RAM Problems on Vostro 1400/Inspiron 1420

hey guys,
i recently bought a 1gb stick of ram to add on to my vostro 1400 (i had a 1 DIMM 1gb stick in it before) and when i stuck it in there it wouldn't boot. first the caps lock light would flash, but after a couple of attempted boots, the computer attempted to startup but would not POST (it would show a little progress but it would hang before it would even load windows)

here's the link to the ram i got,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144068

its really nice, it even comes with a nice heat spreader. I know it's the correct type (pc2 5300 DDR2 667)

anyway, is there anything i might have overlooked? I will be sending it back for a replacement tomorrow, lets hope the replacement isnt the same becasue i dont want to return it and have to pay a restocking fee.

thanks for your help!

 

It sounds like bad RAM. But 1st pull out the the original stick put the new in that same slot, leave original out. See what happens, if nothing bad stick send back.

 

I have a Vostro 1500 with the same problem. I bought the same ram.

Same size, same stats, except the kit with two of them and they both didn't work

Trying to think of what to do now. Refunding newegg will incur a 15% restocking fee.

 

You may have already tried this, but try re-seating the RAM. Installing at an angle, try rocking it back and forth until the "tooth and notch" are as close to each other as possible.

Good luck.

P

 

Give them a chance to make good, save the 15% charge and let them pay shipping. It is a good company, you got bad RAM not a big deal all company's face this.

 

i hope that all their ram isnt able to work in a vostro...i checked geil's website and their memory configurator says that i should use the one i bought in my vostro.

temp321, can you confirm that it works in another computer?

 

No, I don't have another laptop that accepts memory with these specs. And I also used their memory configurator to see it was compatible with a Vostro.

If someone has successfully used Geil memory in their Inspiron 1X20 or Vostro 1X00 please let us know.

 

I want to do this, but what if they don't work on the Vostros at all?

Also I would have to send the Geil back first, taking at least a week. And then after that, wait another week for them to ship the new ones to me. I am going to be without a permanent post box for a couple weeks soon.

 

Dude...I ran into the exact same problem two days ago! Exact same ram, the 2 x 1 GB set. I bought it for my sister's brand new Thinkpad and it refused to boot. Swapped it into my Vostro, same thing. What is with Geil??? I thought I just got a bad set, but if so many people are having problems...

I'm not looking forward to paying shipping and having to wait another two weeks just to get another bad set!

 

lets hope that they maybe had a bad batch, or maybe dell can do something about it with a BIOS upgrade

 

It's not just Dell though, the Thinkpad I tried first had the same problem.

 

Anyone who bought that RAM on Newegg should make sure to leave a review and help out other prospective people that may be purchasing it.

 

Well I returned my memory to newegg with no hassles so far.

However, I am not going to buy any Geil products anymore.

They have a policy of replying within 24 hours of a response. It took them 25.5 hours to message me this response:

"WHEN YOU RUN THE MEMORY INDIVIDUALLY WILL THE MEMORY FREEZE ALSO?

PLEASE UPDATE THE NEWEST BIOS"

Even though I already mentioned that I had the latest bios and tried every possible combination of memory in my computer. Good luck to anyone else with this ram.

I went down to Fry's to get Kingston Ram, and it worked perfectly the first try.

 

was it the kingston valueram? i think i might order that from fry's if this doesnt end up working out...i really dont want to pay a restocking fee. i find it hard to believe that ram they say will work in laptops dont work in at least 2 different models.

 

yes it was the valueram

 

I've always had good luck with the el cheapo kingston. I have had at least 2 sticks of the stuff in my computer for the last 5 years all of the time it has been overclocked just a touch.

I see bestbuy has a sale going on you can get 1gb of the stuff for 43 bucks. I'm going to be going there tomorrow or saturday and get 2gb for my new vostro.