OT: How much RAM should I get in a new laptop ?

[Robert Moskowitz]

On 12/23/2011 05:13 AM, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> On Fri, 23 Dec 2011, linux guy wrote:
>
>> I'm specing a new laptop, probably a Dell XPS 17, with an i7
>> processor.  It will have an SSD and be driving 2 monitors.
>>
>> The XPS 17s come in two varieties, one with 2 DIMM slots and the other
>> with 4 DIMM slots.
>>
>> - I do a ton of browsing for research purposes and may have as many as
>> 20 Firefox sessions open at one time.

And I will have a dozen taps open in many of them.

>> - I use Thunderbird with mail accounts with more than 100K messages in them.

I have 4 copies of Thunderbird running.

>> - I do some software development in Eclipse with gcc.  Compile times
>> can be lengthy on some projects.
>> - I use Digikam to manage and edit all my Nikon D7000 images, which
>> are shot in raw
>> - I want to get into editing D7000 video files
>> - I want to get into 3D CAD.

None of this for me.

>>
>> How much RAM do I reasonably require ?  Is it worth paying more for 4
>> DIMM sockets over 2 ?

I went with 4Gb ram.  I am currently @ 3.1Gb used and 800Mb swap (I 
allocate 2x swap over memory).  So 8Bg could work for you.

>    not sure this will help but i went through the same grappling when
> spec'ing out a new ASUS monster laptop.  in the end, i learned that
> the model advertised as coming with 12G RAM simply had 3/4 slots
> filled, and just buying a separate compatible 4G stick to fill it out
> to 16G cost all of $29 extra.  problem solved.
>
>    more RAM is generally better, but don't feel you have to pay for it
> as part of the advertised model.
The place I bought my Lenovo from (B&H photo) provided a good brand SIMM 
at 1/5 the price of Lenovo memory.  And I took the install myself option 
and saved a bit more.