samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

Hi all,
I bought a n150 netbook recently with windows 7 installed and 1gb RAM which seems a bit slow. I thought about increasing it to 2gb as a friend said that helped with his.
It takes one sodimm pc2-6400 module and as always the prices vary greatly. I can get Samsung etc for about £15 and crucial or kingston for around £21 or so.
I've heard that in desktop pcs especially gamers the brand etc can really make a difference.
Would it make any real difference on a netbook?
Any suggestions on best brands? I tend to favour those with the lifetime warranties usually.
Many thanks

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

In desktops the ram is likely to be overclocked hence a decent brand is used.. In laptops as long as you get the same spec you should be fine. Use everest or similar to get the exact specs of the memory installed and try to match the speeds (clock and CL)

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

Many thanks Kymmy. I'll try everest as well, I used cpuid for my laptop upgrade. Do you have any preferred brand? I have heard bad things about Kingston although I've not had issues with them before aside from an SD card replaced under warranty. Not sure how good crucial are?

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

Kingston have expensive and cheap versions, used both and never had a problem when used as stock non-overclocked replacements.

For standard laptop use I just see what's the cheapest that matches the spec.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

I've never had any problems with Crucial RAM.

I upgraded my Samsung netwbook from 1GB to 2GB.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

The netbook only has one RAM socket and no onboard RAM so the OP shouldn't really have to match it that exactly. Just the clock should do. And as the OP said its pc2-6400 (DDR2 800mhz). The last netbook I upgraded didn't even support the ram at those speeds but the socket supported it so that was the RAM that was recommended.
I would personally use the crucial upgrade advisor if the OP isn't 100% sure what to get. Cant go wrong really since crucial isn't high or low end, just nice hardware with good warranties.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

I have just upgraded my Samsung using the Crucial site to identify and supply the ram I needed and have had no problems.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

Cheers all, those who upgraded netbooks from 1GB to 2GB did you notice much of a difference?
One thing I was curious about was the Samsung N220 was also on sale and had a sticker on it saying HD playback for video. I read the N220 was an earlier model to the N150 and seemed very similar spec, both with Intel GPUs.
I find mine seems to cope ok with 480p videos if widescreen on youtube but fullscreen it's a little stuttery, more noticeable on 720p. I'll download some HD videos to try further though don't expect too much as I know netbooks aren't designed really for anything too intensive...

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

I found my netbook responded better with the additional 1GB.

On my N310 I can play upto 720p fine with VLC player but huge files in full HD struggle.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

Cheers Halcyon. Mine seems to be very slow on the network as well for some reason. I just created a shared folder on it and am copying a 60MB video file across and it's taking about 35 minutes? I'm trying to work out why it might be so slow, my laptop is running XP pro, could the different versions of Windows affect the speed? Both devices show excellent or very good signal at 54mbps...

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

Could be power management. I know when mine was on the battery on XP file transfers used to be horrible until I disabled the power management on the WiFi. Some WiFi adapters also have levels of power management rather than a simple power management on/off toggle but thats quite driver dependant in XP.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

Many thanks ZrByte, I just checked power management and it's on maximum performance at the moment (running on mains power but this also seems to apply to battery). Copying files from my laptop to my other half's laptop (both on XP) seems far quicker by comparison. Not sure if it might be down to the general performance of the netbook or some kind of incompatibility with the router (Linksys WRT54G)

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

I upgraded from 2 to 4GB and have noticed that I can now do what I want without twiddling my thumbs waiting for multiple programs to load. I don't know the technicalities of it but it certainly feels a lot more responsive and when I have several things open at the same time it no longer feels sluggish when I try to work.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

I did a ping to my router and it was about 20-30ms constantly but still seemed fairly slow. Interestingly I uninstalled the trial of McAfee and ran speedtests and it was getting really perfect results (just under 10mb/s down and about 1.01 mb/s up which is as expected) and the browsing speed seems much better. I've only done the one reboot and have also had another Windows 7 update (seems to be no end of updates since I bought it!). Fingers crossed I'm hoping that's sorted it...

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

20-30mbs constantly to your router is very bad. It should be 2-3ms tops. Any more indicates congestion or other problems.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

Thanks, I might try one of those dlink routers you suggested on the other thread. Seen them on eBay for less than a tenner. My router started playing up after a power cut a few weeks back to be honest.
I have one dlink bridge in my house and that seems really reliable and a local dlink router seems to show far less dropouts than others.
Still wouldn't touch netgear though. I have a few of those in pieces in the attic from my attempts to stop them constantly dropping out due to overheating.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

As I understand it, for the N2xx and N4x0 Atoms, it's DDR2 SODIMM, and while they say 800 (6400) it's only used at 667 (5300).

The N4x5 Atoms can be using DDR2 or DDR3.

For a number of models, it's recommended to update the BIOS (if available) before upgrading memory as some models with earlier revisions had problems recognizing 2GB.

If you don't want to open the back while under warranty, then try readyboost - if it has an SD card reader that you don't need for anything else, then you may be able to readyboost using a fast SD card.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

Cheers Matth, I totally forgot about the warranty. It is a refurb and has over 11 months left on the warranty so think maybe it's not worth losing that for the memory upgrade. Generally it's using around 500-600MB at the moment so maybe 1GB might be ok or else I'll go for the SD card option maybe.

Re: samsung netbook memory upgrade
 

There are a lot of arguments, and different policies, on computer upgrades and warranty, at least on things which ARE in a zone documented as user-upgradeable in the manual.

And PS. Kicking myself for buying a SD in Tesco (Sandisk Ultra 2GB) - 7dayshop had them a lot cheaper.
Autotest result (found in event viewer) had this as 3.2MB/s read (not that impressive, an old Tevion 1GB managed 4MB/s) and about 8GB/s write (now that IS quick).

Readyboost doesn't ADD memory, but it can boost boot, load and shutdown speed, when readyboosting over 512MB or 1GB (diminishing returns if you have 2GB RAM or better). Advantage of SD card readyboost (over USB drive), is that if you don't actually use the reader for anything else, it's fit & forget with no sticky-outy bits.

The other problem choosing a card, is that SDHC class, 100x/133x/150x/200x speeds or any claimed MB/s sequential transfer rates, do not always translate directly to readyboost performance profile's 4k random read and 512k random write - particularly for the 4k read, if the card has been tested anywhere and is poor for access time, that probably means poor for readyboost.

For JUST readyboost, 2GB seems adequate, though in tests, they often pair a 4GB with 1GB RAM - if you store other things on it as well, then you may want to go higher