Adding laptop memory (buying guide?)

I am looking to beef up my laptop with some new memory. I am rolling with an Inspiron E1505 dual 512 sticks... Now, I would like to grab two 1gig sticks. I see all these different deals on newegg, yet I do not really understand why some are 24.99 some are 49.99 etc...

...obviously, the cheaper the crappier..

What is the difference between the ones that are all similarly priced?

:wine

 

Can you post two specific products that work with your computer for direct comparison, rather than just posting a link to the page for all memory products?

 

Well, they all work pretty much...

...really, I need to know if I need a heat spreader and what the buffered/registered means?

 

also, the different speeds? what is good/bad/average??

 

We, and you, need to know the specific type memory your laptop uses. If you don't know, I suggest you go to crucial.com or kingston.com and use their memory selector tools to determine the specific type memory your laptop uses. You might also visit the manufacturer's website.

Other than memory size, do you know exactly what type memory is in it now?

 

# Maximum Memory: 2048MB
# USB Support: 2.x Compliant
# Standard Memory: 512MB removable
# Slots: 2 (2 banks of 1)
# Chipset: Intel 945GM

Each memory slot can hold DDR2 PC2-5300,DDR2 PC2-4200 with a maximum of 1GB per slot.*

Thanks for that crucial site...as you can tell, I am a little slow when it comes to this

 

I'm really not seeing much variation in price, there, when you look at a given memory module size. Can you give an example of two products you're wondering about?

I've been using Kingston memory in my main computer for quite awhile, so I really can't comment on comparative quality. I'll leave that to someone else. However, if newegg sells it, I think you can feel confident in any purchase you make there, assuming, of course, that you select the right memory for your computer.

 

Depends what you use your laptop for.
If you are a hard-core gamer, or are into video editing, you probably don't need 2 gigs of RAM.

My suggestion is to buy a 1 gig stick, keep 1 x 512 stick and bump your RAM to 1.5 gigs. This should be plenty, be cheaper and will use one of your existing 512 sticks.

You can always add the other 1 x 1 gig later, if you find the need. Bazza

 

Doesnt it reduce the performance of the sticks if they are not paired exactly?

 

Not in my experience. Some desktops have Dual Channel option and they apparently work faster if RAM sticks are identical.

Most (all?) laptops only have 2 slots for RAM anyhow. As I said earlier, if 1.5 gigs doesn't suit you, you can always expand to 2 gigs.

I would suggest that you install FreeRam XP Pro first and keep a check on how much RAM you are actually using. 1 gig may be enough anyhow.

FreeRAM XP Pro 1.52
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1670
Size: 606 Kb License: Freeware Requires: Win AllRating: 4.80 (473 votes).

In my 2 gig laptop, I usually only use 500-600 megs anyhow, so the balance is wasted.

Bazza

===