 640 will be much better than 384 on mac os x.
Whichever one you end up with, make sure you have 640 MB of RAM. Maybe you want to avoid these deals altogether - they're a hassle, they're confusing, and they might even give you bad RAM. One person (who ordered from MacMall) had Apple's standard PC2700 RAM replaced with a generic cheap brand PC2100 as part of the "deal!"
If you decide to skip the deal and just buy a 14" iBook straight from Apple so you know you won't have these problems, you'd be better off with the 933 MHz. The 933 MHz is a better deal than the 1 GHz, and extra RAM is absolutely more important than 67 MHz extra processing power. You really won't see much difference unless you have at least a 20% or 30% jump in processor speed. 933 to 1000 is only a 7% jump, and it costs almost 12% more (not including the hard drive upgrade).
Best machine for the money = 933 MHz G4 iBook, BTO 60 GB hard drive, 512 MB SO-DIMM from Crucial. Get one and be happy
Comments
i spoke to them on the phone and they are going to change their deals to reflect reality.
that said, i found the discussion about whether 66mhz more processing speed is better than 128mb more ram to be an interesting one, even if it doesn't apply to this situation (ram vs. processor speed decisions affect all mac buyers working with a budget)
If you decide to skip the deal and just buy a 14" iBook straight from Apple so you know you won't have these problems, you'd be better off with the 933 MHz. The 933 MHz is a better deal than the 1 GHz, and extra RAM is absolutely more important than 67 MHz extra processing power. You really won't see much difference unless you have at least a 20% or 30% jump in processor speed. 933 to 1000 is only a 7% jump, and it costs almost 12% more (not including the hard drive upgrade).
Best machine for the money = 933 MHz G4 iBook, BTO 60 GB hard drive, 512 MB SO-DIMM from Crucial. Get one and be happy