I've always bought memory from crucial, and found it to be about the cheapest place around. Today I headed over to do some memory shopping for two laptops, my girlfriend's new IBM t42p and my new powerbook. I also wanted to see if my Dell 600m's memory would be any use to me. For the thinkpad, it calls for DDR PC2700 NON-ECC UNBUFFERED, and wants $339 for the 1GB module. For the powerbook, it calls for the exact same thing, and wants $479 for the module. The modules have different part numbers, but the same exact specs. As the finishing touch, my 600m takes DDR PC2100, which for the 512MB modules, they want more(~2 dollars, but that's not the point) than the PC2700 modules which according to everything I've read(1), would work and be more usefull in the future.

So, I no longer trust crucial for my meory needs. Should I just order from newegg, or is there somewhere that doesn't believe in screwing the customer, yet still has high quality well gauranteed cheap ram?

Matthew

(1)Memory is designed to be backward-compatible, so generally speaking, you can safely add faster memory to your computer. However, your system will operate at the speed of the slowest module.

I order ram from Newegg, or Crucial myself. If you don't already know what type of ram your machine takes find the manual and check. It is true that faster ram will work in a PC if the ram uses the same pin layout but I have had lowend motherboards that wouldn't work with some types of the cheap ram. One thing I always do when I get ram is run memtest86 to make sure it works with my motherbaord. I have never had a problem with ram from Crucial.

I get most of my memory now from newegg. It's just more convenient because I'm usually buying everything else from there anyway. Kingston Valueram is usually my choice since it's a lifetime warranty from a company that probably isn't going anywhere and the chips usually tend to be from known (to me) manufacturers. It also doesn't have flashy heat spreaders which add cost and probably little else (for me).

One thing to be cautious of in laptops is probably the dimensions of the memory module. I consider a normal laptop module having a height that's not much higher than the notches cutout for the module socket in the laptop. I have seen many modules that are about 1/4" higher than that with additional chips mounted horizontally in the extra real estate. This could be the reason (especially on a 1GB module) for the different part numbers. The Dell may have room for an "extra height" module while the Powerbook might not. Hence, the different part numbers. I've never seen what the Powerbook's memory bay looks like, so I don't know if that's the case. Seems possible though.