this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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Technology
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And at this point the cost difference couldn’t possibly be so stark that they have to make it a great leap in price. I think they offer these 8GB models for non power-users. People doing spreadsheets and presentations all day, but honestly even then 8GB of memory just seems like they’re cheaping out.
Even then, 8GB isn't really enough. Get a few browser tabs going (with full apps integrated) in a Zoom meeting and you'll run out of memory right quick.
Hell, I regularly use all of my 32GB of memory. Granted, with my job and ADHD, I often have 20+ tabs open in each of several browser windows at the same time with multiple documents and spreadsheets and other apps all running.
But, still. 16GB+ is non-negotiable for me in an entry-level laptop today. And there are decent options available for under $500 CAD rn.
Nothing has made my computer slower than trying to open Excel. FFS. You need min 32GBs of RAM and a 4060 for that thing.
On what operating system?
I have 16GB on my Mac and half of it goes to a virtual machine. And I'm definitely a heavy user - five browser windows open with who knows how many tabs is pretty common. An IDE or even two, plus all sorts of other stuff, and a bunch of electron apps too.
MacOS definitely uses "all of the memory", but often at least a few gigabytes (as in, almost half my memory aside from the VM) is dedicated to caching files on disk. And with a fast SSD that's not buying you much performance.
Windows 11.
The big difference I noticed with the extra memory is that my browser tabs don't get cached, and programs I haven't used in a long time are still responsive instantly (i.e. they also weren't cached.)
I bet the 8 GB model ismore for lowering the advertised price then it being useable.