Hey all. I am finally gonna upgrade my RAM on my 1ghz 12" PowerBook. My brother works for Apple (he opens the retail stores, so he's not a tech guy) and he recommended I go to Crucial.com - They are selling 512mb for 70 bucks and 1gb for 200. 200 is a bit out of my range for RAM. If I go to eBay I can get 1gb for around 130 bucks. But I've always heard there is a such thing as "lousy RAM," so of course I'm leery. I have never upgraded RAM before, I have always just dealt with the basic 256. But now my programs are getting more advanced and I need it!

I would like to save money, of course. But not if it means buying crappy RAM. So I guess my questions are:

1) Will I notice a huge difference between 512mb and 1gb of RAM? I mean I know that 1gb is double 512, but will I really notice?

2) Should I avoid buying RAM on eBay? My instincts are telling me to.

3) Anybody know of any reliable RAM websites that might be cheaper than Crucial?

As it is now I am leaning towards just buying the 512 chip on Crucial. But I thought I would check in here first and see if anybody had some advice. Thanks!

I've purchased RAM for my Dell laptop from Crucial and were very happy with them. (They came recommended.)

Most common RAMs are "spec'd" by a standards bureau called JEDEC. This is supposed to assure that if both the PC and the RAM is designed to the JEDEC spec, then they should work together without testing. I would trust Apple or Crucial to tell you which RAMs are compatible with your Powerbook. I would not necessarily trust eBay vendors (it's best to be armed with a specific part number when shopping on eBay).

As for 512 MB versus 1 GB, you might notice a difference in speed for some memory hungry applications, and switching times between multiple open programs, but probably not proportional to the extra $$ you'd pay.

Thanks Barbossa. I am gonna get the 512 from Crucial. 640mb of RAM will be enough to run stuff like Final Cut Pro. I don't switch between open programs on my PowerBook too often. I do multiple tasks on my PowerMac. Thanks for the advice!

I ahve crucial in my computer and I bought it from newegg.com...:)

Thanks Barbossa. I am gonna get the 512 from Crucial. 640mb of RAM will be enough to run stuff like Final Cut Pro. I don't switch between open programs on my PowerBook too often. I do multiple tasks on my PowerMac. Thanks for the advice!

Cool. The laptop I'm typing on right now has 640 MB. I had 2 x 128 MB DIMMs when I bought it, then I swapped one of the 128's for a 512 (purchased from Crucial). Definitely noticed a difference. :)