A31: is RAM brand important?

[dosbox-gamer]

Hello all, on upgrading an A31 2653, will any name-brand RAM suffice, or do I have to use IBM/Lenovo? Thanks!

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

I'd stay away from "value RAM" offerings, everything else should be just fine, be it PC2100 (DDR266) or PC2700 (DDR333)...just make sure it's laptop RAM and you're good to go.

[jronald]

I have run some "value ram" but always at the much higher speed. IE:PC3200 in place of the 2100/2700 called for.
I have always been leery of memory from eBay, but others have had good luck.
If you are not in a hurry, watch this site:
http://www.geeks.com/products_sc.asp?cat=722
I have done it for under $30.00 shipped ($23.00 if I remember correctly) for 1 gig.
The sweet spot on these machines is the 2.0 CPU and 1.25 gig of memory
Yes you can do more, or higher or faster or whatever.......
But the bang for the buck is rapidly diminishing above these specs.

YMMV
Ron

[richk]

I buy whatever is cheapest

[AMATX]

I buy whatever is cheapest

Me too.

[dosbox-gamer]

Thank you all, this helps alot. If I go past 1 gig as suggested, will I need to mess with the BIOS? How?

[ajkula66]

No need to mess with the BIOS. Plug and play, up to 2x1GB.