Best places to buy thinpad ram from?

[Thinkpadgranddad]

Guy's where are the best places;with the best prices?To purchase memory ram for T40's,T30's &T23's

Hopefully,I'll be getting a T40(2373-7CU)from a friend


Thanks,Clint

[cepler]

There are many reputable online retailers to choose from, some places to start:

Get an idea of the prices for what you're looking for to get a feel for the market:
http://www.pricewatch.com/
http://froogle.google.com/

Check the eTailer for an entry on:

http://www.resellerratings.com/

Read thru the comments there to get a feel for how reliable they are as a merchant.

Some reputable resellers I've dealt with and would recommend checking out:

http://www.newegg.com/
I've made several purchases from them and have been happy with their selection and pricing as well as customer service for price adjustments and returns. They may not always have the absolute LOWEST price but they're pretty darn close and they are reliable.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/
Similar to Newegg but seem a little smaller. I haven't dealt with them as much lately (They used to be GoogleGear, not affiliated with Google which is why they changed names)

Generally if you stick with major name brands (Crucial, Kingston, Mushkin etc) vs. generic no-name (literally) brands you'll be safer and the pricing usually isn't THAT much different. Just figure out the exact specs of the RAM (SODIMM? PC2700? PC3200? CAS3? CAS4?) and price it out, you'll be fine.

Good luck and enjoy the RAM! I can't stress enough how much difference more RAM can make, especially in larger programs that like to spread out a bit like Photoshop and gaming like Battlefield 2 (Going from 1 gig to 2 gig for Battlefield 2 was like upgrading from a P3 500 MHz to a P4 3 GHz, that game eats up RAM FAST)

[darkhelmet03]

I bought my 512mb dimm from http://www.crucial.com/ and it has been working fine for quite long (as most dimms from well-known brands I guess).

[emorphien]

www.crucial.com for direct from the manufacturer (best RAM for a laptop IMO)

Mwave.com
Newegg.com
zipzoomfly.com

are all top notch places that carry Crucial and or other makes of RAM.

[Thinkpadgranddad]

Thanks very much guys!!
I really appreciate the help.

Clint

[Boricua65]

Also, don't be afraid of checking out eBay. I've bought memory before and haven't had any problems. In fact, I had a TP 600E and bought memory from a merchant off eBay. The memory chip wasn't recognized, so I contacted the vendor. The memory chip was RMA'ed and returned, and I received the correct one the laptop could recognize.

[DIGITALgimpus]

I prefer crucial.com, because it's good quality RAM.

Doesn't matter where you buy it.... what matters is the quality of the product you buy.

[Thinkpadgranddad]

I prefer crucial.com, because it's good quality RAM.

Doesn't matter where you buy it.... what matters is the quality of the product you buy.

Yeah,I had a PNY brand 256MB ram pklaced into my Dell 1150.It wouldn't work .But the same ram worked in my HP business notebook NX6110

I feel that these are good & reliable brands to use: Crucial
Kingston
Corsair

[gforce]

Does anyone recommend Kingmax? I had bought a Crucial stick from Newegg for my T43 but am thinking of either Crucial or Kingmax for my new T42.

[Thinkpadgranddad]

Does anyone recommend Kingmax? I had bought a Crucial stick from Newegg for my T43 but am thinking of either Crucial or Kingmax for my new T42.

KingMax is okay.But,I don't highly recommend it;for most major installs.There are alot of noyebook's.That are very picky about;what ram is used.

You're really better off getting a well known & reliable brand.That way;you can't go wrong!!Just my.02cents

[gforce]

KingMax is okay.But,I don't highly recommend it;for most major installs.There are alot of noyebook's.That are very picky about;what ram is used.

You're really better off getting a well known & reliable brand.That way;you can't go wrong!!Just my.02cents

Thanks for the advice. So it comes down to choosing either Crucial ($118 for a 1GB PC2700 stick) or Corsair/Kingston (~$125 for the same stick).
Would you recommend Crucial over Kingston/Corsair which are well known brands?

P.S.: The prices are quoted from Newegg.

[Thinkpadgranddad]

KingMax is okay.But,I don't highly recommend it;for most major installs.There are alot of noyebook's.That are very picky about;what ram is used.

You're really better off getting a well known & reliable brand.That way;you can't go wrong!!Just my.02cents

Thanks for the advice. So it comes down to choosing either Crucial ($118 for a 1GB PC2700 stick) or Corsair/Kingston (~$125 for the same stick).
Would you recommend Crucial over Kingston/Corsair which are well known brands?

P.S.: The prices are quoted from Newegg.

Personally,I think that Crucial & Corsair.Are about the same quality build!!But,being that you're going with 1GB.I'd go with Crucial.
I have Crucial in my HP Business Notebook(NX6110) It's a 1GB PC2700 also.Well,spent money indeed!

[robmack]

I bought 512MB RAM for my TP T30 last year from Crucial. They shipped quickly (They are US based, I'm Canadian) and the RAM initially worked OK. After a time, the brick failed to be recognized by the system so I filed an RMA -- no problems. A new brick came and still the same problem plus hangs. Turned out it was a combination of system board and RAM brick. IBM replaced the system board under warranty but I had a bit of trouble convincing Crucial that their replacement RAM was defective. Eventually, after 3-4 email exchanges, they accepted another RMA request and the (second) replacement brick has been working well ever since.