Clarification ?'s on memory upgrade

[GoJoeGo]

Howdy,

I'm running Vista Business with a 32 bit OS, Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.0 Ghz, 1 GB ram on an X61 I bought in July. I want to upgrade to at least 2GB ram and I've done a little research but want to confirm what I found:

1. Since I'm running a 32bit OS, is 3GB ram the max I can run even if I install 4GB?

2. If 3 GB is indeed the max, I also read that 2GB (1x1GB) will actually run faster because it runs in Dual Channel. Thus does it make sense to just buy 2x1GB RAM instead of 2x2GB?

3. Can anyone recommend any particular brands or crappy ones I should stay away from?

I use my laptop for basic internet/music/MS Word but have been dissatisfied with how slow vista is - my memory is constantly at 700-800 MB/1GB while my CPU usage averages less than 10% - I'm hoping an upgrade will make things much, much faster.

Thanks!

[erik]

to answer numbers 1 and 2, please read this thread as it also applies to the X61: T60/T61/p memory limitations -- the definitive answer

if all you're doing is surfing the internet, playing music, and using microsoft office products then 2GB total will be plenty.   i have 2GB (1+1GB) in my X61 and it's fast as heck under 32-bit vista business.

regarding dual channel, i couldn't tell any difference on my X61 with a single 2GB module vs. two 1GB modules installed.   it also didn't seem any faster with 3GB installed.   unless you're running complex software applications, you'll never notice the difference between 2GB, 3GB, and 4GB.   the difference between 1GB and 2GB under vista, however, is noticeable.