Laptop RAM

SoonerMan

How easy is it upgrade/install RAM for a laptop? I need atleast a gig stick to get this thing to run decently. It doesn't seem to hard and I've found it isn't terrible expensive (the part) but I'd hate to fuck up and ruin the stick or my laptop because of neglect. I'd rather not pay $70 in labor charges to have someone do something that seems simple to me.

Nitsuj82

It's usually a pretty quick and easy procedure. A lot of laptops have a plate you can access it from on their undersides.

Uncle Long

It's simple. I've done it on countless laptops. Just don't go scuffing your feet on carpet before hand and touch something to ground yourself. It really is a matter of just taking out the old stick and replacing with the new or clipping the new in an open bay. Easy-peasy.

vonPoonBurGer

I have seen a few laptops where it was a pain to install memory, involving the removing of the keyboard, and a heat spreader plate, and so on and so forth. For the vast majority of laptops out there, though, there's a little hatch in the bottom, and the RAM slot(s) are right there. The procedure for installing/upgrading RAM should be in your laptop's owners manual, which should be on the manufacturer's site. You can easily check that to see how involved the procedure would be, but it's highly likely it'll be pretty simple.

AtomBomb

I've found the process to be pretty painless. The one thing I would encourage you to double check is what the laptop will support. I have 2 laptops that are pretty similar. I upgraded one from 512mb to 2gb, no problem. I thought I would do the same for the other, but I did some research first and found out that the 2nd laptop only supported chips up to 512mb, so the max was 1gb. Good thing, as I was going to buy one 1gb chip and then add another one later.

Fellhand

Most of the time you just pop open one of the bottom panels on your laptop that has what looks like a memory chip symbol next to the screw and you mount the memory module next to the already mounted module. Sometimes you have to take out a module to put in a larger one, but it's all the same process.

It's wicked easy unless you have a cursed laptop that requires you to remove the keyboard to access the memory/hard drive.

SoonerMan

AtomBomb wrote: »

I've found the process to be pretty painless. The one thing I would encourage you to double check is what the laptop will support. I have 2 laptops that are pretty similar. I upgraded one from 512mb to 2gb, no problem. I thought I would do the same for the other, but I did some research first and found out that the 2nd laptop only supported chips up to 512mb, so the max was 1gb. Good thing, as I was going to buy one 1gb chip and then add another one later.

How would I find out what my laptop can support? Its a dinosaur by today's standards, but nevertheless something I can do homework on. I just need to be able to multitask without my computer freaking out.

I know that on the bottom there's a latch to open and install RAM, I'm just scared about static and all of that.

Uncle Long

Just touch something metal that is grounded before you go fingering the RAM. It's really unlikely that you're going to fuck anything up. If you're worried then you can use the antistatic bag that it comes in as a kind of glove.

AtomBomb

How would I find out what my laptop can support? Its a dinosaur by today's standards, but nevertheless something I can do homework on. I just need to be able to multitask without my computer freaking out.

I know that on the bottom there's a latch to open and install RAM, I'm just scared about static and all of that.

What make and model is the laptop?

japan

SoonerMan wrote: »

How would I find out what my laptop can support?

Go to crucial.com and use their memory selector thing. You just put in the make and model of your laptop and it gives you a list of products.

You don't have to buy it from there, but the products it brings up will give you the relevant specs.

For instance, my laptop is an IBM Thinkpad T41, the site tells me I need DDR PC2700 in a 200 pin SODIMM module, up to a maximum of 2GB

Cycophant

japan wrote: »

SoonerMan wrote: »

How would I find out what my laptop can support?

Go to crucial.com and use their memory selector thing. You just put in the make and model of your laptop and it gives you a list of products.

You don't have to buy it from there, but the products it brings up will give you the relevant specs.

For instance, my laptop is an IBM Thinkpad T41, the site tells me I need DDR PC2700 in a 200 pin SODIMM module, up to a maximum of 2GB

Exactly, this is pretty foolproof unless you have a really strange model or something.

And don't forget that in many cases, you can buy RAM that's different than what's listed. If your manufacturer specifies DDR PC2700 RAM, you can buy PC3200 and it will downgrade the speed (though only to a certain point - double check when you find out what your manufacturer specifies). At first you might ask why you'd buy faster RAM than needed if it's just going to be wasted; but for example PC3200 DDR RAM is about half as expensive as PC2700 because it's so common and can be mass-manufactured for cheaper.