how much ram needed

[MaLfUnCtIoN]

i'm looking at notebooks and was wondering how much ram i need. i plan to use it to watch movies (no other apps going), and also to listen to music while typing (running at same time as each other). it will be running windows xp.

it will be at least 256 megs and there will be little to no gaming (most likely no gaming) so it wont be more than 512. 256 or 512?

i dont wanna buy more than i will use and waste cash.

[kram 2.0]

512MB is almost necessary lately - doing several things at once, when I tried to open a Adobe Acrobat file, it rejected me for "running out of memory"! I would certainly suggest 512MB.

kram

[Hags]

and no more than 40 gigs of hdd space would really be needed, i guess if you wanted to be safe 60 or 80 gigs would be ok too, considering how cheap hdd space is now a days

[rcvalencia9]

Im using a Compaq Presario Notebook PC with 256 MB of RAM right now. I play games. 256 is just right. I just increased Virtual Memory. from 1.5(recommended/384 MB) times my memory to about 2 times(512 MB). There is a lil improvement. I have been planning for a long time to upgrade to 512.

I think in Windows XP with SP2, 256 MB is the minimum requirement and the recommended is about 512 MB of DDR.

[Panama Red]

I agree with 512 as a minimum number with XP. Increasing Virtual Memory/Page File is a method of substituting hard drive space for a lack of installed Memory. Your system will run much faster when it reads/writes to the installed memory than it will using hard drive space.

[ZeratulsAvenger]

I would go with 512MB. While it's not necessary, it will give you an incredible boost in speed. XP is a hog, and having 512MB makes it less, well, hoglike? If your strapped for cash you could do 256MB and upgrade later if you saw the need, but I would say 512 off hand for any computer that is planning to run XP.

[Cricket]

I agree...for WinXP the minimum I would use is 512MB of RAM.

Cricket

[rcvalencia9]

More RAM, the better. Right? Longhorn will be coming in the year 2006. I read some articles that the GUI is better(means a lot of animation, better graphics) but require a lot of memory and a good graphics card. What do you think guys will be the minimum requirement for Longhorn? Im thinking not to buy a new PC until the new OS comes out for consumers.

[spyder003]

Originally Posted by rcvalencia9 More RAM, the better. Right? Longhorn will be coming in the year 2006. I read some articles that the GUI is better(means a lot of animation, better graphics) but require a lot of memory and a good graphics card. What do you think guys will be the minimum requirement for Longhorn? Im thinking not to buy a new PC until the new OS comes out for consumers.

I've read that the new 3D desktop (Avalon) is going to require a DX9 compatible video card. No telling what the other requirements will be for it. I wouldn't wait around on a new OS to buy a new PC. By the time Longhorn comes out, M$ will probably be working on another. Besides you can always upgrade.

[flanzig1]

You will need to check to see how many ram slots the laptop has. If only 1 slot, get the 512 of ram so you don't waste the old ram when upgrading.

[mrmister1]

I would go with 512 also. You'll see a big difference between 512 and 256. XP will run much better with it.

[MaLfUnCtIoN]

i'm already getting at least a 60gig hd because i plan to put lots of music and movies on it.

as long as my cd player holds out, my christmas gift will be a few months of financing from the parents.