Help Me Upgrade My Laptop Memory!!

Hey Guys,
I just got a laptop handed down to me. It is a Toshiba Satellite A105-S4094.
http://www.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-satellite-a105-s4094/4505-3121_7-31962824.html
http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/product/pdf_files/detailed_specs/satellite_A105-S4094.pdf
I installed Windows Vista on it and everything is running solid. I have done a little reading about this laptop and found out that it can be upgraded to 4gb of ram. I opened up the bottom where the memory is located and noticed a 1gb stick and a 512 mb stick. My only issue is that in the specs it says the 512 is soldered.. does this mean i can only upgrade the one slot to either a 2gb or 4gb ddr2 5300 or can i take out both the 1gb and the 512 stick and place in two 2gb sticks or do i only upgrade the one slot? Thanks for any help!!

 

how would i tell the difference between soldered or not. when i look up my model on the crucial website it says i can upgrade to two sticks of 2gb.. i guess i will just have to see if i can pull it out..

 

I just took out both sticks so the 512 is not soldered in. now the question becomes, do i get two 2gb sticks and have a total of 4gb when people are saying that 32bit windows will only use 3gb-3.5gb at most. or should i just get a 1gb stick to match the one i already have in for a total of 2gb or get a 2gb new stick and have a total of 3gb? Thanks guys!

 

Just go for the two sticks of 2GB. Will run better than running 2gb with part shared with the GPU. Especially if you ever decide to start playing with Linux, you will enjoy the 4gb in there. Or if you decide to go and play with 8, things may change in how Windows handles RAM.

 

i will be buying from newegg.com, should i go with crucial, gskill, pny or something else? should i be concerned about timing or cas latency or just buy on preferance?

 

Newegg has gotten worse about their return policy. Go with Crucial. Never have I had any problems with them.