Lion upgrade on early 2009 MacBook (2GB RAM, 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo)

Question

Is it advisable to upgrade an early 2009 MacBook (2GB RAM, 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo) from 10.5.8 to Lion? Under 10.5.8, the user is complaining about some 'slowing down' (especially after a few days w/o restarting). If we upgrade, how strongly is it recommended to increase the RAM (to 4GB? to 6GB?).

I'd love to hear from people answering based on either the specs or first-hand experience. Thanks.

Answer 1

I have a late 2008 MacBook Pro 5,1 2GbRam 2.4GHz When I updated to Lion, I had no major problems. I had always planned to upgrade my Ram so after one month I did 8GB When Apple said my MBP can only take 4GB. 8Gb of RAM cost $40 on Amazon, best investment I made this year.

Answer 2

I had a white MacBook (early 2008), 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB HD. I upgraded it to Lion and it worked, although it was a little slow.

Then I bought 4 GB of RAM and it ran without problems (not blazing fast... but absolutely OK). I strongly advise that you upgrade the RAM to at least 4 GB: if you don't, the system will be frequently swapping.