I got a very sweet deal from my coworker James on a six-month old 12″
1.33 GHz PowerBook, which is only slightly slower than the current
top-of-the-line 12″ model (which is almost identical, except for the
1.5 GHz processor). The end result: I get a great and portable
development machine, cheap, and Wendy gets her first Mac in ages — my
old 12″ 867MHz model with WiFi-G, the RAM maxed out and hot sexy tech
support from Yours Truly.
The PowerBook had the stock 256MB RAM and could take a single PC2700
SODIMM up to 1GB in size. Maxing out the RAM in your computer is the
most cost-effective way to maximize its performance, so I started
looking about for places in town where I could purchase it.
Although I didn’t expect to buy the RAM at CPUsed,
one of the higher-profile Mac stores in Accordion City, I gave their
price list a look-see. When it comes to RAM, CPUsed is good for
determined what the “rip-off price”; if you’re paying the CPUsed price,
you’re getting ripped off.
The CPUsed price, according to their online price list: CDN$399.
Next: Carbon Computing, where those disgruntled with CPUsed tend to migrate.
Their price: CDN$449. Holy crap, someone beat CPUsed at their own game!
Compusmart, who have a branch just down the street from my house, charge CDN$620 for Hewlett-Packard brand RAM.
On a lark, I decided to call the new Apple Store at Yorkdale Mall, which opened just over a week ago.
Their price: CDN$625. That’s only four bucks less than the basic Mac Mini!
Fortunately, I never expected to purchase the RAM from any of the
aforementioned vendors. I just wanted to see how high the price for the
RAM I wanted could go.
The next step was to visit NewEgg.com to see how low the price could be. Their price: US$118, or CDN$147, plus shipping and possibly some duty (here’s their entry for the RAM).
Some Googling found what I was looking for: a 1GB KingMax RAM stick for CDN$176 from Canada Computers (where I bumped into the worried Mac fan from this entry). Some more Googling found generally positive reviews from other PowerBook users, so I bought my RAM from there.
The PowerBook is running just fine, showing a whopping 1.25 GB of RAM — the most I’ve ever had in any computer.
Thus far, it works like a charm!
For the technical and curious, here are the speed results reported by XBench:
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I was looking for similar for my recent MacMini purchase. I did the same "reality check" with cpused.com & others. I found some great deals at tigerdirect.com and picked up a 1Gb of Kingston memory and it arrived at my office within 2 days. Canada Computer's has been a favorite of mine as well since back in K-town.
Blaine [http://www.blainekendall.com]
I've the exact same powerbook as you and I've been looking for cheap 1GB RAM for ages. So you would recommend Canada Computers and KingMax RAM then?
I'll echo the reccomendation for KingMax RAM: The 512MB SODIMM I put in my 15" G4 last summer works quite well - the system is perfectly stable. I'm considering replacing the stock 256 with a KingMax 1GB when cash flows allow :)
I would recommend both -- Canada Computers is pretty good vendor, and the KingMax RAM seems to be doing just fine in my new PowerBook.
God, I KNEW i was the world's biggest sucker for letting Apple put in an extra 256mb chip in my new iBook. I think it was somewhere around $140 extra. For shame. I hang my head in shame.