mike, from my research MBP with a 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo or slower will only address 3 GB of RAM. The Mac will see 4 GB and report 4 GB but will only use 3 GB.

My MBP is 1 1/2 years old and no problem i just installed 4 gigs ram from owc $112.00 delivered and works perfectly it updated and reads it fine i was told by owc that it uses only 3.3 gigs in my model im very happy .

Taxman, the RAM is covered under the warranty but like I said since the RAM itself has never failed definitively while under Apple’s care they have never replaced it. I felt that $70 was not too much to spend to try and get this resolved once and for all.

Shouldn’t the RAM have been covered under your Applecare? I’m not understanding why you’d have to go out-of-pocket to get your computer fixed. I was having awful wifi connecting problems with my MacBook Air last week and spent more than an hour talking to 3 different Apple support people on the phone. I actually laughed when they suggested that I connect my air to my Apple Extreme Base Station by ethernet cable. Which port would you have me plug that cable into on my MacBook Air? I replied. I came close to sending it in to them, but then it dawned on me to try turning off the firewall, which fixed the problem.

What happened with the corrupted “Time Machine” backup that left you high and dry at the same time?

My MBP was bought new over a year ago, not refurbished. That was Kevin’s whose MBP doesn’t have a problem.

I do believe that heat is contributing to the problem but hope that the root cause is the RAM. Macs are notorious for being picky about RAM and I hope this is the problem. Otherwise I’m no worse off than I am now, just $70 poorer.

I’ll keep everyone abreast of any developments as they occur.

James, after dealing with my own “genius” last week, the one who tried to tell me that my 250GB 5400RPM hard drive was a 4200RPM, who argued with me over it until he finally looked it up and then shut up, I think it would be safe to say you are likely smarter than that “genius”. It will be interesting to see how it turns out…

Very good: I’ve been smarter than the genii before, but then again I have an unfair advantage that I am a genii (I know, singular/plural problems)… ;)

It will be interesting to see if it’s really been the RAM all this time. What if it’s not?!

Could it be that components are overheating inside the macbook pro?

James,
is this the MBP that you bought reconditioned? do you think that could have something to do with its flakiness?