"Black Diamond" brand memory for iMac ok?

[uvula]

Hi again,

Just wondering if anyone has any positive experience or horror stories with "Black Diamond" memory (in the market for 1G):

http://www.memory-up.com/merchant2/... iMac 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo 17-inch (MA199LL)

"Guaranteed to work/Lifetime warranty..." what could possibly go wrong?

Thanks!

(the new 17" Intel iMac has been sitting in its box for 36 hours now...maybe this weekend I'll have time to deal...)

 

[Artful Dodger]

Hi, I didn't take any chances with the RAM for my Intel iMac I bought. I bought it from www.datamem.com because others on MR (here) have bought RAM from them as well as the great warranty/service that comes with it. You could also try OWC AKA www.macsales.com for your RAM needs. Both give more than just the warranty but also check for a restocking fee, your cost to ship it back if it's bad or just doesn't work.
The two above don't charge for those things as some other companies will. So really read that fine print and good luck with your new iMac

 

[~Shard~]

If you want to take your chances with them, go ahead, but as Artful Dodger said, read the fine print. You want to deal with a reputable company which has a lifetime guarantee on their RAM, and also, perhaps more importantly explicitly guarantees 100% Mac-compatibility. Otherwise the RAM may not work or not run as well as it should in your iMac.

Also, some companies do offer a money-back guarantee, etc., but what they don't tell you is that you have to pay for shipping to ship the RAM back to them, or you have to pay a 10% restocking fee, or incur similar charges.

For a component as important as RAM, I wouldn't cheap out, and would go with reputable dealers. You haven't cheaped out in buying your computer, so why cheap out when buying memory for it?

All that being said, I do not know anything specifically about this Black Diamond memory - for all I know it could be good. But since I have never heard of them before when it comes to Mac memory, I have my doubts.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Never heard of Black Diamond brand before.

But as ArtfulDodger said, if you are in the USA, then for $0.04 more you can get your 1 Gb modules from Data Memory Systems who have been providing Mac RAM for 18 years, so why take the risk on an unknown company?

 

[Artful Dodger]

Never heard of Black Diamond brand before.

But as ArtfulDodger said, if you are in the USA, then for $0.04 more you can get your 1 Gb modules from Data Memory Systems who have been providing Mac RAM for 18 years, so why take the risk on an unknown company?

I learned all that from you (and after a stint with newegg) with a big thank you CanadaRam

 

[uvula]

Just to clarify, when I bought my iBook 3 years ago, a good friend who knows his Macs recommended memory-up, so that's why I looked at them for this case, and that's where I bought my memory then, which has been fine (probably Kingston - haven't looked at it in a while!)

Looking at the Datamem site, they're offering me RAM for my system, but not telling me a brand???

The "about us" site at memoryup describes their warranty policy (I can absorb a $3 shipping charge) and it seems on the up-and-up (use something we recommend and we'll guarantee it works or else...)

http://www.memory-up.com/Company/about.asp

I have these questions as I see plenty of macrumors-recommended places to buy memory from, but no references to specific brands, and many of the online stores don't let you know the brand in the first place.

I guess my real question os about brands - if something is recommended by a specific site that everyone loves, does that automatically mean the brand is aok?

Like:

http://eshop.macsales.com/MyOWC/Upg...I=#TimeFormat(Now(),+&shoupgrds=Show+Upgrades

Is there any reason the "Other World Computing" brand wouldn't be perfectly okay, when Sansumg is also sitting there as an option?

In other news, just de-dusted my desk.

Thanks, really!

 

[CanadaRAM]

Looking at the Datamem site, they're offering me RAM for my system, but not telling me a brand???many of the online stores don't let you know the brand in the first place.

I guess my real question os about brands - if something is recommended by a specific site that everyone loves, does that automatically mean the brand is aok?

The short answer is: If it is tested and guaranteed Mac compatible, Brand doesn't matter.

A Kingston or Crucial or whatever will perform identically in your Mac to any other compatible memory module. And conversely, there are many brand names modules that are wrong for your Mac. So it is more important by far to choose a reputable and Mac-knowledgeable seller, than it is to choose a brand.