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generik

macrumors 601
Original poster
Aug 5, 2005
4,116
1
Minitrue
Doesn't have to be amazingly reliable, so long as it can detect it and boot up, it'll do just fine :D
 

26139

Suspended
Dec 27, 2003
4,315
377
wtf?

You bought a nice powerbook and now you want to go cheapo on ram? Why?
 

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
48
1123.6536.5321
appleretailguy is right - you spend all that money on such a nice machine and then want to put crap in it? :confused:

As a general rule, you get what you pay for, so if you buy cheap RAM which isn't guaranteed as Mac-compatible, nor has a lifetime warranty, you could definitely be SOL. regardless, you're taking a big risk. RAM is crucial (pardon the pun) to the performance of the entire system, so why cut corners with such an important piece of your PowerBook?

You've bought a quality machine. For the extra $20-$30 it'll cost you at the end of the day, why not treat yourself to some quality RAM instead? It'll save yourself a lot of headaches further down the road. :cool:
 

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
48
1123.6536.5321
mad jew said:
Expensive RAM isn't necessarily better. :)

No, no one is recommending he buy expensive RAM for the sake of buying expensive RAM. But high quality RAM, now that he might have to pay a little bit more for, but it will be worth it in the end to ensure compatibility, no issues, and a reliable, well-operating new PowerBook. :)
 

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
I'd pay extra to get RAM from a place that recognises Macs and will guarantee the chip(s) will work for you (allows for replacement) but I thought RAM was RAM and that so long as it was the right specifications, it didn't matter what brand you bought. :eek:

In other words, I'd pay to get RAM from a reputable dealer, but not to get a specific brand per se. :)
 

tekmoe

macrumors 68000
Feb 12, 2005
1,728
565
i can honestly say i bought a stick of RAM from newegg for my rev. c 15" a few months ago and it turned out to be incompatible. i read other reviews of people saying they bought the same RAM and installed it in their powerbooks and had good results but i wasn't so lucky. i would have apps crash every so often and even ran into a couple of kernel panics. when i took that ram out, i did not have a single problem after that. i ended up selling it to a guy that wanted it for his sony vaio laptop.

my suggestion is to buy RAM that is guarenteed to be compatible with your powerbook. that's the route i am taking anyway.
 

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
48
1123.6536.5321
mad jew said:
I'd pay extra to get RAM from a place that recognises Macs and will guarantee the chip(s) will work for you (allows for replacement) but I thought RAM was RAM and that so long as it was the right specifications, it didn't matter what brand you bought. :eek:

In other words, I'd pay to get RAM from a reputable dealer, but not to get a specific brand per se. :)

No, actually RAM isn't just RAM. ;) There are differences in quality between different manufacturers, so that's something to be aware of. But, as I and others have said, as long as the RAM has a lifetime guarantee and is guaranteed to be Mac-compatible, you'll be fine. :)
 

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
Okay, I stand corrected. Thanks ~Shard~. :D

I still place a bigger emphasis on dealer than brand name though. Well, its certainly important that there's the option to return if it doesn't work. :)
 

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Jun 4, 2003
18,377
48
1123.6536.5321
mad jew said:
Okay, I stand corrected. Thanks ~Shard~. :D

I still place a bigger emphasis on dealer than brand name though. Well, its certainly important that there's the option to return if it doesn't work. :)

No problem. :)

Yes, I agree - as I said above, brand name is irrelevant in a way if the RAM has the guarantees I mentioned - then a person essentially knows it has to be good, and if it's not, he's fully protected. :)

As with anything though, it always pays to do your due diligence and perform some research before making a purchase. :cool:
 

wako

macrumors 65816
Jun 6, 2005
1,404
1
Much of all the RAM around the world all comes from the same manufacterers. They are simply branded differently. It really doesnt matter...

As shard said, as long as you get a RAM that is said to be compatible with Mac or your money back, there wouldnt be much problems. Differences between crucial and generic stuff is so irrelevant to the day to day users. Even then with power users you are just seeing very small differences
 

Flyinace2000

macrumors 6502a
Sep 28, 2004
666
0
I got a stick of Kingston Value Ram 1.0gb for 99.99 after rebate. Works wonderfully. I first got a stick of Patriot ram, SUCKED!!!!!! Kernal panics constantly. Luckily i was able to return it and get the kingston.
 

katie ta achoo

Blogger emeritus
May 2, 2005
9,166
5
I got a 512 stick for $60.

From some company called "wintech"

then, I couldn't install it on account of how much I suck.
The genius bar couldn't do it for me, but they could supervise.

I had one odd thing of not booting up, but it's been absolute gravy ever since! :D
 
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