good to buy i9300 with min amount of ram?

hey everyone, new to the forums here. i came to this forum looking for some insight on the i9300 and decided to go with this notebook. mainly i will be using it for film editing and schoolwork. but when i was configuring my notebook i chose the 256 mb ram option. did anyone else do this? $1000 dollars for 2 gb just seemed rediculous. well i just ordered it with 256 and wondered if anyone did the same. if anyone has any good suggestions on ram i would love to hear it or anything else for that matter. as for the setup i got, pentium m 760 2ghz, 100gb hard drive, windows xp pro, 256mb ram (going to try and purchase 2gb), 256 mb geforce go 6800, 6 and 9 cell battery, 1 year limited warranty. i got it for $1983 after the $750 off coupon. i think it sounds like a great deal, i was going for a sony vaio s380p28 but realized this was a much better deal. cant go wrong saving over 700 dollars for a better laptop that will be of better use. i do think the 2gb would be good considering i will be digitally editing film with this notebook. is it worth it? i look forward to hearing your opinions, thanks.

 

The reason that it so expensive to get the 2 gb system RAM is because it requires a two single sticks of 1 gb RAM, which is exponentially more expensive then two 512 sticks. I really don't want to give you any buyers remorse but as a general rule the more system RAM the better. If you had taken the money that you spent on getting the 2 gHz processor or the 100 gb hard drive and gotton the 1 gb of RAM instead i would imagine it would have made for a better machine. I may be wrong (I got the 1 gb RAM with a 1.7 processor) but for most applications you probably won't notice lower processor speed where as you will definatly notice a lack of RAM. But if you think you can find cheaper memory to get to 2 gb you should be fine. But it will probably still be fairly expensive. But it still sounds like a good deal, with the memory upgrade it will be a real beast. Hope this helps.

 

Hi,
I know XP Pro has a hard time running on anything less than 512. If you are planning on upgrading it to 2 gig as soon as you get it, then you'll be fine. Otherwise, since you got a good deal, you might consider ordering 512 (Newegg.com has pretty good deals) and installing it yourself to get you by.

I also have the 9300 with XP Pro, but I got 512. Right now, I'm running barely any programs and using 298 out of 512.

Besides that, it sounds like you have a great notebook. 2gb should be plenty for editing.
Amber

 

well my plan was to get 2 gb before my notebook came in. that way i dont lose money getting 512 or 1gb from dell when i can get it cheaper somewhere else. i think i have decided on the ram though. i found some 1gb dimms at newegg for about 119 a piece, plan on getting 2. some transcend i believe. i would not plan on running a machine with such high specs with only 256 mb of ram. just wanted to know if anyone else did that and bought ram somewhere else seeing how dell charges so much, and to see if it was worth it. thanks for the replys.

 

LOL, yeah, the anticipation will drive you crazy.[ ] but you have my sympathy since I just went thru all of that a few weeks ago.

 

thank you, i am sure i will. now all i have to do is wait impatiently for it to come in [xx(]

 

there is alot of people that do the same as you. It is a lot cheaper to buy it and install it yourself. I'm about to the same as you, but only going to 1gig.

Hope you enjoy your new laptop
Amber

________________________________________________________________________________________________
Inspiron 9300 || 1.73GHz || 60GB 7200rpm ||512 DDR2 ||ATI Radeon X300 64MB || CD/DVD RW || XP Pro

 

something to consider...

on dell's "customize it", you can get 1gb ram for $500ish. this is for 2 sticks of 512mb ram. however, you lose your 256mb ram that it comes as default, so you are paying $500 for 756mb ram.

if you get 2 1gb sticks, it costs you $1000.

on ciconcepts.net and newegg.com, you can get a 1gb stick for $150ish. you also get to keep your 256mb ram, or upgrade to 2gb if you wish.

so, if you go w/ the 256mb ram default and then upgrade to 2gb, you pay $300 at online parts vendors vs $1000 to dell.

end result? $700 difference and an extra 256mb stick to do with as you please. 256mb ram is fine for just web browsing and some simple ms visual .net compiling. startup and shutdown will be slower, but in general you'll live knowing you saved $700 for a weeks' worth of patience.

tips for buying ram outside of dell:
remember to get ddr2 533mhz ram, otherwise your 256mb stick will be capped at a slower speed. the price difference between a slower speed vs a 533 one is on the order of $20 per stick of 1gb when i was shopping.

 

For optimal performance, you'll want to install SODIMMs in matched pairs (since the memomry is dual channel). Discard or sell the 256 MB stick that came with the computer and replace it with an indentical pair of 512 MB or 1 GB sticks.

The faster speed memory (PC4200, instead of PC3200) will provide a performance boost but is also pricier (for the new Dell laptops, their PC3200 sold with the 6000/6000D is somewhat overpriced, but the PC4200 sold with the 9300 seems more in line with market prices for reasonable quality memory).

 

I ordered a 6000D last week with 256MB and 15 mins later I ordered a 1GB Stick from newegg for $125 (after shipping). There's no need to pay the astronomical amounts that Dell charges. Lots of people on another forum recommeded this particular RAM...So I'll be upgrading as soon as my 6000 comes in...My RAM will be here tomorrow, but I'll have to wait another week or so for the computer!

I think I'm going to sell the 256 on ebay to recoup a few bucks for what I spent on the 1GB stick.

here's the link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820208024

On Order:
Dell I6000D
1.86Ghz
XP Pro
60GB 7200RPM
128MB X300

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by BradLSU

I ordered a 6000D last week with 256MB and 15 mins later I ordered a 1GB Stick from newegg for $125 (after shipping). There's no need to pay the astronomical amounts that Dell charges. Lots of people on another forum recommeded this particular RAM...So I'll be upgrading as soon as my 6000 comes in...My RAM will be here tomorrow, but I'll have to wait another week or so for the computer!

I think I'm going to sell the 256 on ebay to recoup a few bucks for what I spent on the 1GB stick.

here's the link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820208024


<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

That is the exact ram i am getting and using new egg too. I guess its pretty popular. im going to go with 2, because why not right? it has to be popular with that price. i think im going to order it today, along with a bag. dont know if new egg has the bag i want though. i might wait a couple days to order the ram because im not sure when my 9300 will ship. although it went through kitting building and testing pretty quick in one day. i am expecting the boxing to be finished today and maybe ship during the week. so i might wait until it ships to order the ram.

 

mattypoirier,
In order for the dual channel to work you need both of the RAM slots filled with at least 256mb for Windows XP. I would go on to The EGG and buy two sticks of 1G for a couple hundred each compaired to the $2,000.00 that Dell wants to charge.

PS. Make sure you buy the right RAM [ )]

 

hey Aero, you said for dual channel to work you need at least 256 mb in each slot, does this mean you can have 256 mb in one and 1024mb in the other, or must they be of the same size for dual channel to work becuase i really do not feel the need for 2 gb of ram. if the case is that both chips msut be of the same size i'll just get 2 512's... thanks

 

And also one thing i forgot to ask, is installing notebook memory as easy as installing desktop memory? thanks