[acabtp]

Maxing out the memory (RAM) on your Dell Mini is easy, cheap, and effective. Do it today!

Frequently Asked Questions
I thought the max was 1 gb? Why doesn't Dell offer it with more? - In order to ship the Mini with Windows XP instead of Windows Vista, there are...

Click here to read the entire tutorial

[Dylan Bennett]

I just bought a Crucial 2GB 667MHz PC5300 stick for my Mini from Frys. Works great so far. Haven't really done anything that needs that kind of RAM yet. I did decrease my swap file from 1.5GB back down to .5GB. I figure less work for the SSD to do.

One thing I should note for people upgrading their RAM. Don't hibernate and then swap your RAM and then unhibernate. Bad idea. Just turn it off, and then swap it. This might be obvious to some, but I didn't think about it when I did my swap. I was a bit freaked when it booted into Windows and my screen totally freaked out. The image on the screen was like someone had run over the LCD panel with their car and then stabbed a screwdriver into the middle. Not good at all. I forced it off (by holding the power button for 10 secs) and then rebooted. Then it was totally fine.

Task manager is reporting 2,087,216K of RAM. (1.99GB if I right-click on My Computer and choose Properties.)

Thanks, everyone, for the very clear upgrade instructions and helpful supplemental information.

[terrain]

Other than paying a bit too much for your memory at "FRYS"- not too bad. I was at Fry's - they wanted $46 bucks. Ended up going with Newegg for $24.99 shipped.

[phobos512]

Well I've learned a lot on this website and I don't even have my Mini 9 yet. Hopefully it shows up tomorrow.

Just received my G.Skill 4-4-4-12 DDR2-667 2GB SDRAM from Newegg today. Sweet box Looking forward to getting my new little guy to play around with. Thanks for the info on the upgradeability!

[worldwearyeyes]

New here.

I'm looking to buy the 4gb Ubuntu model, upgrade the RAM to 2gb and the HD to 32gb, then install OS X. It sounds like Ubuntu doesn't recognize the 2gb RAM, but will the Mini recognize it after I install OS X?

Cheers...matt

[phobos512]

Originally Posted by worldwearyeyes

New here.

I'm looking to buy the 4gb Ubuntu model, upgrade the RAM to 2gb and the HD to 32gb, then install OS X. It sounds like Ubuntu doesn't recognize the 2gb RAM, but will the Mini recognize it after I install OS X?

Cheers...matt

From what I understand the default lpia kernel that Dell uses on the preinstalled Ubuntu is limited to addressing 1GB of RAM - however a recompile or reinstall will work fine. The hardware is the same.

[worldwearyeyes]

Originally Posted by phobos512

From what I understand the default lpia kernel that Dell uses on the preinstalled Ubuntu is limited to addressing 1GB of RAM - however a recompile or reinstall will work fine. The hardware is the same.

Thanks so much for the quick response, but I'm a bit confused. Are you saying OSX will recognize it as 2 or 1?

cheers...matt

[thcrw739]

from what i understand, 2GB will be reconized in any os that supports that amount, the dell mini ubuntu kernel on the other hand has been crippled, so anything other than the dell ubuntu mini os should be fine.

[iiweeldman]

I just installed 2GB of kingston ddr2 667 from bestbuy. Price was a little more than newegg, but I didn't have to wait! I noticed an improvement while having multiple tabs open in explorer 8 and or running a few programs at once.


-Scott

[fartblossom]

I read somewhere else that the special Ubuntu kernel Dell developed has enhanced battery life management built in and if you reinstall a non-dell ubuntu, you'll get 2 GB of ram, but will give up some battery life. FYI, for what it's worth.

[marc5]

Originally Posted by worldwearyeyes

New here.

I'm looking to buy the 4gb Ubuntu model, upgrade the RAM to 2gb and the HD to 32gb, then install OS X. It sounds like Ubuntu doesn't recognize the 2gb RAM, but will the Mini recognize it after I install OS X?

Cheers...matt

and to answer your question, yes mac os x will recognise 2gb ram no problems.