Thinkpads Forum

What do you guys think of these two:

Crucial ($299):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0108547441

Patriot ($229):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0122650339

I'd like to purchase 4GB of ram but I just don't know which to buy!

Or

Micron ($339):
http://www.memorystock.com/orderitem.as ... assfrm=lnk

Have you guys had experience with these brands in the past? Does brand even matter? I am thinking about getting the Micron from MemoryStock because they say that if I use memtest and find any errors I can just exchange it for a new one.

I am hesistant to go through eBay to puchase memory but Crucial seems to be a more trusted brand.

Crucial, Kingston and Micron are good brands. Patriot is not really a major brand.

Kingston is C$126.37 (about US$120) per 2 GB at computermemorycanada.com:

Kingston 2GB 667MHz DDR2 Non-ECC CL5 SODIMM KVR667D2S5/2G $126.37 CAD

Crucial is Micron. They make a wide variety of memory. Make sure you get the one specifically for your machine.

How about Patriot for $200?

http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5200767

as per tomh009's advice above, patriot is not a major brand.

with with memory, it's either it works or it doesn't.

if fry's return policy is good, i would buy the patriots and test/benchmark extensively before commiting to using them.

otherwise, go for a major brand.

Can you guys recommend a good place to puchase RAM in the states?

xaveon wrote:Can you guys recommend a good place to puchase RAM in the states?

newegg.com , frys.com , crucial.com .

Here is another cheap 2gb stick..

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=T667SB2G_M

It is listed as Micron chips (supposedly the best chips out there), so I wouldn't be worried about getting bad RAM.

So you bought an expensive Thinkpad and you are going to take a chance of crippling it with cheapo memory??
Memory doesn't just work or not work, sometimes it will work but make the computer have all kinds of strange little problems.

Look, You bought the best laptop, put some good memory in it, don't gamble.

carbon_unit wrote:So you bought an expensive Thinkpad and you are going to take a chance of crippling it with cheapo memory??
Memory doesn't just work or not work, sometimes it will work but make the computer have all kinds of strange little problems.

Look, You bought the best laptop, put some good memory in it, don't gamble.

:rolleyes:

For the most part, RAM is just that, RAM. This type of RAM is for a LAPTOP, not a desktop... with desktops it can matter a bit more because you may want to overclock or whatever have you... but for a laptop almost any RAM that is compatible with your computer will be perfectly fine. Why waste $40+? Especially with that last link, like I said, Micron pretty much makes the best RAM chips. If you go with the Patriot and it doesn't work, I'm positive fry's will have no problem accepting a return... like I said, why waste so much money? And OP, you may want to wait and see if RAM prices keep dropping... hell I just bought a 1gb stick for my X60T (PNY) for $15 and it works fine (passed Memtest for the hour that it ran, didn't have more time to do it).

Patriot is an excellent lesser-known brand. With a lifetime warranty I don't think you can go wrong...

el aye wrote:For the most part, RAM is just that, RAM. This type of RAM is for a LAPTOP, not a desktop... with desktops it can matter a bit more because you may want to overclock or whatever have you... but for a laptop almost any RAM that is compatible with your computer will be perfectly fine. Why waste $40+? Especially with that last link, like I said, Micron pretty much makes the best RAM chips. If you go with the Patriot and it doesn't work, I'm positive fry's will have no problem accepting a return...

If you can buy locally (at Fry's or otherwise), the risk may well be OK. If you order of the Internet, though, returning product is a whole lot bigger hassle, and I would tend to pay a bit more to know that I'm getting good quality.

There is no guarantee that off-brand memory modules are tested as stringently as the top manufacturers. Or that that they would pass all the tests. You pays your money and you takes your chances ...

el aye wrote::rolleyes:

For the most part, RAM is just that, RAM.

Snip,

hell I just bought a 1gb stick for my X60T (PNY) for $15 and it works fine (passed Memtest for the hour that it ran, didn't have more time to do it).

Ram is just ram if you have an Emachines.

Otherwise ram is not just ram. I work on computers every day and I see lots of computers with cheap, off brand ram and wierd problems that clear up when we replace the memory with Crucial memory. People run down to Wal Mart and get some cheap stuff, have their brother in law install it and then the computer starts acting up.
I have also seen some wickedly fast computers with mediocre specs but built a couple years ago with high quality parts. Parts aren't just parts.
We used to use PNY, Super Talent or what ever was on sale that week and we had a lot of problems.We only sell Crucial now because right now it is the best bang for the buck. I was just suggesting he avoid the cheap stuff and use regular Crucial not Ballistix or Corsair.

Just because it passed a few hours of memtest doesn't mean it won't have a conflict with the existing ram or some other component.
People buy a good computer and "upgrade it" with low quality parts and it does not run much faster....... but hey, it was cheap.

I'm curious what you think of Adata.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820211031

carbon_unit wrote:

el aye wrote::rolleyes:

For the most part, RAM is just that, RAM.

Snip,

hell I just bought a 1gb stick for my X60T (PNY) for $15 and it works fine (passed Memtest for the hour that it ran, didn't have more time to do it).

Ram is just ram if you have an Emachines.

Otherwise ram is not just ram. I work on computers every day and I see lots of computers with cheap, off brand ram and wierd problems that clear up when we replace the memory with Crucial memory. People run down to Wal Mart and get some cheap stuff, have their brother in law install it and then the computer starts acting up.
I have also seen some wickedly fast computers with mediocre specs but built a couple years ago with high quality parts. Parts aren't just parts.
We used to use PNY, Super Talent or what ever was on sale that week and we had a lot of problems.We only sell Crucial now because right now it is the best bang for the buck. I was just suggesting he avoid the cheap stuff and use regular Crucial not Ballistix or Corsair.

Just because it passed a few hours of memtest doesn't mean it won't have a conflict with the existing ram or some other component.
People buy a good computer and "upgrade it" with low quality parts and it does not run much faster....... but hey, it was cheap.

I don't know. I don't have any experience with it.
It costs more than this http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs ... 61A5CA7304 when you factor in free shipping with Crucial.

carbon_unit wrote: Snip

Once again, :rolleyes:. Like I said, the type of ram for desktops may be more important, but for laptops I'm willing to bet 99% of the time you won't see any problems using the cheaper ram, or any difference in real-world performance. You act as if thinkpads were made for performance, and I'm willing to bet a lot of people would argue against you because for the most part, thinkpads are a step back with regards to the latest laptop tech (ie you can buy a dell with better parts than the current thinkpad, but i'm not saying the dell is better overall ), though that may start to change with lenovo.

Whatever, I haven't gone wrong using cheap RAM on the seven thinkpads I've owned and putting them in other desktop computers. For the record, I do research the exact chips before purchasing, and if people have been having problems, then I will avoid them, but the two links I posted above I can almost guarantee will work just as fine as any other stick of ram when thrown in an X60/61.

Go purchase the more expensive brands, meanwhile, I will enjoy the oodles of money I've saved as compared to you

post script: if there is not a large difference in price between well known brands and cheap ones, i will go with the well known ones. But if I'm going to be saving quite a bit, I obviously go with the cheaper stuff.

carbon_unit wrote:
Ram is just ram if you have an Emachines.

Otherwise ram is not just ram. I work on computers every day and I see lots of computers with cheap, off brand ram and wierd problems that clear up when we replace the memory with Crucial memory. People run down to Wal Mart and get some cheap stuff, have their brother in law install it and then the computer starts acting up.
I have also seen some wickedly fast computers with mediocre specs but built a couple years ago with high quality parts. Parts aren't just parts.
We used to use PNY, Super Talent or what ever was on sale that week and we had a lot of problems.We only sell Crucial now because right now it is the best bang for the buck. I was just suggesting he avoid the cheap stuff and use regular Crucial not Ballistix or Corsair.

Just because it passed a few hours of memtest doesn't mean it won't have a conflict with the existing ram or some other component.
People buy a good computer and "upgrade it" with low quality parts and it does not run much faster....... but hey, it was cheap.

totally agree with you on the above points...

however, i've seen samsung, crucial, hynix memory not work in harmony with other brands, doa out of the box, and also go bad after a couple of years.(my experience is mostly limited to desktops)

it's just that the major brand memory has a much higher rate of working right out of the box / compatibility than the other non-major brand cheapo ram.

if you are in charge of taking care of a fleet of laptops, it would be foolish to risk higher failure rates with cheaper ram. it's not worth the headache.

but if you are watching what you spend, i think it would be a risk to take. (but you need to be able to return the ram if it doesn't work. and it has to have a lifetime warranty)

it's just a matter of what your priorities are.

with that said, i use samsung memory as they sell under their name in korea. and of course it has close to lowest price and lifetime warranty.

True, and as I linked to earlier...sometimes Crucial is cheaper than the "bargain" brands. You just have to compare.
I'm not rich and either are my customers but saving $5.00, $10.00 or $15.00 is not worth it if you have to take the computer back to the shop even once. Just the loss of computer use time is worth that. At some point you have to decide how much frustration are you willing to put up with to save a few dollars.
For some people the rock bottom price is not the only factor, for some it is. I try to look at the whole package, unit price, freight, installation cost, downtime and warranty length/hassles. Installation cost doesn't apply when doing it yourself.

carbon_unit wrote: snip
At some point you have to decide how much frustration are you willing to put up with to save a few dollars.
For some people the rock bottom price is not the only factor, for some it is.I try to look at the whole package, unit price, freight, installation cost, downtime and warranty length/hassles. Installation cost doesn't apply when doing it yourself.

totally agree with you again.

it too buy major brands only(samsung in my case), even if they demand a slight premium. IMHO you cannot put a price on the peace of mind and stability.

but in the end, what you buy and how you maintain a machine is a preference.

Agreed!

Cheap people will always find an excuse Why not just buy the better piece and have a piece of mind? When I go into a shop ad want to buy some memory. I go in and ask for the best memory on the market and buy what the best he has to offer for my laptop. Yet I have seen people walk in and ask for the cheapest memory available that will still work Those are usually the same people driving a Blue Cadillac which are at the Arco Gas Station putting regular fuel in their car