Ram/Lifetime Warranty?????????????

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Level 1

45 points

Ram/Lifetime Warranty?????????????

I was told that Ram has a lifetime warranty. Does this mean ALL ram....including what comes installed in your computer from the factory? If so, could someone please direct me to a site stating that? I want to be armed with documentation when I go to CompUSA to have a dying ram chip replaced! My three year extended warranty expired two months ago and I have a feeling they will try and charge me to replace the chip.

Thanks, Gail

Posted on Nov 4, 2005 12:02 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 4, 2005 5:44 AM in response to gailhoney

Gail, Sorry to say that not all RAM Manufactures off 100% Lifetime Guarntee and 100% Replacement for Bad Ram.
A while back there was so much innconsistancy in Ram that some of the makers started this to boost sales and they improved there product that they felt it a must because of the ones that were not so good.
As luck would have it you can go to..
http://www.macmall.com
I think if you look around there you will see some do and some don't.
Apple uses different suppliers for there products, and it is hard to tell which brand was used in your iMac,
I doubt that Comp USA will stand behind it but it is worth a try, Ram is cheap right now and you might check to see if there is a page available in the fourms that give a breakdown on replacing it in your machine..Good Luck..Don

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Answer 2

gailhoney Author

Level 1

45 points

Nov 4, 2005 7:55 AM in response to Donald Morgan

Thanks, Donald. One quick question though. I see on my iMac that the memory slot: DIMM0/J12 is showing empty. The other slot, DMM1/J13 is showing 256MB.

I upgraded my computer when I bought it to 512 MB so I know there is a memory chip in slot 0 but it has obviously gone bad. Does anyone know WHICH of these two slots is the one that has the memory installed from the factory?

Reason I am asking is that I have all paperwork from my upgrade and it clearly says the chip I had installed has a lifetime guarantee. I don't want compUSA to try and pull one over on me and tell me that is not the one that has gone bad. Knowing WHICH slot is the factory installed memory will tell me if I have a leg to stand on here.

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Answer 3

gailhoney Author

Level 1

45 points

Nov 4, 2005 8:19 AM in response to gailhoney

Sorry, forgot to include that I have a flat panel iMac, (800 MHz PowerPC G4)
Machine Model: iMac
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.1)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 800 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 256 KB
Memory: 256 MB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 4.4.0f1
Serial Number: QT21965WLF4

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Answer 4

Nov 5, 2005 11:24 AM in response to gailhoney

Gail--

My flat panel iMac G4 has two memory slots, but only the factory RAM is filled (it was a BTO). System profiler shows my slots as:

<pre>DIMM0/J22 Empty
DIMM1/J20 512 MB</pre>

I'm not sure why you get different "J" numbers from me, though.

Instructions for opening the computer are here if you feel confident enough to open it yourself and remove the CompUSA chip. The other RAM chip is considerably more difficult to access and should probably only be done by a technician. The factory RAM is more or less sealed inside the machine, so the one you see in this procedure will be the CompUSA one.

charlie

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Answer 5

gailhoney Author

Level 1

45 points

Nov 5, 2005 8:50 PM in response to Charles Minow

Thanks for all of the help. I have learned that the DimmO slot is definitely the upgrade slot and the Dimm1 is the factory installed slot. CompUSA DID stand behind the ram card and replaced it today. I also found out that most memory is cheap but NOT for the older models. It is rather pricey. I was going to upgrade the 256 card (that they replaced) to a 512. It was $149.00 and I think that is expensive so I just kept the 256. Thanks Charlie, for the page showing how to replace that card! I watched the CompUSA manager do it today so together with the bookmarked page I think I can do it myself next time.

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Answer 6

Nov 5, 2005 9:17 PM in response to gailhoney

I was going to upgrade the 256 card (that they replaced) to a 512. It was $149.00 and I think that is expensive so I just kept the 256

Check www.crucial.com - a 256 MB DIMM should be about 30 dollars. 512 about 60.

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Answer 7

TildeBee

Level 7

31,923 points

Nov 5, 2005 10:10 PM in response to chairman rod

Way to go, Rod 🙂

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