Although my screen problems I recently posted about are not fixed yet, there's another issue I've been wondering about for some time now.
I have a Dell Inpiron 8100 with 256MB RAM (144pin PC133 SDRAM SODIMM). It's only upgradable to 512, and if I can find another 256 for cheap, I'd like to get some even though I plan on buying a new laptop in the next few months.
The problem is, the ram for this thing is quite expensive. The stuff on the Dell site (last I checked) was about $60 for 256. I've seen the same "kind" of ram on various sites for as low as $25 or $30. However, the sites I find that ensure that it is 100% compatible with the 8100 are expensive as well - some more than Dell themselves.
My question is if it really matters. Even though these sites I find with the cheaper ram (one of which is NewEgg) don't guarantee which models they work with, they are still the same type of ram...this tells me that it *should* work.
Do I really run the risk of it not working if I get the cheaper stuff? I mean, can it do any harm?
Well, because I really need this thing to work as best it can in the next few months as I finish up some projects. Also, if I can get it to run a little better, I can put off getting a new laptop a month or two more so I can save up a bit more and get something better than is in my budget currently or wait for a good deal to pop up (you know how these online specials are from week to week).
I don't want to spend upwards of $60 for something I'll only geta few more months out of, but if I could get it for $30 or so, that may be worth it if I see a difference in performance.
so long as the ram is the same type it should work quite well. I bought 2 256Mb sticks of ddr PC2100 from new egg and replace the 2 128 MB sticks in my inspiron and it worked well. If you have 2 sticks of ram installed to equal 256 Mb you may be limited as I am to 256 Mb per slot.
Currently, there is one 256 in slot 1 - luckily. I was afraid of the same thing. That was another reason I never really looked into because I figured I'd have to by two 256 sticks. Not so!
after reading some reviews on NewEgg for this stick, it seems it may be a crap-shoot. However, at least one person said it worked great in his 8100. Suppose I'll give it a shot.
go for it, most of the reviews were actually pretty good.
newegg buyer's product reviews are about as useful as a refrigerator in Antartica.
the reviews should be about the product itself and only the product itself. but most of the time people put down other problems that are unrelated to the product being reviewed down as "cons"
such as this one.. hahahaha
Pros: Not at all bad. Showed up on my BIOS right away. Nothing technical to the install (except getting under the keyboard).
of course... Newegg has great service and fast & cheap shipping (go with FedEx though if you want it to arrive in one piece)
i wasn't saying that newegg isn't useful, i was just saying that most of the reviews that people write are useless and you really cant go by them to make a decision
Well, I went ahead and ordered it, but I was backed into a corner to do so...I think my current ram may have fried last night and I've got two projects due in the next week, so I just ordered it real quick. Hopefully it'll ship today and be here by friday.
I really don't know what happened, though. I was reseating the ram as suggested by a few people (see this thread) and now it won't boot at all. I have no idea what happened. If anyone does, please let me know.
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