9300 ram upgrade, media center, and order time

i just purchased a 9300 from dell

1.6ghz
256mb ram
80gb 5400rpm
256mb 6800
dvd writer
17in w/o truelife
$1240 :750:

i was planning to upgrade the ram myself and was wondering what would be better for performance now and later in the future. i could either purchase a 1gb stick for $105 or purchase 2 512mb sticks for 110 or so. With the first option I would have about 1.25gb or ram and with the second i would have 1gb but in dual channel mode. I understand that dual channel is faster but will that be offset by the additional 256mb of ram? I was wondering which version would be more useful.

Also I think I might want to have media center and the remote installed on my computer. I called dell today and they told me it would delay my order to change the os. Is there any way they can send it to me separately and i can upgrade it myself or something like that?

I have heard that dells shipping estimates were not accurate and was wondering if anyone had any idea when my laptop would arrive at my home. I ordered it last night but I am already into the testing phase, or so the online website states. They state Delivery August 29-31 but it seems that if it is in testing/software right now it should be here sooner. Thanks for the info and great forum.

edit: the online order system now says my order is on boxing and that testing is complete. this seems really quick.

 

mine was supposed to go out the door @ the 18th, and take 3-5 days shipping

i got mine today

 

thanks for the info, so how many days did it take from the date ordered until arrived?

does anyone have any ideas about my ram or media center questions?

 

I got the same laptop as you, except I have the truelife and don't have the DVD writer. I bought my 1GB ram from Crucial for $144 and have a total of 1.25GB in my I9300. I just got my laptop last Tuesday and I'm glad I bought the I9300.

Also, if you planning on changing anything on your I9300 order then you'll have to cancel your 1st order and make a new order. In my 1st order I went with the 6cell battery but decided to get the 9cell battery and Dell cancel my 1st order and created another order for me. Basically you will have to wait another 7-10 days depending on Dell.

 

any ideas about copa's RAM question? I have a 256mb stick in my inspiron 9300 (getting it tomorrow!) and need to buy more RAM from newegg. someone on the reviews at newegg posted that they were able to get 256 + 1gb ram working in dual channel -- but I seem to have read around that only equal sticks can work in dual channel. any thoughts guys? and what's better for games: 1.25 gb no dual channel, or 1gb (512X2) dual channel? thanks!

 

2x512 would be better, unless you run out of ram and the extra 256mb keeps your system from swapping to disk. Haveing said that, your probably only talking about a couple percentage points difference.

Personally, I'd buy a 1gb stick, run with it until you decide to replace the 256 with another gig, or just byte the bullet now and get 2 1gb sticks, max out the ram, and not worry about it again.

 

thanks! got the same answer in another forum. i'll go for the 1gb stick and get another 1gb down the line.

 

Thanks for the info on the ram. I'll order a 1gb stick and wait until later to upgrade to 2gb. Any other ideas about obtaining media center / a remote?

 

you can buy Media Center 05 on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832102311

 

Buy it from Newegg? They're charging $129 for what you can get at Dell for $35.

I have Media Center on my new 9300, and honestly, I'm not sure what good it is doing me. I have yet to find out what I can use it for that the rest of XP can't do for me. However, it may be good for organizing all of your media in one place, if you are someone that has thousands of pictures, songs and recorded tv shows. The slide shows of jpegs are real dizzying to watch on MCE, given the way it zooms out and pans every photo. I prefer to use picture and fax viewer instead......