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reliable, cheap store for RAM?

E

emhan98

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 2, 2005
12
0
Apologies if this has been discussed a lot prior - I did do a search, but I couldn't find what I was looking for...

I just bought a new powerbook 15" (new updates be darned), and I was looking to get a 1 gig RAM chip... any suggestions on a good, but cheap place to buy a reliable chip that won't fry my computer?

(The apple store had them for $500! I mean, c'mon)

Thanks,
Ed
 
emhan98 said:
Apologies if this has been discussed a lot prior - I did do a search, but I couldn't find what I was looking for...

I just bought a new powerbook 15" (new updates be darned), and I was looking to get a 1 gig RAM chip... any suggestions on a good, but cheap place to buy a reliable chip that won't fry my computer?

(The apple store had them for $500! I mean, c'mon)

Thanks,
Ed
Click to expand...

www.crucial.com

Don't put "value" RAM in your PB. You'll regret it.
 
I bought a 1GB SODIMM for my 17" PowerBook for $129 off ebay. It was Kingston RAM, brand new still in the box.

Look there.

Also here are a couple of other places to look:

www.4allmemory.com
www.memorytogo.com


I've used both along with crucial and have never had a problem. All places have a lifetime warranty on the RAM.
 
emhan98 said:
Apologies if this has been discussed a lot prior - I did do a search, but I couldn't find what I was looking for...

I just bought a new powerbook 15" (new updates be darned), and I was looking to get a 1 gig RAM chip... any suggestions on a good, but cheap place to buy a reliable chip that won't fry my computer?

(The apple store had them for $500! I mean, c'mon)

Thanks,
Ed
Click to expand...
Don't forget newegg.com :)
 
RamSeeker - compares prices across many different vendors. Organized by Mac model.
 

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I usually go to Crucial first, but unfortunately their prices tend to be quite high for older RAM--if you're stocking up your G5 Crucial will sell you high-end RAM for just a bit more than the budget stuff, but for older Macs the prices can be nearly double other places.

In those cases I usually give DMS ( http://www.datamem.com/ ) a shot--it's generic, but they offer a lifetime warranty, at where I work we've used their stuff in a variety of systems for 9 years now without any issues (some of their RAM is still in service after 6 years, in fact), and since they've been around since the '80s I have reasonable confidence that if the RAM does conk out in a few years they'll still be there to replace it.

(I'm reasonably certain they did right by folks whose RAM was killed by firmware updates a while back, too, although I'm certain OWC and Crucial did.)
 
eBay and NewBestEggFryBuyCityOutpost.com are staggeringly bad choices for Mac RAM.

Basically, Macs need to have not only the basic specifications (PC2700 SODIMM DDR 200 pin 2.5 Volts yadda yadda) but also have to have the Serial Presence Detect settings correctly set. Much of the cheap PC RAM does not. And you can't go by name brand -- Kingston and Crucial make good RAM, but you won;t find their Mac RAM at the discounters only the PC generic. So you're rolling the dice whether non-Mac guaranteed RAM will work in the Mac or not. If it doesn't you're out time, shipping cost, and worst case: restocking fees or stuck with the RAM.

I recommend that you look for a reputable dealer who tests and guarantees compatibility with your specific model Mac, has a lifetime warranty, and a no charge return if it doesn't work. I second the vote for Data Memory Systems.
 
I went through omni, and it didn't work. I didn't feel like sending it back to them because it was only ten dollars and not worth the hassle.
 
I've ordered almost all my RAM through 18004memory.com. You get lower prices by first doing a search on ramseeker.com, due to the magic of referral links and/or cookies.

18004memory.com and newegg.com (as well as most online sellers I'm aware of) sell RAM certified to work with Macs.

The 1GB of DDR PC2700 RAM I ordered last year from 18004memory.com is still going strong in my 12" 1.33GHz PowerBook, as is all the other memory I've ordered through them over the years. I ordered the "generic" variety of PowerBook RAM (instead of the Samsung brand) and I got Nanya brand.
 
CanadaRAM said:
eBay and NewBestEggFryBuyCityOutpost.com are staggeringly bad choices for Mac RAM.

I recommend that you look for a reputable dealer who tests and guarantees compatibility with your specific model Mac, has a lifetime warranty, and a no charge return if it doesn't work. I second the vote for Data Memory Systems.
Click to expand...

You'll remember our converstion from a previous thread. I ordered the 1 gig module for my emac and should arrive tomorrow. Pretty damn cheap at AUD$199

For Australia I found www.macrabbit.net to be knowledgeable and helpful to deal with. Lifetime guaranteed and a mac ram specialist.
 
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