When I ordered my iMac late last October, I opted for the standard 1GB RAM as Apple’s prices for extra RAM are nothing short of ridiculous. A few people online recommended that I purchase more memory from a 3rd party vendor. Because I’d previously been using a Mac Mini with 512MB RAM then I wasn’t too concerned that the iMac’s 1GB was going to be insufficient.

Then I was offered a 1GB stick of RAM from Graham, that he no longer needed. The plan for me was not to install immediately as I’d been whizzing along quite happily without thinking about upgrading. But, as it sat in it’s box on my desk, it was getting harder to resist the thought of having an even zippier machine than I’ve got. I’d read the instructions for replacing RAM in my iMac manual and it seemed very straightforward. Only one screw on the whole iMac – on the RAM access door. Unscrew that, unflip the plastic tab from the empty slot and simply place it in, waiting to hear or feel the click with my thumbs.

Being that I’m quite an untechnical girl when it comes to a computers innards, then I felt watching a video or three may make me feel more confident about doing it myself. I can recommend both of these videos. After that I thought “C’mon, just get on with it” so this evening I unplugged my iMac and lay it face down on a bath towel. I grounded myself, first by taking off my purple Crocs. I wear them around the house and they are known for creating static. I touched the metal taps in the bathroom to ground myself and then slotted the RAM in. Closed it back up, plugged everything back in and headed straight to the Apple icon in the top left of the screen > About This Mac and was greeted by this…

ram.jpg

I’ve noticed a few apps starting up much quicker. Who knows, now that I’ve done this without wrecking an £800 computer I might feel like maxing it out to 4GB later in the year ;)