Computer RAM needed

Sep 02, 2011

Jon DeMartino
By Jon DeMartino

My laptop has 2GB RAM, which seemed fine when I bought it a couple of years ago. Then I added Articulate and Captivate and although these programs have never been as responsive as I would like, I would just patiently wait for the program to open (captivate) and the various screens (Engage and Quizmaker) to load. The worst problems with freezing, stopping and just dragging on forever are with Engage and Quizmaker. I have to gather my patience before I try to edit anything in these programs. I downloaded the latest versions a few weeks ago to address another problem (It was caused by another add-in, PointeCast) so I think my Presenter version is fine.

I am working on several e-courses in a short time-frame at the moment and the thought of having to wait for these screens to load when I want to change something or preview it is becoming more unpalatable every day.

So I've decided to take the leap and buy a new pc, not a laptop. I'm kind of looking forward to getting a wide screen monitor, too.

What should I look in a PC that will enable me to open and edit Engage and Quizmaker quickly? How many gigs of RAM do I need to have things run smoothly and reasonably fast? Or is it something else other than RAM that causes these problems? I see in the tutorial videos, which I love, that both Engage and Quizmaker open, edit and publish very quickly, so I think the problem has to be my computer.

Thanks-

Jon

4 Replies
Jon DeMartino
over 12 years ago09/19/11 at 8:40 pm (UTC)

Hi Russ-

I got a Toshiba laptop.  It's a Satellite P775-S7215, with 6GB RAM, 750 HD and Intel i7. I found it at Best Buy for $829 and a few days later it was $799, so I bought it. The next week I was looking around and saw the price was down to $759 so I asked for the difference and they refunded me the $40, as is their policy. I like this latop a lot. It's got a 17" screen and yet is very lightweight . It's aso fast.

I was in Best Buy today and there were no more of the model on display. Maybe they discontinued it. I think I got a good deal, though and I'm happy. No more slogging along with my 2 GB RAM laptop, although  I still use that one as well.

This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.