RAM, and battery questions

I have a few RAM, and battery questions for you guys, this is to quell any questions why i have these questions instead of a new dv6000z notebook:

I ordered my laptop from HP just yesterday, and way pleased. But now today i got am email saying that my order didn't go through because my card didn't have sufficient funds. So i spoke to a representative, and she said that she didn't know why it didn't go through, and said that even though i had ordered when the "free 1GB ram upgrade" was going on i couldn't get that offer again unless it came back. So now i am thinking that this was a sign that the configuration i chose wasn't for me so i contemplated it for a little while, and have decided that the problem must be either the battery, or the Ram because i had no doubts about anything else.

Now for the questions:

Ram:
Since i no longer have to upgrade i remember someone saying they sold their 2x512mb ram sticks for $30, and i noticed something. On the site 1GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) is $65, but if i chose to have only 512mb by default, and just got another 512mb stick on the cheap, i would save cash. Now i want to know where i can get used/new memory, and what are the benefits of buying used/new, and all that good stuff. If you could just link me to some sort of guide i would appreciate it, because it would explain to a deeper depth what i want to know.

Battery:
I got a 12 cell battery, and i had thought i had made a good choice. But when i spoke to the representative she said that a 6 cell gets 2.5h max, a 6 cell high capacity gets 3.5 max, and a 12 cell gets 3.5-4h max. Which means the 12 cell was a waste of cash, and it's un-necessary weight because all i really need is 3h with wi-fi on. I had made a prior post to this asking everyone what their battery life was, and didn't get much response. But now i really need some feedback because this is the last time i attempt to make a purchase on something from HP for myself, and i'd rather not make the wrong choice, and regret it later. If you own it i would like to know how long of a battery you get on yours, and if you don't own it but read about it's battery life somewhere, i'd appreciate that too.

Thank you all for your help once again, i'm sorry i'm such a noob but i want to know more about notebooks, and computers in general, and i've already learned a lot, and i'm sure that this will help me to learn more.

 

1. I'd buy new memory and get it right the first time. 2x1GB's is best.

2. Go with the 12 cell, you'll get 4-5 hours of battery time.

I should know... I have both.
Started with 2x512's, then 2x1GB's
Started with 6 cell, then 12 cell.
Doing both made a big difference.

 

2GB would be nice, but i'm not sure my budget can handle it. How long did you get with the 6 cell? What setting did you use? Was wi-fi on? Thank you very much for responding, also i am contacting the bank to see what the problem is later, hope i get a straight answer.

 

For AMD notebooks, go straight for a pair of Crucial 1GB DDR2-667 SODIMMs. MWave and Newegg usually have them for cheap.

Get the 12 cell battery. Never assume that the HP rep knows what s/he's talking about. You can never have too much battery life. 3 hours from a 6 cell is optimistic, but possible.

 

Wow, thanks Brian. I searched for what you told me to search for and i found this at mwave.com: CRUCIAL 1GB (1024MB) PC2-5300 667MHZ CL5 DDR2 200-PIN NOTEBOOK SODIMM For $35.50 a piece. Now i'll be able to upgrade to 2GB. Thank you very much, very, very much. I have learned a lot from this, but i have a few questions: Would you care to explain why i needed Crucial, and why a SODIMM. Why does it have 200pins? What's the difference? Why does it have to be 667Mhz, and not something else? I'm very inquisitive, and once i want to know something i usually find it out. You don't have to answer, since i know how to google but i am retiring now haven't slept at all. I'm still contemplating which battery i should get though the 12 cell is appealing. I need more data to make a good choice.

-GMC retiring

 

Crucial has been the most AMD-friendly memory I've found (Crucial is Micron's retail arm). Unless there's a dramatic price difference I haven't seen the need to mess with anything else, not after having compatibility issues with other brands in years past. Plus most of their RAM is made in Idaho.

You want 200-pin SODIMMs because your notebook has two 200-pin SODIMM slots. DDR2-667 is preferred because that's the fastest RAM the notebook will recognize. DDR2-533 would work, and usually have lower latency (which is good), but DDR2-667 is the best balance IMHO and it's what HP ships with.

 

I see. Thank you very much for the information. Once in a while i learn something new.

 

I bought 2 1GB Kingston DDR2-667 200-pin memory and it seems to work well in my notebook. Why would Crucial be better. Just curious.

 

Kingston would be my second choice. I have the greatest trust for Crucial.

 

I've got Kingston now after going through four different sticks of K-Byte. Not even one hiccup yet.

 

I just ordered a Transcend 2gb memory stick for my laptop. Not x2 1gb but an actual 2gb stick. Hope this will help Vista run better. I would end up with 3gb memory. If it works well, I will order another 2gb for a total of 4gb. The price is pretty reasonable.. $158 with shipping. Heck a while back this module would cost over $800+! Mass production has it's advantages.