About to buy an A8SV-B1, but need a few questions answered first.

Hello everyone. I am about to buy an Asus A8SV-B1. I have a few questions I would like answered before I finalize the deal though.

I noticed that on Gentech they only charge $39 for an extra 1 GB of ram, for a total of 3 GB. There is no disclaimer stating that 3 GB of ram on this laptop will be incompatible with Windows XP but I have heard stories of the A1 version not working with XP and 3 GB of ram. What do you all think? Would you just go with the stock setup of the computer, or add the extra gig for $39? Also, I have always ordered laptops stock in the past, and the idea of a seller opening the product before I do and installing ram, makes me a bit nervous since I do not know how carefully the will handle it or exactly what brand of ram they are installing. Am I worrying for no reason? Also I noticed that the option of having one 2 GB stick of ram is $39 extra, which is the same as paying $39 extra for a total of 3 GB of ram, which I am assuming is 1 2GB stick + 1 1 GB stick. Why would anyone not want the extra stick of ram?

Secondly, is Gentech the best place to buy the A8SV-B1 from? Are there any better retailers?

Thank you in advance.

 

I also noticed that Excalibur PC offers a 2 GB mem stick as an add on for $69.00. I am confused by this. If I add this will the computer have 4 GB total ram or will they just change the 2 1GB sticks into their single 2 GB stick for $69.00 extra? I thought that 4 GB Ram only worked with Vista 64 so I am a bit confused.

 

There is work around if you want to install 3GB RAM on XP:



F8SV-B1 comes with 2 sticks of 1GB, if you want 3GB you need to take out 1 stick of 1GB and put in a 2GB stick, there is only 2 memory slots.

 

If you're worried about the reseller opening the box, I suggest get the RAM yourself, and install it yourself. That can't be too much of a price difference.

And an edit: 4GB only works with Vista 64 or XP 64. I would recommend neither to the averagely-experienced user right now.

A 32 bit OS will only be able to address 3.xGB of it, I don't know the exact value of x, it's not above 3.5 when you consider that some addresses need to be reserved for I/O.

In the end, you're better off just getting 1x2GB stick, and keeping a 1GB stick from your original config. Almost no apps will need more than 3GB of RAM anyway.

(resellers will sell 2x2GB, of course. as long as the user pays for it...)

 

so they finally found the work around! been using it for months. guess the cat is out of the bag now. oh well