Mac and PSE Users - Is your system slow?

[Laverne_Scrapper]

I feel like my 2 year old MacBook Pro works very well until I open PSE3 which I have and then it seems to be very slow. I have 1G of RAM - do you think that is it? Does anyone else have any ideas of why it is so slow?

Thanks for the help!

[JenniferG]

That's most likely the reason. The more RAM you have, the faster your program will work. I have 3 GB for CS4.

[Laverne_Scrapper]

Have you ever put the RAM in a Mac yourself? My husband can do it on a PC but we've never added it to the Mac.

[omio]

It shouldn't be difficult to put the memory in but check your MBP for maximum RAM. Mine had a limit of 2 GB but the newer ones can take more. I have 4 GB on my iMac for CS4 and wish I could have put that much on the MBP.

[idtwinmom]

Memory may not be the only problem. I'm not sure which video card is in the Macbook Pro, but I was running PSE2 on an older laptop (not my wonderful Mac, BTW) and the video card was hideously slow. More RAM may help, but check the specs on your video card as well.

Oh, putting in RAM is not hard, it's under that little door on the bottom. Just make sure you are working static free. And don't buy your RAM from Apple. Check specs for the type of RAM and order online from CDW (Kingston is one of the best brands for the price).

[Laverne_Scrapper]

Thanks very much for the information!! I looked around and was not sure where to buy it. I found a tutorial that explains how to change it. I just need to figure out what the maximum RAM should be. I also read a few articles that said the RAM that is in the machine should match each other. Do you know anything about that?

[omio]

If there are two slots, both slots have to have identical sticks, e.g., 2 @ 1gb or 2 @ 2gb. Again, double check with your MBP if you want more than 2gb to be sure it can take 2@2gb -- mine couldn't.

[lbjiowa]

Just saw your post Nancy. What did you end up doing? I have a MacBook Pro (2007 version) that I updated last winter ... added a 250GB hard drive and 4GB RAM ... the RAM update was easy (like idtwinmom said ... pop out pop in...tada) but the hard drive was a bit more tricky.

LOVE the new response time, BUT ... bootup takes LOTS LONGER now! Oh well! Great opportunity to get coffee etc!

I got my supplies from MacMall as their prices were the best at the time AND I was able to give them my seriel numbers and they figured out all the specs for me! Very helpful folks at their order desk and tech support.

[debilou]

Also, go to Adobe.com

They have an excellent document on a BUNCH of things you can do to improve performance, in addition to adding RAM... (which I do think you need)...

There is one specific for mac users - at least for CS and MAC... hopefully one for pse users as well..

[Laverne_Scrapper]

Thanks for the info. I did some research a while ago and did not do anything yet about the memory. I will check on MacMall and see what the cost is and look at the adobe web site. Thanks!!

[Laverne_Scrapper]

From checking out my computer the most I could add is 2G which will give me three total. That will definitely help!

[texas mom]

Have the same problem, I think my hard drive is too full. I'm looking at ways to move off my scrap supplies to an EHD and back them up elsewhere!

[Laverne_Scrapper]

Well, mine is much better after adding the RAM and I have an external drive for my pictures and digital scrapbooking files. I have it backed up now also - my laptop drive started to get really full also.