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  • #46
    Re: Buying a laptop

    Would it do any good to bump RAM up past 2GB? Does Windows even use anything more than 2GB?

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    • #47
      Re: Buying a laptop

      These guys should know, in any case they would certainly not recommend less than most people need lol.

      http://www.kingston.com/windowsvista/vista_faq.asp

      http://www.crucial.com/library/howmuch.asp


      Just for laughs:

      "Everyone is going to want Vista when it's ready," Rollins said.

      http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/busine...ftvista27.html

      Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro View Post
      Would it do any good to bump RAM up past 2GB? Does Windows even use anything more than 2GB?

      Comment


      • #48
        Re: Buying a laptop

        I have 256, 512, 768MB and 1GB on XP. It depends on what you're using it for and how much that "not too much difference" means to you. The 1GB machine treats me very well.

        Originally posted by craigwatanabe View Post
        I agree big difference from 256Mb to 512Mb on XP. Not too much difference after that though.

        I ran my same bench computer on XP at 128Mb and yeah it loaded up a bit slower but once booted up and on the internet, there wasn't much difference as compared to 512Mb until you started to stream audio or video.

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        • #49
          Re: Buying a laptop

          Well, here is what I bought tonight. 750.00
          BUT here is the freaking kicker! I get it home and it has a red dot on the screen! LOL I get it set up and notice...Oh yes, there is a red dot and it wasn't going away! So right now hubby is exchanging it! Oh lord, there is good things to come I am sure.

          I was going to get the 15.4 but when I went in I really liked the 14.1 screen better so I got that. They didn't have the dual core 2 in the 14.1 so I got the AMD turin 64X2 instead. Hope it works fine, my experience with AMD sucks, but oh well.



          HP Pavilion 14.1" Widescreen Notebook PC (DV2214US)
          HP DV2214US
          • AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52
          • 120GB hard drive
          • Built-in 802.11g wireless • 1GB of DDR2 memory
          • Burns DVDs and CDs
          • Windows Vista Home Premium
          Since when is psycho a bad thing??
          Sharing withother survivors...
          www.supportandsurvive.org

          Comment


          • #50
            Re: Buying a laptop

            Be aware that Vista doesn't support Apple's Quicktime as of this writing or many of Apple's other applications.

            And Glen, adding too much RAM can make your operating system unstable. I'm not sure why but if you start adding too much of it Windows will start acting as if it didn't have enough and will start freezing up and/or give you the BSOD.
            Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

            Comment


            • #51
              Re: Buying a laptop

              Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro View Post
              Would it do any good to bump RAM up past 2GB? Does Windows even use anything more than 2GB?
              I'd say it depends on what you do with it. I think the OS makes good use up to about 512MB, but then some apps need more. If you do a lot of PhotoShop or Video it would probably pay to have more.

              Comment


              • #52
                Re: Buying a laptop

                Originally posted by craigwatanabe View Post
                And Glen, adding too much RAM can make your operating system unstable.
                Never heard that before, but adding memory that's bad or not quite matched up or not a good match to the motherboard can certainly cause a lot of problems. You want to buy from a good company and make sure the the memory maker says that's the right thing for your computer. The better ones allow you to input your machines model number and they'll tell you what you need.

                Comment


                • #53
                  Re: Buying a laptop

                  Originally posted by GeckoGeek View Post
                  Never heard that before, but adding memory that's bad or not quite matched up or not a good match to the motherboard can certainly cause a lot of problems. You want to buy from a good company and make sure the the memory maker says that's the right thing for your computer. The better ones allow you to input your machines model number and they'll tell you what you need.
                  I think the reason of instability comes from exactly what you mentiioned. When you start mixing brands or even batches from the same manufacturer, you start introduce varying specs. Motherboards will typically readjust to the slower or less efficient RAM modules.

                  But I do remember reading about this in several columns including Kim Kommando and Smart Computing several years ago.
                  Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

                  Comment


                  • #54
                    Re: Buying a laptop

                    I just read something that WinXP 32-bit maxes out around 3GB of RAM. It simply runs out of address space.

                    Comment


                    • #55
                      Re: Buying a laptop

                      Originally posted by GeckoGeek View Post
                      I just read something that WinXP 32-bit maxes out around 3GB of RAM. It simply runs out of address space.
                      http://www.aarnet.edu.au/~gdt/stories/winmem2006/

                      Comment


                      • #56
                        Re: Buying a laptop

                        I was actually considering that exact model. My main concern is with screen size. I'm prone to violent headaches if the screen is uncomfortable. I am considering a 17". The 14" is real cute though.

                        Originally posted by blueyecicle View Post
                        Well, here is what I bought tonight. 750.00
                        BUT here is the freaking kicker! I get it home and it has a red dot on the screen! LOL I get it set up and notice...Oh yes, there is a red dot and it wasn't going away! So right now hubby is exchanging it! Oh lord, there is good things to come I am sure.

                        I was going to get the 15.4 but when I went in I really liked the 14.1 screen better so I got that. They didn't have the dual core 2 in the 14.1 so I got the AMD turin 64X2 instead. Hope it works fine, my experience with AMD sucks, but oh well.



                        HP Pavilion 14.1" Widescreen Notebook PC (DV2214US)
                        HP DV2214US
                        • AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52
                        • 120GB hard drive
                        • Built-in 802.11g wireless • 1GB of DDR2 memory
                        • Burns DVDs and CDs
                        • Windows Vista Home Premium

                        Comment


                        • #57
                          Re: Buying a laptop

                          I was worried about the screen being too big on the 17". Because I have that on my CPU. I think the 14.1 is a bit dark though, even on full brightness.
                          Since when is psycho a bad thing??
                          Sharing withother survivors...
                          www.supportandsurvive.org

                          Comment


                          • #58
                            Re: Buying a laptop

                            Originally posted by blueyecicle View Post
                            I was worried about the screen being too big on the 17". Because I have that on my CPU. I think the 14.1 is a bit dark though, even on full brightness.
                            Best of luck with your purchase. As an electronic technology idiot I can sympathize with the angst one goes through when making an electronics purchase.

                            We just bought a big-screen TV and a home theatre system. An Official Geek from Best Buy is coming over next Monday to make sure we didn't screw up the installation.

                            I love the picture. And the helicopters on "24" sounded really cool as they flew over my left shoulder.

                            I just noticed that you now have "Relocating" on your profile---did I miss something? (Probably---I pop in here only sporadically.)

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