8GB vs 4 GB RAM (For 2-in-1)

[TheGreatGatsby]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

 

[Ringel05]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

Yeah, I have a Lenovo Yoga 2 that you would just love to have........... Relatively cheap......... Fast as greased lighting.

 

[fncceo]

4GB is a minimum for running a Windows 10 laptop. Even if all you do is browse. Opening multiple taps in your browser or watching videos only (YouTube) will give you sluggish, painfully sluggish, response.

Get the 8MB, you'll be happy you did.

 

[007]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

Check out a computer with an SSD. Lots faster, no moving parts. I just bought a couple new HP's both with an SSD. Not any room on the mother board to add anything, but they're fast. Came with 12GB of RAM installed anyway, with a 7400 rpm hard drive and i7 Intel CPU.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

Yeah, I have a Lenovo Yoga 2 that you would just love to have........... Relatively cheap......... Fast as greased lighting.

I had a presumably earlier version in that series. Think it was 4 GB, but not SSD (or probably as fast as a processor), so I don't think it's comparable.

What specs do you have?

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

I should mention that I'm in the market for the 11.6" screen over 13.3" screen and definitely not the 15.6". At that size, the options for quality are limited, and I'm guessing the higher RAM tends to be more costly. It tends to mean $450-$500 sale starting points vs. $730-$850 sale starting points.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

4GB is a minimum for running a Windows 10 laptop. Even if all you do is browse. Opening multiple taps in your browser or watching videos only (YouTube) will give you sluggish, painfully sluggish, response.

Get the 8MB, you'll be happy you did.

Well, some are still running on 2 GB actually; and they'll do stuff like Netflix. You just have to wait for the longer loads; but given my frequent use, that's not an option. I have gather 8 GB is probably solid in most cases. But I'm wondering if 4 GB with the SSD hardrive could be well enough too.

 

[Ringel05]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

Yeah, I have a Lenovo Yoga 2 that you would just love to have........... Relatively cheap......... Fast as greased lighting.

I had a presumably earlier version in that series. Think it was 4 GB, but not SSD (or probably as fast as a processor), so I don't think it's comparable.

What specs do you have?

Off hand I'm not sure, rarely use it. Not even sure if it's an 11 or 13 inch though I know it has an SSD, boots up in a matter of seconds. Bought it for the wife but she never used it so we would bring it on road trips and even then wouldn't use it half the time. It's Win 10, upgraded from 8.1. Been debating whether to sell it or keep it since it spends most of it's time in turned off in a travel bag, I take it out and from time to time to make sure it's charged up and up to date. Basically the damn screen is too small for my liking, I have an 17" laptop and both my desktop monitors are 24".

 

[Borillar]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

You can always get the cheaper computer and buy some additional RAM. DIMMs are cheap.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

Yeah, I have a Lenovo Yoga 2 that you would just love to have........... Relatively cheap......... Fast as greased lighting.

I had a presumably earlier version in that series. Think it was 4 GB, but not SSD (or probably as fast as a processor), so I don't think it's comparable.

What specs do you have?

Off hand I'm not sure, rarely use it. Not even sure if it's an 11 or 13 inch though I know it has an SSD, boots up in a matter of seconds. Bought it for the wife but she never used it so we would bring it on road trips and even then wouldn't use it half the time. It's Win 10, upgraded from 8.1. Been debating whether to sell it or keep it since it spends most of it's time in turned off in a travel bag, I take it out and from time to time to make sure it's charged up and up to date. Basically the damn screen is too small for my liking, I have an 17" laptop and both my desktop monitors are 24".

Well, if you're selling it, let me know what you might want for it. I'm in the market. If the deal's right I might could go for it.

 

[fncceo]

4GB is a minimum for running a Windows 10 laptop. Even if all you do is browse. Opening multiple taps in your browser or watching videos only (YouTube) will give you sluggish, painfully sluggish, response.

Get the 8MB, you'll be happy you did.

Well, some are still running on 2 GB actually; and they'll do stuff like Netflix. You just have to wait for the longer loads; but given my frequent use, that's not an option. I have gather 8 GB is probably solid in most cases. But I'm wondering if 4 GB with the SSD hardrive could be well enough too.

It all depends on what you want to put up with. You'll probably have this purchase for a few years ... apps and media are getting larger all the time, never smaller.

Get as much as you can afford in RAM, disk space, and graphics capacity. You won't regret it.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

You can always get the cheaper computer and buy some additional RAM. DIMMs are cheap.

What you think the 4 GB to 8 GB upgrade would cost?

 

[fncceo]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

You can always get the cheaper computer and buy some additional RAM. DIMMs are cheap.

But laptop memory is often specific to a model and upgrades are costlier.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

Check out a computer with an SSD. Lots faster, no moving parts. I just bought a couple new HP's both with an SSD. Not any room on the mother board to add anything, but they're fast. Came with 12GB of RAM installed anyway, with a 7400 rpm hard drive and i7 Intel CPU.

12 GB and I7. Guessing you paid at least $1,300 each.

 

[007]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

You can always get the cheaper computer and buy some additional RAM. DIMMs are cheap.

Thing is though, many new computers don't have a bunch of expansion slots like the older ones. You have to check that out before you buy.

 

[007]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

Check out a computer with an SSD. Lots faster, no moving parts. I just bought a couple new HP's both with an SSD. Not any room on the mother board to add anything, but they're fast. Came with 12GB of RAM installed anyway, with a 7400 rpm hard drive and i7 Intel CPU.

12 GB and I7. Guessing you paid at least $1,300 each.

$550... ebay.

 

[Andylusion]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

So, I do......

My computer came with 4 GB stock. There was clear evidence that lack of RAM was causing lag and slow downs.

It was really obvious.

I personally bought 8 GB of RAM, in the form of two 4 GB sticks. My computer had two open ram slots, and it was quick and easy.

So my computer now has 12 GB of RAM. Best investment EVER. From a bang, for the buck, perspective $64, dramatically changed how the computer ran. Slow downs, lag outs, sudden short freezes, all gone.

I can have a movie playing, have a graphic rendering, and notice no slow downs at all.

So... here's the deal for you. 8 GB is the minimum. If you want go to 12 GB, that's likely all you'll need.

If you have less than 8GB installed, do whatever it takes to get to 8GB or more.

Once you get over 8GB, you likely won't see any benefit to adding more RAM, unless you intend to do really super complicated stuff like Graphic editing, 3D stuff, and doing rendering, editing movies (what I do), and whatever.

Excel is not a thing. 8 GB will be enough.

That is what I suggest. Find out how much RAM your computer has now. Then upgrade to 8GB. Whatever that requires.

 

[TheGreatGatsby]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

Check out a computer with an SSD. Lots faster, no moving parts. I just bought a couple new HP's both with an SSD. Not any room on the mother board to add anything, but they're fast. Came with 12GB of RAM installed anyway, with a 7400 rpm hard drive and i7 Intel CPU.

12 GB and I7. Guessing you paid at least $1,300 each.

$550... ebay.

That's a lot better than the going rates of the retailers. I guess you just have to trust random persons is all.

 

[007]

I'm thinking about getting a 2-in-1 on a Memorial Day sale. I'm not a gamer. I just care about computer and programs opening quickly and for the internet to not run slow due to not enough RAM. I found a laptop I like with an Pentium I5 processor. The preliminary tests on new computers at Best Buy showed but split second differences on load times for Excel. But this could be different for a computer that is owned some weeks or months and when various windows are opened.

I am willing to pay more if I have to, but it's about double more to jump to 8GB and I'd prefer not to if I'm not gonna really have any buyer's regret for the 4 GB, which is crazily half the price for the minimum starting prices.

Anyone have an expert opinion?

So, I do......

My computer came with 4 GB stock. There was clear evidence that lack of RAM was causing lag and slow downs.

It was really obvious.

I personally bought 8 GB of RAM, in the form of two 4 GB sticks. My computer had two open ram slots, and it was quick and easy.

So my computer now has 12 GB of RAM. Best investment EVER. From a bang, for the buck, perspective $64, dramatically changed how the computer ran. Slow downs, lag outs, sudden short freezes, all gone.

I can have a movie playing, have a graphic rendering, and notice no slow downs at all.

So... here's the deal for you. 8 GB is the minimum. If you want go to 12 GB, that's likely all you'll need.

If you have less than 8GB installed, do whatever it takes to get to 8GB or more.

Once you get over 8GB, you likely won't see any benefit to adding more RAM, unless you intend to do really super complicated stuff like Graphic editing, 3D stuff, and doing rendering, editing movies (what I do), and whatever.

Excel is not a thing. 8 GB will be enough.

That is what I suggest. Find out how much RAM your computer has now. Then upgrade to 8GB. Whatever that requires.

Sounds like you have an older computer. There's another thing to keep in mind when adding huge amounts of RAM, some computers CPU's aren't fast enough to handle that much either. You can actually overload your CPU.

 

[WheelieAddict]

You don't necessarily need 8gb but it is really hard to not recommend it. The reason for the big price jump for more memory is because memory prices are insane right now.