Needs more RAM!

The Acer laptop I bought in September or so has 1 gig of RAM, and I was looking at the laptop memory prices - they sure are cheap, compared to what it cost to add memory into my old desktop. Therefore I am tempted to upgrade the memory in my laptop... However, I don't know how difficult it is to install. It's simple enough with desktops, but I've no experience with laptop installations. Furthermore, I've heard that even though the BIOS of a laptop could handle up to 4 GB of RAM, Vista or XP won't recognize more than 3 GB. Is this a limitation on the part of the OS, or what's the deal?

__________________
Hello, World!

Sorry bud, no experience with Vista so I cant answer that part, but as far as installing the RAM, there is a cover on the bottom of the laptop that comes off and the RAM is right there...pretty easy to replace.

__________________
A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. ~Bruce Lee

From what I hear Vista can handle 8GB o RAM. I have 4 in my XP box right now and it only recognizes 3.25GB

The reason for RAM being so cheap right now (atleast from what I hear) is that a lot of modules were made for Vista thinking that it was going to be a complete memory hog, and well obviously it isn't that bad, so RAM is cheap for the time being. YeY for long run on sentences!

__________________
You registered for QuakeCon on April 30, 2008, 6:56 pm. You were # 366 to sign up for QuakeCon!

So if I were to add more RAM, now'd be the time.

__________________
Hello, World!

'xactly

__________________
You registered for QuakeCon on April 30, 2008, 6:56 pm. You were # 366 to sign up for QuakeCon!

Do you think there would be a performance increase if I went from 1 GB to 4? With RAM, I'm never really sure when something's not kicking as quick as it could, and when it's just overkill to put more in.

__________________
Hello, World!

With Vista, you will probably see some performance increase, though it may not be drastic and will depend largely on what sort of programs you run.

Remember that if you're using a 32-bit version of Vista, you will need to enable PAE to make use of the full 4 GB of RAM.

__________________

Your Acer probably only has one RAM slot accessible-most machines that weren't destined for a corporate environment are like that.
As far as installing it, you just need to have a gentle hand. Most laptop RAM slots require you to insert at an angle, then push the sticks down flat. Usually there is a diagram on the RAM cover that shows you the propert procedure for adding more.

__________________

I don't mean to under mind Fenis, its that a lot of laptops that I have worked on within the past couple of years all had 2 slots. All of which were new laptops too.

__________________
You registered for QuakeCon on April 30, 2008, 6:56 pm. You were # 366 to sign up for QuakeCon!

My Acer should have two slots. He said "accessible" so I thought he meant that one you can reach and the other one you can't without taking more than just that small backplate off.

__________________
Hello, World!