However, unless you're shopping for a computer in preparation for the fall semester, wait to get an iMac in October, when Apple is to roll out a new version of its operating system, called "Leopard," with improvements to the user interface. If you've already bought a computer, the upgrade will cost $129.That's good advice. And a memory upgrade before taking it home is probably a good idea, no?
No. With the exception of the mini, always buy your Mac with the minimum amount of memory and buy your own. For the iMac Apple charges $150 to go from 1GB to 2GB. I got an extra 2GB stick for $110, giving me 3GB for $40 less than Apple would have given me 2GB. They charge $850 to upgrade to 4GB (2x2GB), but I could toss the 1GB that comes with it in the trash and go to 4GB for about a quarter the price.
Same for the MacBook, which comes with 2x512MB, upgrade to 2x1GB for $150. I can buy 2x1GB for $80 and throw away the 512MB sticks.
MacBook Pro comes with 2x1GB, $700 more to get 2x2GB. Throwing away theirs would cost me $240 for 4GB.
And the numbers to load up a Mac Pro are insane: $4,500 from Apple for 16 GB, my cost, $1,088 even making sure to buy memory with the heat spreader.