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RAM for G4 Powerbooks- Which brand to buy?
- Thread starter maushead
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which ram to buy
Hi -
I have a 12" and a 17" Al power book and had bad luck with the early SimpleTech Modules. I went to a company called MemoryX in late December - they guaranteed that their modules would work well in powerbooks - I took them up on the offer and order a 1GB module made by SwissBit... This module did not live up to the guarantee - however MemoryX did - they replaced the module - (not made by swiss bit) and it worked great... I just bought another module (1GB) for my wifes 12" iBook and it works great too... This one was made by Micron...
The bottom line is - I believe these MemoryX folks will work with you to get the memory right - they have good prices ($299 for a low power 1GB module)... The first go around they had to replace the module and they did - no questions asked. The second go around they got it right the first time... The tough test is to turn on automatic speed selection in the energy saver panel - if the powerbook runs through a bunch of applications and time with this enabled - the memory is probably pretty solid - I've had some serious problems with 'not up to the task memory' combined with 'automatic processor speed' selections... Fortunately, no data losses - but got to see the belly of the beast one too many times (the kernel that is)...
Dan
Hi -
I have a 12" and a 17" Al power book and had bad luck with the early SimpleTech Modules. I went to a company called MemoryX in late December - they guaranteed that their modules would work well in powerbooks - I took them up on the offer and order a 1GB module made by SwissBit... This module did not live up to the guarantee - however MemoryX did - they replaced the module - (not made by swiss bit) and it worked great... I just bought another module (1GB) for my wifes 12" iBook and it works great too... This one was made by Micron...
The bottom line is - I believe these MemoryX folks will work with you to get the memory right - they have good prices ($299 for a low power 1GB module)... The first go around they had to replace the module and they did - no questions asked. The second go around they got it right the first time... The tough test is to turn on automatic speed selection in the energy saver panel - if the powerbook runs through a bunch of applications and time with this enabled - the memory is probably pretty solid - I've had some serious problems with 'not up to the task memory' combined with 'automatic processor speed' selections... Fortunately, no data losses - but got to see the belly of the beast one too many times (the kernel that is)...
Dan
maushead said:
Samsung. It's what Apple uses from the factory. Currently $319 for one gig here: http://dealram.com/prices/systems/23073/1GB.html
Otherwise, you can pay a little more and go for crucial or kingston. Both are good as well.
www.crucial.com. Hands down, best place there is. Always check online resellers at www.resellerratings.com before you buy.
For my new powerbook I bought Crucial RAM from NewEgg (www.newegg.com). Works perfectly and it was about $8 less than from Crucial itself (no shipping charge or tax from either place)
In 2001 I bought ram from Kingston that didn't work right in my Quicksilver. They replaced it, eventually, but it was a pain. Basically I had to spend hours on the phone with Apple techs looking for any other problem. When we couldn't find anything else - it had to be the new memory chip. Then Kingston let me send it in for a new chip (which worked without a problem).
In 2001 I bought ram from Kingston that didn't work right in my Quicksilver. They replaced it, eventually, but it was a pain. Basically I had to spend hours on the phone with Apple techs looking for any other problem. When we couldn't find anything else - it had to be the new memory chip. Then Kingston let me send it in for a new chip (which worked without a problem).
maushead said:
Don't drink the cool-aid. I used to work with Apple, Kingston, Crucial etc. The truth is that all the worlds RAM comes out of less than 10 companies. Kingston and Crucial don't make RAM they brand it. The name on the chips is all that matters.
Here's how to buy cheap RAM.
1) Find the cheapest source for the specification you need (e.g. 1 Gig, PC 2700, JEDEC compliant)
2) Call and ask "Is this RAM remanufactured?" - if the answer's yes, move on.
3) Ask for the name of the chip manufacturer (as printed on the chips) - if you've never heard of it, move on
4) Ask if you can can return the memory if there's a problem with it - if the answer's no, move on
5) Buy your cheap memory.
The big memory vendors do a great job but, like coffeeshops, they're taking the same product as everyone else and marking it up.
Some of the 'fast' memory vendors claim to screen their memory and offer only the fastest modules but, in a Mac, this makes little difference. Don't be fooled (it's kind of like putting 96 Octane in your car rather than 92 - it'll run well but isn't going to turn a Taurus into a Ferrari).
I've just bought 2 1 Gig sticks for my new 17" from One World Computing. Good service and a great price at the time.
Another FYI, i've ranted about this in another thread. Crucial IS Micron which is a RAM maker like Celeron said. Apple is known to use Samsung AND Micron RAM. i bought 512MB of RAM for my 12" from Crucial and it was a no go. kernel panics out the wazoo. returned it and got a new stick... same thing. went to the Apple Store and spent $75 more dollars than Crucial charged for "Apple branded" RAM. opened the box and just about **** myself when i saw the Micron sticker on it.
PowerBooks in particular are fussy about RAM. People get RAM from other places all the time, but it's the luck of the drawl. if i had kept sending my Crucial RAM back i would have eventually gotten one that played nice with my PB. Apple branded RAM is nice because they test every stick to make sure it works (from what i've heard).
i want to upgrade to a 1GB stick of RAM but i paid WWAAYYY too much for this Apple RAM i have now!
PowerBooks in particular are fussy about RAM. People get RAM from other places all the time, but it's the luck of the drawl. if i had kept sending my Crucial RAM back i would have eventually gotten one that played nice with my PB. Apple branded RAM is nice because they test every stick to make sure it works (from what i've heard).
i want to upgrade to a 1GB stick of RAM but i paid WWAAYYY too much for this Apple RAM i have now!
Celeron said:
Sorry for the mistsake in my haste. You're right. The general point is though that RAM is RAM and the source is far less important than the sellers of RAM want you to believe. The Crucial brand allows Micron to sell at a premium and that's why they work to convince you that items with identical specs are somehow different.
You should see the Viking and Kingston reps go at each other.
Buy on spec not on brand - you can't really go wrong if you're reasonably careful.
Joulesverne said:
I'm in the market for a couple 1 Gig chips for the new 15" pb that's on the way so I just checked out MemoryX - the lowest price I can find on there is $499 per Gig stick of RAM. It seems like the prices for RAM are really variable - even crucial seems to deastically change their prices at the drop of a hat...
Anyone know if the 1 Gig Samsung chips going for $319 at 18004memory are the same as apple uses?
Samsung 1-gig RAM chip- $319
Thanks to all who posted info about your experiences of brands of RAM. I decided to buy the Samsung 1-gig RAM chip. The price of $319 was an incentive to buy from 1800 MEMORY. From my 256MB chip, it seems more stable and a bit faster. I haven't done any video, but I am content. Is there anyway to test to see if the RAM is bad/faulty? I never experienced it to know.
TheMac19 said:
Thanks to all who posted info about your experiences of brands of RAM. I decided to buy the Samsung 1-gig RAM chip. The price of $319 was an incentive to buy from 1800 MEMORY. From my 256MB chip, it seems more stable and a bit faster. I haven't done any video, but I am content. Is there anyway to test to see if the RAM is bad/faulty? I never experienced it to know.