smokeybean

Q: Providing imac serial number safety?

Hi all,

I'm buying 4GB of ram for an old imac (early 2008)

The Ebay seller wants my imac serial number to make sure the ram is correct.

The ram is for early imac 2008 20" Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ A1224

Is it safe to provide this information?

 

Many thanks.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jun 24, 2016 10:44 AM

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Q: Providing imac serial number safety?

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  • by Georg Portenkirchner,Helpful

    Georg Portenkirchner Georg Portenkirchner Jun 24, 2016 11:49 AM in response to smokeybean
    Level 2 (277 points)
    iTunes
    Jun 24, 2016 11:49 AM in response to smokeybean

    In my opinion iMac 2008 20" Core 2 Duo 2.4GHZ A1224 should be sufficient.

    I think there is no need to know the serial number.

  • by Allan Eckert,

    Allan Eckert Allan Eckert Jun 24, 2016 10:57 AM in response to smokeybean
    Level 9 (53,576 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 24, 2016 10:57 AM in response to smokeybean

    I question the need for the seller to know the serial number of your Mac.

     

    Besides you most certainly do not want to post it on the web where it can be harvested by scammers.

  • by dialabrain,Helpful

    dialabrain dialabrain Jun 24, 2016 11:49 AM in response to smokeybean
    Level 5 (6,178 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jun 24, 2016 11:49 AM in response to smokeybean

    I agree with the others. There is no need at all to supply the serial number.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Jun 24, 2016 11:42 AM in response to smokeybean
    Level 7 (32,009 points)
    iPad
    Jun 24, 2016 11:42 AM in response to smokeybean

    Rather than giving him your serial number, just give him this link - it's to one of the two most recommended RAM vendors here and shows the exact RAM needed/compatible and ask him if that is what he is selling:

     

    https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/iMac/Intel_Core_2_Duo_PC2-6400

  • by smokeybean,

    smokeybean smokeybean Jun 24, 2016 11:53 AM in response to smokeybean
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 24, 2016 11:53 AM in response to smokeybean

    Thank you for your reply's.

     

    I tend to agree,

    The seller sent me this message.

    Is this correct?

    Hello,

     

    Thanks for your message. Unfortunately based on the A1224 code it is not possible to tell if you have purchased the correct item as the A1224 code was used for 4 model generations from 2007 to 2009 all supporting different spec RAMs and as mentioned in the description of the item the full model number listed in the title must exactly match or the item will be incompatible and A1224 is only a partial match.

     

    Please message me the exact serial number of your Mac (11-12 character long code located on the bottom of your Mac) when you are at machine again and I will verify compatibility for you only then can we send the item as we wrote in the description of the item.



  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jun 24, 2016 12:02 PM in response to smokeybean
    Level 5 (6,178 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jun 24, 2016 12:02 PM in response to smokeybean

    I would move on to a different vendor.

  • by babowa,

    babowa babowa Jun 24, 2016 3:10 PM in response to smokeybean
    Level 7 (32,009 points)
    iPad
    Jun 24, 2016 3:10 PM in response to smokeybean

    Either buy it elsewhere (I'd actually never trust an ebay vendor with such an item unless they were either macsales.com or Crucial) or send him the link to the site I sent you which is showing RAM for your model. Or, tell him that it is for iMac model ID 8,1.

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Jun 24, 2016 4:18 PM in response to smokeybean
    Level 10 (141,085 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 24, 2016 4:18 PM in response to smokeybean

    TH.png

    There is no need to give him the serial no.  Give him the model identifier no. from System Information (hold down the Option key while accessing the  menu):

    Safari Technology Preview001.jpg

    It will look like this:

    Highlight001.jpg

    He can then look up the correct RAM type with MacTracker.  You can also to check on the vendor. 

     

    The best place and usually the cheapest to obtain RAM for Macs is at Crucial.com.  They guarantee their modules and have excellent warranties and customer support.  Personally I would not go thru eBay.

    OTsig.png

  • by smokeybean,

    smokeybean smokeybean Jun 25, 2016 9:37 AM in response to smokeybean
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 25, 2016 9:37 AM in response to smokeybean

    Thanks for all the advice!

  • by Allan Jones,

    Allan Jones Allan Jones Jun 25, 2016 9:44 AM in response to smokeybean
    Level 8 (35,141 points)
    iPad
    Jun 25, 2016 9:44 AM in response to smokeybean

    I agree with some of the others--avoid auction site RAM entirely. We ahve seem too many issues here casued by wonky RAM bought at auction. They may be selling RAM brands we know to be troublesome in modern Macs, like Kingston Value RAM†, Corsair, or PNY. I use no one but OWC (already linked) and have bought for the many Macs in our family plus for others I support without one issue in well over a decade of shopping with them.

     

    I have no relation with OWC other than as a satisfied customer.

     

    †--regular Kingston RAM seems fine but is hard to find. RAM is price sensitive so  resellers are going to buy the cheapest that can get.