Crucial Memory Scam - Important, Please Read!
PLEASE STICKY THIS - VERY IMPORTANT
yeah a buddy i know who works IT at Mount Sinai hospital in NYC told me about this. If you use the Memory Advisor Tool on crucial.com website, the memory for your system will come out more expensive than if you just click and go straight to w/e type of memory you have and select it from there. It's a pretty well known crucial scam. sorry i didnt post it in my "memory prices on the low" post. but heres the example, its by quite a big margin to.
These are both 200pin SODIMM for my 17"powerbook
DDR PC2700 CL=2.5 UNBUFFERED NON-ECC DDR333 2.5V 128Meg x 64
US $184.29
DDR PC2700 CL=2.5 UNBUFFERED NON-ECC DDR333 2.5V 128Meg x 64
\t
US $135.99
quite a difference! sorry i didnt mention, its so routine for me that it didnt catch my mind. if you did buy already, just return it re-order. Don't tell crucial though, maybe they don't know mu hahaha!
yeah a buddy i know who works IT at Mount Sinai hospital in NYC told me about this. If you use the Memory Advisor Tool on crucial.com website, the memory for your system will come out more expensive than if you just click and go straight to w/e type of memory you have and select it from there. It's a pretty well known crucial scam. sorry i didnt post it in my "memory prices on the low" post. but heres the example, its by quite a big margin to.
These are both 200pin SODIMM for my 17"powerbook
DDR PC2700 CL=2.5 UNBUFFERED NON-ECC DDR333 2.5V 128Meg x 64
US $184.29
DDR PC2700 CL=2.5 UNBUFFERED NON-ECC DDR333 2.5V 128Meg x 64
\t
US $135.99
quite a difference! sorry i didnt mention, its so routine for me that it didnt catch my mind. if you did buy already, just return it re-order. Don't tell crucial though, maybe they don't know mu hahaha!
Comments
For some memory modules, the difference is $3-$5. For others its $50+. And I can speak from experience that sometimes memory whose specs perfectly match what my Mac can handle - my Mac won't accept, while other computers do.
For the people who just want 100% guaranteed to work RAM - the extra $ is worth it. For those who are technically proficient and can deal with the possibility of having to get the RAM replaced several times, its not.
For me, I alway use the memory tool to get the exact specs - then find that same RAM in their list. If the RAM is $2-5 more for the guaranteed one I buy the guaranteed one. If its $50+, I buy the cheaper one.
For example, the 1GB SO-DIMM DDR2 RAM for my XPS Gen2 laptop was $184 via the memory tool, and $135 via their normal browser. I bought it at $135 a stick. For my Al PowerBook G4, it was $3 difference, so I bought the guaranteed version.
BTW, I buy Crucial because I've been using them for many many years (since at least 1997) and have never had a stick go bad, while I know quite a few people personally who bought RAM from other places via RAMSEEKER and pricegrabber and had RAM that didn't work. So I just prefer crucial.
this higher-priced-system-advisor thing common knoledge to all the geeks I know,
want ram? open the case and look at the installed chips or google the computer model# for manufacturer spec sheet, use that info to price the new ones at crucial, kingston, newegg or any site you like...been doing it this way for years
Originally posted by Figital
Akac, after reading further documents on crucials website. Using the memory advisor tool does not "insure" or guarantee your ram at all. If i buy 1GB stick of pc2700 for my powerbook using memory advisor and one not using the advisor. I still have the exact same problem if the stick goes bad. Using the memory advisor tool does nothing to help guarantee or insure your ram incase it goes bad.
I dont understand why people even need this advisor, just read the documentation that came with the computer, if youdont have/cant find it, punch the model # into google and get the specs, this method has always proven simpler (fewer clicks) than the advisor for me.
Originally posted by a_greer
I dont understand why people even need this advisor, just read the documentation that came with the computer, if youdont have/cant find it, punch the model # into google and get the specs, this method has always proven simpler (fewer clicks) than the advisor for me.
Its just simpler. If I'm buying RAM for 3 different computers at once, its just easier to go to the site and get the right kind. I have several PowerMacs/PowerBooks all with different RAM speeds and I never can remember exactly which one is which. So its convenient to use it to find what the right type is.
Originally posted by Figital
Akac, after reading further documents on crucials website. Using the memory advisor tool does not "insure" or guarantee your ram at all. If i buy 1GB stick of pc2700 for my powerbook using memory advisor and one not using the advisor. I still have the exact same problem if the stick goes bad. Using the memory advisor tool does nothing to help guarantee or insure your ram incase it goes bad.
This is the text on their site:
"Out of 110,000 possible upgrades, the Crucial Memory Advisor? tool lists only the upgrades that are guaranteed compatible with your Apple PowerBook G4 1.25GHz (15-inch Display)."
It says guaranteed. In quite a few places on their site it even says "guaranteed, or your money back". Truthfully, the guarantee doesn't mean much, but people will pay for it when to them memory timings are a voodoo science. Don't discount the fact that most new or even long term computer users don't have a clue what kind of memory goes in their computer. I know fairly technical people who have never heard of DDR, RAMBUS, SO-DIMMS - and they don't care.
Now this is the same as having a Gas Station that says its going to charge you an extra $1 per gallon of gas because they guarantee that they will choose the specific gas will work with your car. Sure, if you really want to pay that - you can. But for the most part, people know what octane their car needs and can pick it on their own.
Cheap, works, supports Apple (on my iBook g4 so far)
Furthermore, Crucial has excellent customer service, and they are probably going to take back anything, if you have problems, with or without memory selector.
Now I buy HDs that are guaranteed to work with my Mac, for that peace of mind that only a Mac can bring me. I also got a good deal on a defragger; this really nice guy at the computer store offered to add on a defragging module that automatically defrags each file on the fly whenever it is written to the HD. He only charged $99 for the modifications, and he promised they would be so good I wouldn't even see them! He's right, they don't get in the way or anything, and my OS X volumes all have low fragmentation.
Some people say $300 for a 80 GB ATA-100 HD is a lot, but not me - I've got my peace of mind!
Originally posted by Figital
i think you got ripped off. Mac OS X defragments on the fly by itself.
Not files larger than 20Mb.
Originally posted by ibook911
The original poster was doing a good service posting this. i try to point this out, whenever making memory suggestions as well.
Furthermore, Crucial has excellent customer service, and they are probably going to take back anything, if you have problems, with or without memory selector.
I'm returning a 512 stick to be replaced with a 1 GB stick instead. Got an RMA before I even made the replacement order, even did it online. No muss, no fuss, and hassle free.
I think Crucial should be a bit more upfront regarding the higher prices. Most of the time the difference is slim, but on 1GB PowerBook SO-DIMMS the difference is like 40%! The gas station comparison in an earlier post is somewhat appropriate, but when a gas station charges you extra to "guarantee the correct formula gas" what you're paying for is full service, versus the self service we all use.
Caveat emptor, I guess.
Originally posted by Junkyard Dawg
I like to buy my hard drives guaranteed to work with my Mac. It saves me a ton of trouble. Like, last time I tried buying one on my own, it was too small, and the screw thingies wouldn't fit, and then it had these weird plugs and sockets and stuff, and it was like, a bummer.
Now I buy HDs that are guaranteed to work with my Mac, for that peace of mind that only a Mac can bring me. I also got a good deal on a defragger; this really nice guy at the computer store offered to add on a defragging module that automatically defrags each file on the fly whenever it is written to the HD. He only charged $99 for the modifications, and he promised they would be so good I wouldn't even see them! He's right, they don't get in the way or anything, and my OS X volumes all have low fragmentation.
Some people say $300 for a 80 GB ATA-100 HD is a lot, but not me - I've got my peace of mind!
i check xlr8yourmac drive compatibility database before doing stuff.
btw, a western digital scorpio 5400rpm 8mb cache 2.5" drive is sitting sweet in my iBook g4 now. overall, nice performance, not necessarily on straight read- and writes-, it really shines more on memory paging in/out opening multiple apps and when multiple read/write operations are going on.
the next powerbook g4 15" and 17" should have 7200rpm SATA notebook drives. in my opinion
...........
Originally posted by Xool
I'm returning a 512 stick to be replaced with a 1 GB stick instead. Got an RMA before I even made the replacement order, even did it online. No muss, no fuss, and hassle free.
I think Crucial should be a bit more upfront regarding the higher prices. Most of the time the difference is slim, but on 1GB PowerBook SO-DIMMS the difference is like 40%! The gas station comparison in an earlier post is somewhat appropriate, but when a gas station charges you extra to "guarantee the correct formula gas" what you're paying for is full service, versus the self service we all use.
Caveat emptor, I guess.
i think its not a SCAM per se, but useful information nonetheless about Crucial for those who don't know. it all depends if you're the kind of person that would prefer to pay more for peace of mind kinda thing.
Originally posted by Figital
i think you got ripped off. Mac OS X defragments on the fly by itself.
If you had used the built-in Sarcasm Selector, you could have guaranteed that the post you're replying to would not have gone completely over your head.