[anamexis]

I'll be ordering a 15" Powerbook sometime in the near future, and I was wondering: is it worth it to pay extra for 1x512MB rather than 2x256MB to allow for future upgradeability?

[hldan]

Originally posted by anamexis:
I'll be ordering a 15" Powerbook sometime in the near future, and I was wondering: is it worth it to pay extra for 1x512MB rather than 2x256MB to allow for future upgradeability?

The (2) 256 dimms take up both memory slots in your Powerbook. It's best to go with (1) 512MB dimm because when you decide to upgrade you will have an empty slot to put in a 1GB sodimm bringing your total to 1.5GB. Also if you ever sell your memory you won't get much for each 256 dimm, that's why it cost more to have (1) 512 instead of (2) 256's.

[wuzup101]

It's not really worth it because you can buy a 512mb sodimm for the price of the upgrade... so for the same price you have a 256 + 512 stick instead of just a 512 at the same price. The above poster is right in that you won't get much for the 256mb stick... but you can still get a few bucks on e-bay.

[Ω]

It all depends on how comfortable you are performing "surgery" yourself.

[wuzup101]

I guess that's a good point; however, it's hardly "surgury" installing ram into a new powerbook. Remove 4 screws and slip it in and then replace the screws. You can do it in 5 min. It's not like you're opening your whole case to replace your HDD. I still see why some people wouldn'ty want to do it though. But, you wouldn't catch me paying apple 2x for ram!

[Ryan1524]

i went with 1 SO-DIMM 512, and added another 512 to make it a gig. it's really fast now. and it was really really easy to do it. i did mine and my friend's 12". it was a snap, very very simple to do.

as for the cost difference, i didn't want to bother with having to sell it, so i guess i just bit the bullet and order the first 512 directly from apple. but if you don't mind doing this, and it can get you back about 100$ or so..then i guess it's worth it.

[chris v]

Originally posted by wuzup101:
I guess that's a good point; however, it's hardly "surgury" installing ram into a new powerbook. Remove 4 screws and slip it in and then replace the screws. You can do it in 5 min. It's not like you're opening your whole case to replace your HDD. I still see why some people wouldn'ty want to do it though. But, you wouldn't catch me paying apple 2x for ram!

It's a little more difficult to remove the internal 256 chip in order to replace it. Order the machine with 1x512 mb chip, then order another 512 from a third-party vendor for the external slot.

[StevenWRX]

if you plan on keeping 512 in your pb, then no.. dont pay the extra.

[hadocon]

Originally posted by chris v:
It's a little more difficult to remove the internal 256 chip in order to replace it. Order the machine with 1x512 mb chip, then order another 512 from a third-party vendor for the external slot.

What do you mean Internal and External slots? Both slots are exactly the same. One just happens to be on top of the other, making it difficult to get th ebottom card out without first removing the top card (if there is one).

[Holigen]

The latches are a nice little thought on Apple's part, but replacing RAM is very easy.

As for whether or not to get the 1x512 versus the 2x256. Its really a matter of choice and money. I would get the 2x256 if you plan on putting in two 1 gig DIMMs, but if you just want to add a 512 then get the 1x512. It doesnt make the memory any faster having a bigger card, just different options for expandability.

[chris v]

Originally posted by hadocon:
What do you mean Internal and External slots? Both slots are exactly the same. One just happens to be on top of the other, making it difficult to get th ebottom card out without first removing the top card (if there is one).

I was thinking one was under the keypad. Musta been thinking of my kid's iMac (there's only one user-accessible slot on the iMac G4). If they're both that easy to get to the, yeah, order it with 256, sell that on ebay, and but 2 x 512 from another vendor. 768 MB would be suficient, but 1 GB is definitely nice, esp. if you plan on doing anything serious, like Photoshop or video.

[anamexis]

Well I've decided that no matter the scenario, I've decided to go 2x256. Here's why:
Lets say I get a Powerbook, 2x256. I want a Gigabyte of memory.
I can either get 1x512 ($90 extra w/ educational discount) and then get a 3rd party 512MB chip for $90, OR
I can get 2x256, and get 2 3rd Party 512MB chips for $90 each.

The difference?
With the second option, if i only have money to buy one stick at a time, I will be at 768MB rather than just having the one 512MB chip I paid extra for.

[JHromadka]

Do you have any other Macs?

When I bought my PowerBook, I bought it with the 2x256, replaced one of them with 512, then gave the spare 256 stick to my parents for their iMac 20" since it uses the same kind of RAM.

[Link]

Yeah... besides even if you don't want to bother selling the 256s you can just toss them, use them as keychains, or some other crazy waste of money since well.. you're STILL saving money over buying the upgrades from apple...

Then again, you could sell them for a few bucks each and well, that money subtracts from the price of the upgrade

[wuzup101]

Originally posted by Link:
Yeah... besides even if you don't want to bother selling the 256s you can just toss them, use them as keychains, or some other crazy waste of money since well.. you're STILL saving money over buying the upgrades from apple...

Then again, you could sell them for a few bucks each and well, that money subtracts from the price of the upgrade

Good point! This is what I'm getting at. I timed myself today and it took less than 5 min to install the ram and reboot the system. I got one of those 1gb sticks from newegg.com for $201 and the kingmax ram seems to work flawlessly in my PB (even if others have had problems). Anyway, I love it and would love to add another gig by xmas!

[Randman]

I found it much quicker and easier to install the ram on my new 17 then it was to install it on my old G4 iBook.