Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Westside guy

macrumors 603
Original poster
Oct 15, 2003
6,335
4,152
The soggy side of the Pacific NW
I'd bought a 512MB stick for my 15" 1.25 GHz Powerbook from Crucial. When I put it in, the computer would flip out. Crucial RMA'ed it, and sent me another one.

Well, the second one didn't work correctly either. I called their tech support, and the guy I talked to suggested the SoDIMM be replaced with another one that was "lower density" - same size, same specs, but more and lower-density chips on it. To be honest I didn't totally understand his explanation of the potential problems occurring with the first one (something to do with crosstalk or interference, apparently on the SoDIMM itself).

I just received the replacement stick, and it's working like a charm.

The reason I'm posting this is because I was quite happy with their tech folks. I didn't have to wait long on the phone; they seemed to have knowledgeable people manning the phones; and they didn't automatically assume I was an idiot. Really this should be the norm, but we all know it's not - so they deserver some credit IMO.

I also thought it worth posting because there've been rumors floating around regarding Apple's memory specs having changed w/o the third-party suppliers being notified. I have no idea if that's true, but I find it interesting that the SoDIMM that worked wasn't quite the "default" setup, if that makes sense.
 

JasonL

macrumors regular
Feb 13, 2004
212
0
Ware, MA
Wow. I have the same computer as you and also bought a 512MB stick from Crucial. Unlike you, though, I would have been ripped if I had to go through all of that just to get a working memory stick. Mine worked fine the first time, as I would expect of any product that I buy.

Jay
 

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
well its good to know that theres a good company out there...i know now who to go to when i want to finally upgrade my ram...thanks for the info
 

stevietheb

macrumors 6502a
Jan 15, 2004
591
0
Houston
I purchased a 512 for my iBook G4 back in January. Like you, I had trouble with the initial stick. The first day that I had my iBook, the computer went through about 15-20 kernel panics (finally, I realized that I'd gotten a bum stick).

While this was annoying (especially considering Crucial's rep for being a top product...which I think, and have heard, is overblown a bit), their tech support staff was fantastic. I had a new stick two days later and my money back shortly after that (I did a swap deal, where they sent out the new stick right away, and they charge me for it until they receive the bad stick). And they paid for postage, which is not always the case.

Overall a good experience with tech support (something that is rare!).
 

Westside guy

macrumors 603
Original poster
Oct 15, 2003
6,335
4,152
The soggy side of the Pacific NW
JasonL said:
Wow. I have the same computer as you and also bought a 512MB stick from Crucial. Unlike you, though, I would have been ripped if I had to go through all of that just to get a working memory stick. Mine worked fine the first time, as I would expect of any product that I buy.

Under other circumstances I might agree with you. However I've bought memory from Crucial quite a few times (both for my other personal computers and for computers at work), and have never had an issue before. Given this, and also having heard rumors beforehand about various issues with Powerbook memory specs, I was more inclined to work with them toward solving the problem rather than just assuming they had a bad product.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.