NoName RAM vs. Brand Name

bulky craniumbulky cranium
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I was thinking of upgrading the Ram on my Powerbook G4/1.5 gig 17". So I called a local shop that I usually deal with & got a quote on 1 gig of RAM (I have a gig in already & have one slot free). So they tell me a gig is $999 Canadian (about $840 US). Or I can get 512 megs for $249 CDN which is more in my price range right now. They normally sell only Kingston RAM.



I was just on O'Grady's Powerpage & I saw an add for Wegener Media



http://www.wegenermedia.com/fallblowout.htm



They have a gig of Samsung memory for my Powerbook listed for $239.99 US. I have never used anything but Kingston Ram before, so I don't know the difference here, but that is quite a price difference. They also have the following disclaimer there:



Quote:

We stock all RAM shown here, and guarantee all RAM to surpass Apple's standards for RAM cards.



ALL RAM is guaranteed to fit your Powerbook, and comes with a LIFETIME WARRANTY! Our RAM is fully tested for each laptop, and is guaranteed to fit THAT specific laptop!



Please note: RAM prices are very volatile-these prices change constantly, and are good when posted as posted.



What about Firmware?



Recently Apple implemented several firmware updates which caused compatability issues with certain 3rd party RAM. However, we fully guarantee our RAM modules to exceed all Apple requirements for all firmware revisions. Our RAM is fully JDEC MO161D Compliant, and is guaranteed for life.



So what I am asking is, does anybody else have any insight on cheaper ram? Samsung, are they a notable company?



Would I be making a mistake going with the cheaper ram?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    slugheadslughead Posts: 1,169member
    Honestly, it's not hard to get better than Apple's components for cheaper, so long as they're compatible (like hard drives and RAM)..



    Samsung is an excellent company, but I don't know what the RAM that Apple normally uses is.



    I trust the corsair ("3rd party") RAM in my G5 way more than I trust the stuff Apple was going to charge me THREE TIMES THE PRICE for.



    I'd go for it. If they say it'll work, then you can return it if it doesn't. I'd give it a 99% chance of working, so that's a 99% chance you'll save hundreds of dollars, and a 1% chance you'll just have a hassle.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    formerlurkerformerlurker Posts: 2,686member
    Samsung is a major RAM manufacturer, and the maker of much of the OEM RAM that Apple ships in their computers.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    mynameismynameis Posts: 74member
    I have some Samsung ram, the chips on it are made by Xerox. It works for me, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    bulky craniumbulky cranium Posts: 141member
    Thanks for the reply folks.



    I had to go with the Local Expensive Ram. I have a big Photoshop project I thought was going to be a few days off, but it came in (in a mad rush) today.



    Couldn't wait for the shipping.



    Oh well, there is always next time.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Bulky Cranium

    Thanks for the reply folks.



    I had to go with the Local Expensive Ram. I have a big Photoshop project I thought was going to be a few days off, but it came in (in a mad rush) today.



    Couldn't wait for the shipping.



    Oh well, there is always next time.



    Can you return that RAM once you're finished with the project? Paying 3x the going price for RAM is kinda crazy. Unless you're going to charge that $1K to the client.



    [edit]

    Oh, and there's no way I would call Samsung a no-name brand.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    rraburrabu Posts: 264member
    Actually, isn't Kingston more of a "noname" brand than Samsung. I know Samsung makes memory. Doesn't Kingston just test and rebrand other manufacturer's RAM?
  • Reply 7 of 10
    slugheadslughead Posts: 1,169member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rrabu

    Actually, isn't Kingston more of a "noname" brand than Samsung. I know Samsung makes memory. Doesn't Kingston just test and rebrand other manufacturer's RAM?



    I heard this also.



    I heard there are only like 20 RAM manufacturers world-wide, the rest are re-branders
  • Reply 8 of 10
    bill mbill m Posts: 324member
    Micron Technology is one of the top quality memory manufacturers. Their online store (crucial.com) is probably one of the best too. Excellent service and priced right. Try them the next time you are shopping for ram:



    http://www.crucial.com/
  • Reply 9 of 10
    dobbydobby Posts: 797member
    I normally buy memory from memoryx.com.

    For workstations I buy cheap as but for any server I buy direct from the company that makes the server.

    When I worked for Digital (when it was still called DEC) the memory was graded A AA B BA BB or something similar.

    DEC machines always had the A grade which was really expensive but was very trustworthy. Wang used B or C grade which was cheaper but less reliable.

    I don't know if this is still the case or not.



    Dobby.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Bill M

    Micron Technology is one of the top quality memory manufacturers. Their online store (crucial.com) is probably one of the best too. Excellent service and priced right. Try them the next time you are shopping for ram:



    http://www.crucial.com/



    Micron is also the only SDRAM manufacturer left in the US.
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