RAM 768 MB versus 1 GB

[Dr. Indera]

hello,

i've been looking at laptop configurations and saw these 2 options for RAM.
i was wondering how much more performance i would get with a GB of ram versus 768 MB.

in addition to having a browser window open, i usually have 2 or 3 other packages open like word,
dreamweaver and ms project.
i don't have it now, but i also plan to purchase voice recognition software, which i suspect will be
open on a regular basis.

thanks
indera

[Rob Schneider]

Dr. Indera wrote:
> hello,
>
> i've been looking at laptop configurations and saw these 2 options for RAM.
> i was wondering how much more performance i would get with a GB of ram versus 768 MB.
>
> in addition to having a browser window open, i usually have 2 or 3 other packages open like word,
> dreamweaver and ms project.
> i don't have it now, but i also plan to purchase voice recognition software, which i suspect will be
> open on a regular basis.
>
> thanks
> indera
>
>

My You won't notice a difference between 768 and 1gb.

I never heard of this much memory being an option in a laptop. What
brand are you getting?

It will probably be CPU procesing power you will notice more if you are
using voice recognition (which I *guess* without really knowing is CPU
intensive).

My values for a laptop. First priority: Spend money to get the best
quality laptop screen and video driver you can afford. Your eyes will
appreciate it. Next priority is longest battery life you can afford, and
maybe buy an extra battery. Next priority is the biggest disk drive.
Next priority is CPU speed ... but balance that against battery life.
Since you are above 512 mb already (which I consider optimum/max for XP
on a laptop), more memory is the lowest priority.

[Dr. Indera]

hi rob,

i'm looking at the dell inspiron laptops, either the 5150 or 8500 model.
i currently have the 8000 model. it's a p3 800 mhz with 256 mb of ram. it no longer serves my needs in
terms of speed, but will make a great spare/backup machine <smile>

the ram seems to be what will cost me the most, which i why i posted the question. i think more ram is
better. maybe i'll wait a few more months to see if the price drops.

i kind of thought that voice recognition software, like dragon would require more processing power.
i think the minimum cpu i would get would be the 2.2 ghz.
i'm still trying to determine if there is a true benefit for the new centrino chip.

battery life isn't all that important to me, as i don't carry the laptop all that often and when i do, i
have electricity.
when i bought my current laptop, i thought i would need a 2nd battery, so i purchased it and haven't used
it yet and that was at least 2.5 years ago.

thank you.
indera


Rob Schneider wrote:

> Dr. Indera wrote:
> > hello,
> >
> > i've been looking at laptop configurations and saw these 2 options for RAM.
> > i was wondering how much more performance i would get with a GB of ram versus 768 MB.
> >
> > in addition to having a browser window open, i usually have 2 or 3 other packages open like word,
> > dreamweaver and ms project.
> > i don't have it now, but i also plan to purchase voice recognition software, which i suspect will be
> > open on a regular basis.
> >
> > thanks
> > indera
> >
> >
>
> My You won't notice a difference between 768 and 1gb.
>
> I never heard of this much memory being an option in a laptop. What
> brand are you getting?
>
> It will probably be CPU procesing power you will notice more if you are
> using voice recognition (which I *guess* without really knowing is CPU
> intensive).
>
> My values for a laptop. First priority: Spend money to get the best
> quality laptop screen and video driver you can afford. Your eyes will
> appreciate it. Next priority is longest battery life you can afford, and
> maybe buy an extra battery. Next priority is the biggest disk drive.
> Next priority is CPU speed ... but balance that against battery life.
> Since you are above 512 mb already (which I consider optimum/max for XP
> on a laptop), more memory is the lowest priority.

[Dr. Indera]

hi eugene,

please call me indera - i'm not that formal (smile)
hmmm, if there isn't much difference between the 2 amounts of ram, will i really notice that much of
a difference?
i could use the extra $200-300 on something else, like a copy machine.

thanks
indera


Eugene Soh wrote:

> Hello Dr. Indera,
>
> There seems to be not much of a difference between 768MB
> and 1GB of ram. However, I would suggest you get the
> laptop with 1GB of Ram as it would allow you to execute
> more programs at the same time. As time passes, new
> programs will require more resources. So in my opinion, I
> would strongly suggest you get the laptop with 1GB of Ram.
>
> Regards,
> Eugene Soh
> >-----Original Message-----
> >hello,
> >
> >i've been looking at laptop configurations and saw these
> 2 options for RAM.
> >i was wondering how much more performance i would get
> with a GB of ram versus 768 MB.
> >
> >in addition to having a browser window open, i usually
> have 2 or 3 other packages open like word,
> >dreamweaver and ms project.
> >i don't have it now, but i also plan to purchase voice
> recognition software, which i suspect will be
> >open on a regular basis.
> >
> >thanks
> >indera
> >
> >
> >.
> >

[Rob Schneider]

Dr. Indera wrote:
> hi rob,
>
> i'm looking at the dell inspiron laptops, either the 5150 or 8500 model.
> i currently have the 8000 model. it's a p3 800 mhz with 256 mb of ram. it no longer serves my needs in
> terms of speed, but will make a great spare/backup machine <smile>
>
> the ram seems to be what will cost me the most, which i why i posted the question. i think more ram is
> better. maybe i'll wait a few more months to see if the price drops.
>
> i kind of thought that voice recognition software, like dragon would require more processing power.
> i think the minimum cpu i would get would be the 2.2 ghz.
> i'm still trying to determine if there is a true benefit for the new centrino chip.
>
> battery life isn't all that important to me, as i don't carry the laptop all that often and when i do, i
> have electricity.
> when i bought my current laptop, i thought i would need a 2nd battery, so i purchased it and haven't used
> it yet and that was at least 2.5 years ago.
>
> thank you.
> indera
>
>
> Rob Schneider wrote:
>
>
>>Dr. Indera wrote:
>>
>>>hello,
>>>
>>>i've been looking at laptop configurations and saw these 2 options for RAM.
>>>i was wondering how much more performance i would get with a GB of ram versus 768 MB.
>>>
>>>in addition to having a browser window open, i usually have 2 or 3 other packages open like word,
>>>dreamweaver and ms project.
>>>i don't have it now, but i also plan to purchase voice recognition software, which i suspect will be
>>>open on a regular basis.
>>>
>>>thanks
>>>indera
>>>
>>>
>>
>>My You won't notice a difference between 768 and 1gb.
>>
>>I never heard of this much memory being an option in a laptop. What
>>brand are you getting?
>>
>>It will probably be CPU procesing power you will notice more if you are
>>using voice recognition (which I *guess* without really knowing is CPU
>>intensive).
>>
>>My values for a laptop. First priority: Spend money to get the best
>>quality laptop screen and video driver you can afford. Your eyes will
>>appreciate it. Next priority is longest battery life you can afford, and
>>maybe buy an extra battery. Next priority is the biggest disk drive.
>>Next priority is CPU speed ... but balance that against battery life.
>>Since you are above 512 mb already (which I consider optimum/max for XP
>>on a laptop), more memory is the lowest priority.
>
>

Dumb question ... why are you buying a laptop if you don't carry it
around all that often? Laptops are expensive compared to the equiv
desktop machine. YOu can make/buy a few desktops for the price of the
Inspirion.

I like Dell's laptops. You've chosen well.

I recall tehse boxes have room for two memory board. So, what you do is
buy on 512 memory board now, and buy another 512 later. If you get your
512 with 2 256 boards, then you'll have to waste one 256 when you buy a
new one later. The trick is to leave one slot open for future expansion.

Yes, more ram the better, but there are practial limits.

[Jim Macklin]

RAM is a commodity, buy the laptop with one 512 card (be
sure to specify that on the purchase order, get it in
writing). Then you can buy a 512 SODIM of the proper spec
in the after-market for much less money than Dell wants.


"Dr. Indera" > wrote in message
...
| hi eugene,
|
| please call me indera - i'm not that formal (smile)
| hmmm, if there isn't much difference between the 2 amounts
of ram, will i really notice that much of
| a difference?
| i could use the extra $200-300 on something else, like a
copy machine.
|
| thanks
| indera
|
|
| Eugene Soh wrote:
|
| > Hello Dr. Indera,
| >
| > There seems to be not much of a difference between 768MB
| > and 1GB of ram. However, I would suggest you get the
| > laptop with 1GB of Ram as it would allow you to execute
| > more programs at the same time. As time passes, new
| > programs will require more resources. So in my opinion,
I
| > would strongly suggest you get the laptop with 1GB of
Ram.
| >
| > Regards,
| > Eugene Soh
| > >-----Original Message-----
| > >hello,
| > >
| > >i've been looking at laptop configurations and saw
these
| > 2 options for RAM.
| > >i was wondering how much more performance i would get
| > with a GB of ram versus 768 MB.
| > >
| > >in addition to having a browser window open, i usually
| > have 2 or 3 other packages open like word,
| > >dreamweaver and ms project.
| > >i don't have it now, but i also plan to purchase voice
| > recognition software, which i suspect will be
| > >open on a regular basis.
| > >
| > >thanks
| > >indera
| > >
| > >
| > >.
| > >
|

[Ken Blake]

In , Dr. Indera wrote:

> hello,
>
> i've been looking at laptop configurations and saw these 2
options
> for RAM.
> i was wondering how much more performance i would get with a GB
of
> ram versus 768 MB.


It depends entirely on how you use your computer. Most people,
using a typical range of business applications, will see no extra
performance at all. In fact even 768MB is more RAM than most
people need.

If I were in your shoes, I would buy it with 512MB, and install a
program to monitor page file usage. Only if I found that I was
often using the page file substantially would I buy any more RAM,
and not until then.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup

>
> in addition to having a browser window open, i usually have 2
or 3
> other packages open like word, dreamweaver and ms project.
> i don't have it now, but i also plan to purchase voice
recognition
> software, which i suspect will be open on a regular basis.
>
> thanks
> indera

[Ron Martell]

"Ken Blake" > wrote:


>It depends entirely on how you use your computer. Most people,
>using a typical range of business applications, will see no extra
>performance at all. In fact even 768MB is more RAM than most
>people need.
>
>If I were in your shoes, I would buy it with 512MB, and install a
>program to monitor page file usage. Only if I found that I was
>often using the page file substantially would I buy any more RAM,
>and not until then.

A free utility to monitor actual usage of the page file can be
downloaded from http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm
or from http://billsway.com/notes_public/WinXP_Tweaks/


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

[Ken Blake]

"Ron Martell" > wrote in message
...

> "Ken Blake" > wrote:
>
>
> >It depends entirely on how you use your computer. Most people,
> >using a typical range of business applications, will see no
extra
> >performance at all. In fact even 768MB is more RAM than most
> >people need.
> >
> >If I were in your shoes, I would buy it with 512MB, and
install a
> >program to monitor page file usage. Only if I found that I was
> >often using the page file substantially would I buy any more
RAM,
> >and not until then.
>
> A free utility to monitor actual usage of the page file can be
> downloaded from
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm
> or from http://billsway.com/notes_public/WinXP_Tweaks/


Thanks for supplying the links. That was the utility I had in
mind, but I couldn't find a link to it quickly. I'll save it this
time.

--
Ken Blake
Please reply to the newsgroup