Ex-Lease 2010 Macbook upgrade path

Question

I have a Macbook 7,1 coming to me this week or next.  It currently has 2GB RAM and a 250GB hard drive.  I don't want to overdo it but am wondering several things:
1) Would it cope with a single 8GB module intended for a later mac model? (I upgraded my Mac Mini to 16GB and tbh not really sure it needs that much for what I do)
2) Does it need to have RAM in both slots (I don't yet know how its coming... with 1x 2GB or 2x 1GB)
3) Contemplating either an SSD of similar size (256 I guess) as the current, or a larger standard HD.  Whats the largest drive this model can take, does anyone know?
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

So according to LowEndMac this model can be upgraded to 16 GB RAM:
http://lowendmac.com/2010/unibody-macbook-mid-2010/
Here's the OWC site for your model:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/8566DDR3S8GP/
"2) Does it need to have RAM in both slots (I don't yet know how its coming... with 1x 2GB or 2x 1GB)"
In general it's thought that these MacBooks run better with a matched pair of RAM.
"3) Contemplating either an SSD of similar size (256 I guess) as the current, or a larger standard HD.  Whats the largest drive this model can take, does anyone know?"
The largest this model can take is 960 GB but at $649 that gets pretty expensive.
I updated a client's 2009 MacBook Unibody w/ a 240 GB SSD. I used some spare RAM I had around but only 4 GB. It was running very nicely.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/SSD/Mercury_Electra_3G_Solid_Sta te
Never had compatibility issues w/ anything from OWC.