Al Memory

[mgargan1]

first of all, i want to say that this is my first Mac, and after using my roommate's iBook while mine was broken, I needed a computer that didn't break! Anyway, i ordered the 17" on 1/8/03 and my expected ship date is 3/21/03, but i bought it through my campus bookstore which saved me $200, so I think it's worth it. Well, to get to my question, I ordered the stock 512MB of RAM, and I saw that another 512 would set me back $300 from apple; however, the 256MB of memory from Crucial is $58 and 512 from kingston is $179. Is this worth the extra savings? Or should i stick to apple, since it's the original company?

 

[tik]

Apple's memory is the most expensive memory you can buy. Go with Crucial and you'll be fine...there are others too that are cheaper.

Do NOT buy any more Apple memory than you absolutely need to except for memory slots that you will not have access to after the computer is built. As an example, the iMac has an internal memory slot that the user cannot access. Therefore, it makes sense that for optimum RAM capacity, you MUST at least build-to-order with ONE 512 DIMM chip...you can add a much cheaper SO-DIMM later.

I'm a bit confused..are you buying a 17" iMac or PowerBook? If it's the iMac, you MUST BTO the 512, one chip option which will cost you $200 more. If it's the powerbook, they don't even offer anything less than one 512 chip...so you're covered.

 

[KingArthur]

I strongly agree with Tik: get the Crucial RAM. Although there are slight differences in the performance of one brand of memory and another, you will also find that there are differences in performance between the same types of chips from the same company. It is all part of the process of making the chips, which usually yields many similar performing chips with some less efficient ones. Quite frankly, though, 512MB of RAM is close to the same no matter what company you go through. The biggest differences between them are usually just the warrenty policies.

 

[Bear]

Kingston is also a reputible brand.

Basically the specifications for the third party memory has to match Apple's requirements for memory or there could be all sorts of oddball problems.

I hear Crucial is a good brand. I've used Kingston extensively.

My only suggestion is that you probably want to get a 512MB DIMM so you don't wind up getting the 256MB now and then having to replace it later.

 

[mgargan1]

powerbook

hey, the computer that I'm getting is the Al Powerbook, sorry for not being clear, but thanks for all the advise.

 

[khollister]

Crucial.

There have been many comments from Apple techs that indicate that's what the Apple stuff actually is (just marked up). I have Crucial PC2700 DDR DIMM's in my Power Mac - no problems at all.

I have also used DMS (www.datamem.com) in the past with success. Their stuff is unmarked generic memory, but I had some in my G4 iMac without problems.