Laptop memory advice please

albertross_2

thats plenty, why are you worrying about space?

love_lifer

because when i tried to dl pphotoshop it told me i hadnt enough memory and so i thought i'd better get some, given this is a pretty old laptop and i use it a lot for music, word processing and pics, and now arty stuff too.
perhaps i need not be concerned given your comments. it certainly runs well enough even tho its rather battered and has no battery life. and i suppose im influenced by the new big memory models and the hard sell...

spud17

I think there's some confusion going on between memory and storage.

theres 20.8 gb free out of 37.2.

The above is storage i.e cupboard space. Your cupboard is just under half full.

because when i tried to dl pphotoshop it told me i hadnt enough memory

This memory is temporary and (struggles for metaphor) is like a piece of paper where you do the calculations, the bigger the piece of paper (memory), the more calculations at any one time.
When you turn off your PC it's the same as screwing up the paper and throwing it away, so next time you turn on you have a clean sheet of paper.
The results are then stored on your hard drive (cupboard).

If you can get the memory up to 512mb you will see an improvement in performance.

DatabaseError

ram = etch-a-sketch?
if crucial say you can have 2 gig,may as well put 1 in at the price nowadays rather than 512k.
ebay always worth a go if you are sure you understand what you're buying, my last 1 gig for a lappy cost £4.10 inc postage

love_lifer

thanks for the explanations. i think i understand better. i think i need more storage/cupboard space. and more memory. will get onto it.
and now not wworried about needing new pc thanks to advice/explanations given.

albertross_2

You have loads of cupboard space. If photoshop used the term memory, it would mean ram, not disk.

spud17

ram = etch-a-sketch?

Like it, but will the ipod generation know what it is, after all it doesn't use batteries.

spud17

As albertross said you've got loads of spare space, in fact you've got more spare than the whole of my hard drive. (cupboard)

Donnie

What is the model number of your laptop?

PS. Don't expect to pay a fiver for 1GB RAM for your laptop.

love_lifer

its an EI system 4411. about 5 years old, pc world special...