Is it just me or do Dell charge a rediculous amount for RAM in their packages?

myownslave

Looking to buy a laptop and the specs of some of the Dell Inspirons seem pretty good. But when it comes to choosing how much RAM I want, the options are something like:

1024MB 533MHz Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM (1x1024) - included in price
1024MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x512) - add 37 euro to price
2048MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024) - add 280 euro to price

I bought 1GB of RAM there not so long ago for my desktop and as far as I can remember it wasn't anything close to 280 Euro! Something around 140 euro, if even that. Might even have been a lot less, but certainly wasn't 280!

So would you advise that I just get the basic RAM with the Dell package and upgrade my own RAM, or would there be an argument for taking the Dell RAM?

And another thing - what's the difference between Single Channel RAM and Dual Channel RAM - if you were using a Core Duo processor, would you need Dual Channel RAM to make the most of it? I'd be looking to get at least a Core Duo if not a Core 2 Duo, so any special RAM required for that?

Thanks in advance.
Jim

Karoma

It's always the way with all manfuacturers. Just buy RAM yourself.

I can beat that. See below (The deal was that you'd get 2GB of RAM, not 1GB as part of a promotion. So, really the upgrade below is from 2GB to 4GB):
http://wthax.org/images/jZny4s4DONVAguM.gif

Ruu_Old

I find their RAM expensive, I just normally get the basic RAM and install my own.
As for single and dual channel RAM, I don't think many applications (yet) take advantage of dual channel RAM. Perhaps if you work a lot with multimedia it might help to use it. That said no harm in getting Dual channel RAM for the future when it ends up that a great deal of applications may be taking advantage of it. Maybe someone else could explain it better.

myownslave

Can anyone recommend a few sites for cheap RAM? Can't remember where I got mine last time.

Ruu_Old

Shop4Memory
7dayshop.com
Crucial

I think all of those have memory configurators where you enter your Dell model and it will bring up the type of RAM that is installed in your system and how much your motherboard is capable of handling.

myownslave

Cheers lads. Remember now twas Crucial I got it from last time. Comparing the prices there with those quoted on dell.ie, it's laughable what Dell are charging!

Just one more thing - would all laptops have two ram slots or are there some that might only have one? In case for some reason I wanted to have more than 2GB RAM some day. Or can you get 4GB cartridges (or whatever they're called!) or is 2GM the most you can get in one cartridge?

Ruu_Old

I think the majority of laptops have 2 memory slots and probably at the most you could put in would be 4gb @ 2x2gb SODIMMS(for a laptop) right now. I could be wrong perhaps it is more for the higher spec laptops. What Inspiron were you looking at?

myownslave

There was a great deal on an Inspiron 6400 a week ago but that's gone now - it had 2GB RAM, Core Duo 1.8MHz processor and 100GB hard drive I think, all for 1300 Euro. Looking at the Dell site now, looks like that offer is gone, although should be able to get something similar for not much more as long as I get my own RAM.

Also looking at Acers and HPs, maybe even Toshibas. Basically, the main things I want would be a Core Dup or Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB RAM. At least 80GB hard drive, but that'd be pretty standard anyway. Anything between 15" and 17" screen. Was hoping to keep it under 1300 Euro, but if I can get a very good deal for a little more, might be willing to go as far as 1500.
Any advice?!

Ruu_Old

What do you intend using it for? 1gb of memory is probably okay for most things and a few of the Dell ones have 80gb as standard.

myownslave

I'll only be using it for typin up projects, browsing the web and playing Football Manager really. So I don't really need a great spec. Thing is though, I have 1500 to spend on it, so I think I might as well get the best spec on offer for that kinda money.

Speed is important as far as Football Manager is concerned, but I'm not sure if FM would actually use up to 2GB RAM anyway? Actually, would FM be accessing the hard drive much or is it moreso a case that it loads everything into temporary memory and accesses that rather than going to the hard drive all the time? I'm just wondering this cos I'm wondering would it be a good idea to upgrade to a faster hard drive or would there be any need.

(For those of you who don't know, Football Manager is just a strategy game, no unreal graphics or anything. It would be processing a lot of data though - player names, club names and all that.)

Ruu_Old

2gb is heaps for Football Manager, you'll have loads. Does FM use the CD or does it install all of the files onto the hard drive or both? No harm in getting a good sized hard drive just so you won't run out of room.

myownslave

The way the old FM used to do it was that the cd was only needed start up the game initially every time you loaded the game. As far as I know, it actually took all the data from the hard drive. I presume its more or less the same with the newer FMs

majiktripp

Have any of you ever spec'd up some of there optiplex business machines for the laugh? You can get 48GB of RAM (got that figure from my memory...ahaha...) the total cost of the machine was around €78,000....try this task yourselfs,who can build the priciest dell!

Capt'n Midnight

For laptops they also charge daft money for harddrives. In many cases you can get a drive from Marx or jaguar for less than the upgrade cost from a small to large drive.

even with the "free double memory" it's still not cheap

Recomendation is to get the minimum memory and go to http://www.shop4memory.com to compare prices, and then make your decision.

Swapping harddrives is easy, reinstalling windows is a real pain, so while financially worth it to get a larger drive (and have the dell HDD as a spare) expect to do a bit of work.


Don't skimp on WiFi, or batteries, for a little extra get the WiFi built in and the larger battery size.