Regarding memory upgrade on T23

[Buptink]

I am glad I stumbled across this forum. It is nice to know I'm asking a question to people that actually have owned a T23. My T23 came with one 256 MB stick. I use the T23 for surfing, email, and word processing, but I'd like to get her to go faster. Two 512 MB sticks would be nice, but expensive. If I put just one 512 in with the existing 256 will it go faster than it would if I put a 256 stick in beside the other one? I gather that in some situations a computer will accept different combinations but I have 3 toddlers and I can't free up time to research this. Thank you for your advice.

[Harryc]

You may be refering to dual channel machines where matching RAM sticks mean faster performance, but unfortunately a T23 is not dual channel, so you can put a 256MB stick beside a 512MB stick with no performance degradation.

[Buptink]

Thank you kindly for your help. Are you saying that I shouldn't install a 512 alongside the existing 256? 256 plus 512 will be better than 256 plus 256?

[Harryc]

No, I am saying that you should if that saves you some money.

[Buptink]

I feel dense. I am asking you if 256 plus 512 is faster on the T23 than 256 plus 256.

[Harryc]

Yes

[Buptink]

Thank you kindly, sir, for your patience. I am now searching for the most inexpensive stick of 512 I can find. Looks like this one: http://www.memorystock.com/ram/IBMThink ... xxRAM.html

So a dual channel is preferable? I don't understand. If a 256 plus a 512 in a dual channel doesn't go faster than a 256 plus a 512 in a T23, why is dual channel preferable?

Now I'll have 768 MN ram whereas I thought I might have to buy two 512's to get up to a good speed.

I wish I had more time to research this info but my toddlers have taken over my life and I'm happy with that.

[Harryc]

http://cgi.ebay.com/512MB-SODIMM-PC133- ... otohosting

[Buptink]

Wow, thanks very much! Item sold! Whatta great forum!

[RealBlackStuff]

A bit after the fact apparently, but T23s do NOT have Dual Channel, like Harryc said.
To a T23 it makes no difference what SIZE RAM you put in.
Any combination will work, as long as they are PC133 SODIMMs.
The max. is 2x 512MB for a T23.

[Buptink]

Thank you kindly for your assistance. I am looking forward to the delivery of my recently purchased stick of 512MB RAM.

The statement that has perplexed me all weekend is "unfortunately a T23 is not dual channel." I am interested in learning why it is unfortunate that my T23 isn't a dual channel. From what I gather, the T23 accepts any combination of RAM, while a dual channel accepts only twins. Which is better?

The reason I ask is that we need another laptop and I was thinking that since I'm getting to know the T23 I might as well buy another one instead of venturing into unexplored territory.

I appreciate all your advice and especially your patience with me. I've looked at some of the other newbie questions and I am amazed at your calm responses. I recently purchased an Acer 3 G RAM laptop and after playing with it for a week I returned it to the store. We love our T23.

[rkawakami]

"Dual Channel" memory is somewhat of an over-hyped feature (in my opinion). The computer's memory system architecture has to be designed with this feature already built in. It's usefulness is relegated to high-end processing systems which require every bit of memory bandwidth. You'll only see any real benefits if you are running engineering simulations or some recent video games . The T23 will accept two PC133 SODIMM (144 pin) memory modules, in any size combination. Having a "matched set" of modules (and paying extra for that feature) will not help in making the system run faster. If you put two 512MB modules in your T23, that's as good as you're going to get. Stick with the major memory manufacturers (whose numbers are getting smaller by the day ) such as Samsung, Micron, Elpida, etc. and you should be fine.

The T23 is not a gaming system; the measly 16MB S3 video chipset is the main thing that holds it back. It still is a good enough system for general computing tasks: web browsing, office documents, light video editing/transcoding, DVD player. The top-of-the-line T23 has a 1.2Ghz PIII processor (ancient by today's standards), SXGA+ (1400x1050) screen and built-in wireless. As mentioned before, it has a maximum memory capacity of 1GB and you can install any notebook-sized (2.5") IDE hard drive. If you are running Windows XP on it, turn off all of the "eye candy" and it will be reasonably quick.

The T23 is not without it's faults however. The main problems I've seen are:

- loose parts on the motherboard which generally cause power/boot/battery charging problems
- broken keyboard bezel (aka, palmrest) at the thinnest points next to the Fn and right arrows keys that are normally caused by a....
- broken mounting tab on the Ultrabay 2000 guide rail at the back right corner of the laptop

[RealBlackStuff]

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