BB Toshiba - Read here if you got one - I was cheated

[L239x]

I got the 249.99 Toshiba laptop from Best Buy. Yesterday we were looking at the specs and saw that we only had 384mb of ram:eek: It was suppose to have 512mb:eyepoppin We think that instead of getting two 256 chips ours have one 256mb chip and one 128mb chip.

 

If you were one of the lucky ones that got one of $249.99 Toshiba Laptops (L35-S2151), I suggest you check your specs to see if you were cheated out of memory too.

 

I am going to call Best Buy and see what they are going to do about this:confused:

[snickstx]

I physically checked mine and had 1 stick of 512. The system info reflected a reduced memory count (like yours) and HD drive. I compared it with my 3yo Comapq and the Compaq was dead-on. There may be some other type of system limitation but I'm not that computer savvy.

 

Anybody else know?

[overlynumb]

Where can I get the information in the computer to check? Also should or is there a way without risk of damage:confused: as I am no computer expert to physically check the unit?

[snickstx]

Where can I get the information in the computer to check? Also should or is there a way without risk of damage:confused: as I am no computer expert to physically check the unit?

To see a quick view of the specs, go to My Computer, on the left of the screen click System Info...that should list the processor, OS and memory specs.

 

To physically check, turn computer completely off, removed the battery (although I never do) removed the 2 small phillips screws holding the memory cover next to the battery and removed the cover. You shuold then be able to read the label on the memory. Oh, unlug the computer from the wall too, just in case.

[mrn8]

You computer does have 512mb of memory, but it is sharing 128mb with the video card. It's actually very common for a laptop memory card to do that now. Open up the memory panel on the bottom of the computer and I'm guessing that it will have 1 512mb stick of memory in there.

[L239x]

OH, OK. We just opened the computer and physically checked. We do have one 512mb ram chip. I was wondering what happened to the other 128mb since it was only registering 384mb in the specs.

 

Thanks for the info, 128 used by the video card makes sence.

[snickstx]

You computer does have 512mb of memory, but it is sharing 128mb with the video card. It's actually very common for a laptop memory card to do that now. Open up the memory panel on the bottom of the computer and I'm guessing that it will have 1 512mb stick of memory in there.

Ah, makes sense. Do you know if there is a way to reduce the amount of memory allocated for video card or would that make it unstable? I do nothing more than internet and some office apps, no gaming whatsoever.

[shanecrow99]

Sure. Go into the BIOS settings and lower the amount of RAM that the video is using. Unless your gaming, you can whittle it all the way down to 32mbs and you'll be fine. Hope that helps.

[stationchief]

Your laptop really does have 512MB of memory. It's just that your graphics chip is taking up some of that because it's shared video memory. 512MB physical memory - 128MB reserved specifically for video = 384MB.

 

To change it, you need to go into the system BIOS screen. When you boot up your computer, it'll tell you what key to hit to enter BIOS/setup. Usually it's either the F2, F10, or DELETE key. Once there, you can do a lot of changes to your computer, including droping the shared video memory all the way down (32MB or so) to have more physical memory or crank it all the way up (128MB) to play those high-tech games.

[Scott]

Sure. Go into the BIOS settings and lower the amount of RAM that the video is using. Unless your gaming, you can whittle it all the way down to 32mbs and you'll be fine. Hope that helps.

I agree... If you aren't playing any games or anything, drop the video memory down to 32 in the bios. That will help you reclaim some of the ram for system operation.