That is indeed puzzling. I cannot see any logic in purchasing a Mac for 3D rendering because basically a PC is better for such tasks. Also Macs tend to come with really crap 3D cards compared to PC laptops which is one reason they cost more.

Is he going to be running OSX or Windows XP on the Mac? As he could run either. If he is using it mainly for 3D rendering then I recommend installing Windows XP as the PC versions of 3D applications tend to perform better than their Mac versions. Although Linux versions of Maya perform even better than either.

Do you know where I can get cheap laptop RAM??
Laptops generally use SODIMM ram modules but you would need to work out the type and speed before you can look for some. The easiest way to do that is to go to the Crucial Ram site www.crucial.com and use their ram advisor tool on the website which will list all of the compatible ram for your system. I tend to buy ram directly from Crucial too as it doesn't cost much more than anywhere else and is direct from the manufacturer with guarantee and free next day delivery.