It can't be any fun being my laptop. I don't spend my days surfing, or watching videos on YouTube, or even playing games on Facebook. All I do is work, work, and work some more. And don't get me started on the amount of work I do. Let's just say that in any given day, I have about 3 days' worth of work to do IF I do everything manually. Fortunately for me, my boss loves buying me software, so most of my tasks are automated, which is definitely the only reason why I actually manage to do everything that I'm supposed to do every day.
Now, most of these software run on - surprise, surprise! - Windows. My darling Octavian, however, runs on Mac OS X 10.6.2 (Snow Leopard). This means that to be able to run these software, I have to run Windows on a Macbook Pro somehow. One way to do is to install it in something called Boot Camp and choose Windows when I boot up Octavian . . . Yeah, right. Like that's going to happen! Running Windows on its own on a Macbook Pro is like playing a shitty VCD on a perfectly good Blu-ray player - it's sacrilegious, to say the least.
So as an alternative, I've chosen to purchase a software called VMWare Fusion, and this is, by far, one of my best investments yet. VMWare Fusion allows me to run Windows as a virtual machine (I named it Lucius Cornelius Sulla, tee hee) so I won't have to leave OS X to run Windows applications. This means that I'm actually running two computers simultaneously on one. Add the fact that I'm also running another half a dozen apps on the native OS X system, and I've got an extremely overworked laptop. Very few laptops will be able survive such a beating without crashing, and Octavian's one of those - he's never crashed once. Rather, he valiantly takes whatever demands I put to him without complaint. Yes, he's a good boy, that's why I love him to bits (no pun intended).
Octavian came with a 2GB DDR3 RAM, which was a big deal for me, considering the crap that I had to put up with before I bought my first Mac. Though it's sufficient to run both my systems simultaneously, I do suffer lags every now and again, which is really a bit annoying when you're trying to get things done yesterday. I knew a RAM upgrade to 4GB would take care of this, but since the DDR3 technology is fairly new, the chips weren't readily available locally - and I felt that I had to purchase it from an authorized Apple store/service center to get their techs to install it for me. Unfortunately, there was a 2-month waiting list to order 'em chips, plus it would be about twice the price of getting it from somewhere like TipidPC or eBay.
Now, for as long as I can remember, the guys at the PhilMUG forums have been insisting that a DIY RAM and hard-disk upgrade was as easy as pie. It's so easy, in fact, that these sort of upgrades do not even void the warranty! I've been toying with the idea of doing it for the longest time. I've even watched videos of how it was done, and they all made it look so easy! I've always chickened out at the last minute, though. I don't know what came over me this week, but I suddenly fancied that my poor Octavian was coming down with asthma from all the hard work (the real Octavian was asthmatic, after all) and that I needed to do a RAM upgrade stat! So I ordered a couple of 2GB Team Elite chips from a TipidPC seller, who came highly recommended from 'em forum guys, on Tuesday. I paid P4,700 (about $100) for both chips plus shipping on the same day, and got confirmation that it was en route to Cebu.
The chips turned up the next day, Wednesday. The idea of opening up poor Octavian sickened me so much, though, that The Husband ended up doing it for me that afternoon. First, he tried to get the screws off with a really old #00 screwdriver that he found buried amidst his old junk. That didn't really work - 3 of the screws won't come off!
So we hurriedly took a trip to True Value in Ayala to get a new screwdriver and ended up with a set. This time, Octavian was successfully opened up. The Husband removed the old 1GB sticks and replaced 'em with the new 2GB ones (there's two of each). The process took no more than a couple of minutes. He then closed up Octavian, and I re-booted. To my horror, it showed that I only had 1GB of RAM from the 4GB I was expecting! I nearly cried. I did a test using memtest, and yep, there's definitely only 1GB.
So The Husband opened up poor Octavian again, and sure enough, one of the chips was loose. He fiddled with them somewhat, and they were finally in nice and tight. I booted up Octavian again, and scarily enough, he only had 3GB! By this time, I was definitely in a panic. The Husband opened up Octavian again and removed the chips. We both checked if they were identical, and they were, right down to their 2GB DDR3 warranty stickers.
The Husband had the brilliant idea of trying to isolate problem. He installed just one chip, rebooted, and checked the system - definitely a 2GB. Off came Octavian's back case yet again, and this time, he installed just the other chip. Lo and behold - it was a 1GB!
So it seemed that the problem was with that second chip. I thought it might have been mislabeled or something, but the guys on the forums believe it's a faulty chip. I contacted the seller - who was really nice, by the way - and he asked me to send in the faulty chip yesterday so he can replace it. I thought he was going to wait until the chip got there before he sent me a new one so I was resigned to the fact that I'll have to wait a couple more days, but no, he sent it straight away, the moment I confirmed that I've sent the faulty chip. I'm expecting it sometime today.
Right now, Octavian is running on 3GB RAM - the new, working 2GB chip and one of the original 1GB sticks. I have not experienced a single lag since, even when I've got Windows running, too. It takes a bit longer to start up (about 30 seconds), though, but that's perfectly understandable. It's the actual working time that matters to me, anyway, and a longer start-up time just means that I have more time to get breakfast ready.
With the favorable experience that I've had with the 3GB RAM so far, I can't wait to see what the 4GB would be like! I'm getting stuff done even quicker than usual, too. A happy Octavian means a happy Mommy Iris.
Now, if only LBC would turn up with that chip already . . .
LBC turned up just as we were about to head to the mall to watch New Moon. Once again, Octavian was reopened, and in less than 2 minutes, he was sporting a spanking new 4GB RAM. (Check out the wallpaper. Cute, huh?)
