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    Upgrading Dell RAM

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by brumby05, Jul 2, 2007.

  1. brumby05

    brumby05 Notebook Geek

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    I am trying to get the cheapest laptop available with at least 1gb of memory, preferably more. I was thinking of buying a refurbished dell inspiron 1501 with 512mb of ram and then buying a 1gb module from newegg and installing it myself for a total of 1.5gb. Is it easy to upgrade the ram on a laptop? I have no experience working on laptops and my only experience with desktops occurred 2 weeks ago when I built mine.
     
    brumby05, Jul 2, 2007
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  2. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Upgrading RAM is very easy, and quite a few people can help you here if there were any issues. AFAIK with Dell machines, if you get 512MB you get two 256MB (one in each slot) so you'd actually get 1.25GB of RAM (but that should be enough still). But as long as you are careful there shouldn't be any issues.

    Check out our RAM Deals thread and compare them to newegg deals before you buy though. 1GB sticks have been seen for like $30 now!
     
    Greg, Jul 2, 2007
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  3. 808tech

    808tech Notebook Enthusiast

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    Also, Its good to double check the speed and type of RAM your laptop takes. A DDR2 will not fit in a DDR slot and vice versa. As for speed, if the NEW Ram is faster than whats installed, it will usually clock down, but don't buy a new RAM with a speed lower than the one thats already installed.

    A good tip, before removing the cover to access the location of the RAM, disconnect the power and just to be safe, remove the battery also so that there is not power going through the laptop.

    Before closing the cover, make sure the RAM snapped in place and the contacts on the bottom of the RAM is barely visible to insure a good installation.
     
    808tech, Jul 2, 2007
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