Laptop Ram questions.

[droopydrew19]

I know a thing or 2 about computers but I am admittedly lost when it comes to Ram.

Yesterday I picked up a couple of P3 800 - 1Gz range laptops for the kids. They both have 2 ram slots. One has 2 sticks of 128mb p100 ram in it and the other has 2 sticks of 128mb p133 ram. Both laptops are running windows XP.

They run pretty good and got them hooked up wirelessly but I would like to get a little more "jam" out of them. My PC store told me that putting more ram in them will likely not make them faster.

Has anyone had an experience with older laptops like this running 512mb of ram? Would it make a difference? I do not want to go out and drop more money on ram if it is pointless.

Thanks

[mykalberta]

It would be faster - how much likely depends on your apps and startup tray.

Right now you are likely bottlenecking on when it caches to the hard drive, likely 5400 rpm or slower.

More ram will solve that, but the other issue is depending on how old the laptops are the RAM might be crazy expensive which is what they might mean. Do you really want to spedn 200$ on a 10% preformance increase on laptops that are beyond their life and likely to soon die?

Personally if I were you I would ditch the extra RAM idea and put Ubuntu or another Linux distro on those. Put Open Office and Firefox on that bad boy and you have your self a descent little machine for kids to surf and do their homework on. Also you get them into the world of Unix based OS which is becoming more and more prevelant with the anti M$ issues in the EU.

Also, dont worry if you arent so computer savy, its very easy to install and setup, one of the easier distros imo.

[droopydrew19]

I am going to try to clear out the start up programs using msconfig.

My PC place said that the motherboards on laptops in the P3 range were only build to run 256MB max. I just don't know if they were blowing smoke. They were pretty busy when I asked them.

I was hoping the 1 gig of ram from my dead laptop would work in there but it is p333 or something like that. Will not even fit in the slots

[Bobblehead]

What is the make and model of the laptops?

[droopydrew19]

One is a Toshiba Satellite pro 6000 and the other is a HP model. I will have to grab the model number on that when I get home from work.

[Traditional_Ale]

Seconding the suggestion for Ubuntu.

The CD iso can be downloaded from www.ubuntu.com.

The newest version, The Gutsy Gibbon (v 7.10) is awesome, and has both firefox and open office integrated.

I'm running it on a 1.0Ghz P3 with 312 mb of RAM and wireless internet, and it rocks. It does basics almost as well as my AMD 64x2 5200.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by droopydrew19

One is a Toshiba Satellite pro 6000 and the other is a HP model. I will have to grab the model number on that when I get home from work.

From Kingston Memory's website:

Standard Memory: 256 MB (Removable)

Maximum Memory: 1 GB

Expansion: 2 Sockets

CPU & ChipSet: Intel Pentium III-M 1 GHz ALi M1644T
Intel Pentium III-M 1.13 GHz ALi M1644T
Intel Pentium III-M 1.2 GHz ALi M1644T

Bus Architecture: CardBus; PCI

Mfgr's System P/N's: PS600A-04T8K; PS600A-04T8N; PS600U-01RCV0W; PS600U-01RCV0X; PS600U-01RCV9; PS600U-042D30W; PS600U-042D30X; PS600U-042D39; PS600U-04T730W; PS600U-04T730X; PS600U-04T739

http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/conf...submit1=Search

So your memory is a SDRAM PC-133 SODIMM (that is also confirmed on the Toshiba accessories site - they list the same modules).

It looks like you can get a 256MB module for $39.95 at Memory Express, or a 512MB module for $99.95

[Traditional_Ale]

Nice work Bobblehead!

[droopydrew19]

Originally Posted by droopydrew19

One is a Toshiba Satellite pro 6000 and the other is a HP model. I will have to grab the model number on that when I get home from work.

More details...

In the control panel it lists this toshiba as a 747mhz Pentium 3 with 256 ram. (2 x 128 p133 sticks)

The HP is listed as a 696 mhz Pentium 3 with 256mb of ram as well. The Model on it is a HP omnibook Xe3 (this one has 2 x 128 p100 sticks)

I am willing to stick a couple of 256 sticks in each if performance will improve. I dont see a point in going over 512mb on either setup.

[droopydrew19]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

From Kingston Memory's website:


http://www.ec.kingston.com/ecom/conf...submit1=Search

So your memory is a SDRAM PC-133 SODIMM (that is also confirmed on the Toshiba accessories site - they list the same modules).

It looks like you can get a 256MB module for $39.95 at Memory Express, or a 512MB module for $99.95

Thanks for this bobble. So are you suggesting the pc would run better with 512? Can you check into the HP Omnibook xe3 for me if you have a moment.

Thanks

[ricosuave]

generally speaking, you wont see a huge leap in performance, the laptops are generally held back by low disk speed rpm, and a slow bus speed (video and cpu)

especially if these are 'just for the kids' I wouldnt throw a lot of money into them, but if linux isnt your thing you could always throw win2000 on em (hint no activation issues) since it will still run 90% of stuff, but not have the overhead of xp.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by droopydrew19

Thanks for this bobble. So are you suggesting the pc would run better with 512? Can you check into the HP Omnibook xe3 for me if you have a moment.

Thanks

Some of those will only take 256, others will take 512.

Is there anything after the XE3?
Something like a -GC or -GD (which only allow 256 of PC100 SDRAM) or -GE or -GF (which support up to 512 of PC133 SDRAM).

I assume these are SODIMM, but it doesn't say explicitly. Does the memory in those laptops both look the same?

In any case, I know Memory Express will allow returns within 7 days, so if it won't work you can bring it back, and they have tools to look up the correct memory as long as you give them enough information.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by ricosuave

generally speaking, you wont see a huge leap in performance, the laptops are generally held back by low disk speed rpm, and a slow bus speed (video and cpu)

especially if these are 'just for the kids' I wouldnt throw a lot of money into them, but if linux isnt your thing you could always throw win2000 on em (hint no activation issues) since it will still run 90% of stuff, but not have the overhead of xp.

Yeah, many of the older Notebooks had 4200 RPM drives (very slow). I wouldn't put a lot of memory in, especially since, looking at that Dell thread, you can get a brand new low end laptop for $550 that will swim laps around either of those laptops.

So don't spend a lot of money. I may even look around - I made a "frankenstein" of an old thinkpad (which has since died) that may have the type of memory you need.

(for the geeks - at work there were some laptops they were going to send to the recyclers. One had a cracked LCD, the other had a fried mobo so wouldn't even post. I put the good screen with the good mobo and voila - free laptop. Which lasted 6 months then one day pfft - dead).

[droopydrew19]

would memory express allow you to run the pc with it's ram for up to a week?

That may be the best approach.

[Rathji]

Memory express will install and verify the ram works for no extra charge when you purchase it.

If you are wondering about preformace boost from ram just do a buncha benchmarks before hand(download one of many available online) and then do the same tests afterwards.

[SebC]

I have some 2 x 512 Mb PC2700 ram to upgrade my laptop and I never got it working (Compaq presario 2500). Never did figure out why it wouldn't work.

[droopydrew19]

Originally Posted by SebC

I have some 2 x 512 Mb PC2700 ram to upgrade my laptop and I never got it working (Compaq presario 2500). Never did figure out why it wouldn't work.

The ram I need looks like these chips...

[Bobblehead]

Those are SODIMMs

[SebC]

Originally Posted by droopydrew19

The ram I need looks like these chips...

I think mine are too new for your system. PC 2700 = PC 266, I think.

[droopydrew19]

Thanks for all th suggestions in here. I picked up some ram for one of the laptops and it runs ok. I think I might go the windows 2000 route though. I am having problems finding a copy though. I have one that is for dell pc's only.

Any idea where to find an archaic OS?