No short term memory loss here (Crucial (computer memory))

Member Name: cjkace

Product:	Crucial (computer memory)
Date:	14/08/01 (753 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to browse website, cheap for DDR memory, top quality components

Disadvantages: Only 12 months warranty if you buy using a credit card

Well I upgraded my processor and my motherboard, and although the motherboard supports both flavours of ram (SDRAM & DDRRAM) I decided that some new memory might be in order as well so I decided to buy myself 256Mb of PC2100 DDR-RAM. Scouring my usual sources showed that it cost a bit more than PC133 SD-RAM at around £33 per stick. As I have some friends who run a computer shop (I'm actually building them a website...slowly) I was offered some at trade prices which I agreed to UNTIL I browsed to Crucial's website. Their prices for DDR memory was actually cheaper than my friends could buy it for through the trade channels (no guesses where they now buy their memory from LOL).

As I knew exactly what I wanted, the ordering process was very quick and very easy, without the now usual log-in before you buy feature that many online shops seem to insist upon. One click added the product to the basket, and when I checked out I was then asked to create a password protected account for future visits. Very easy. I was then e-mailed confirmation, and the following day received another e-mail saying that the parcel had been shipped by Special Delivery. Lo and behold it arrived the next day. I ordered at around 6.30PM on the Thursday night and had my parcel by 9.30AM Saturday morning. The best thing about the delivery process is that standard shipping is by Royal Mail Special Delivery and is free! Obviously if you want it quicker then you can pay more, but in all honesty why bother?

Lets dig into Crucial a little more shall we? For those that don't know Crucial is the retail arm of Micron technology, an American company who manufacture memory chips. Due to the downturn in technology sales, memory is at the cheapest that it has ever been, so there has never been a better time to buy. As I browse the tech sites quite a lot, Crucial and Micron are names that I've come across quite a lot, and all that I've read has been complimentary. They manufac
ture very high quality and very reliable memory. This dedication to quality has been transferred to their website, which is very clean, very quick loading and very user friendly. They also have offices around the world, and a website for each, in that countries language, including France, Japan, Germany as well as others.

One of the things I like best about the Crucial website (although it's not something I use, as I know exactly what I need) is the ability to browse by system manufacturer, and also by motherboard manufacturer. This helps customers to pick the memory that they need for their system if they aren't sure. Micron/Crucial sell a lot of memory to system builders and in some cases manufacture very specific memory for those companies such as Compaq etc. Obviously putting different memory in systems like that could have bad effects so putting the info on their website BEFORE you buy is very helpful.

I've already touched upon the other feature I like and that was the fact that they don't insist upon you creating an account before you buy something, preferring to add your account during the actual buying process. I personally loathe sites that insist upon registering before you shop, so this feature of Crucials site is very welcome to me.

There is however one bad point, which is actually their Limited Lifetime Warranty, which states the the item is guaranteed for life from defects (arising through normal use obviously) EXCEPT when purchased with a credit card, when the warranty is only valid for twelve months. No explanation is given for this anomaly, and it's a bit of a kick in the teeth really, as most people that will buy through the website will use a credit card, so automatically lose the 'Lifetime Warranty'.

I know that there will probably be people reading this opinion that will say Crucial's prices for other types of memory are higher than other sites, and in part they will be correct
EXCEPT that in the main the memory that is sold cheaply by other hardware sites is unbranded or generic memory. While they may use recognised manufacturers for the actual memory chips (such as Hynix, Samsung) the other parts that make up the memory stick will not be of such quality, so cannot be relied upon when running them at the very top end of their specifications. This means that memory sold as PC133 may only just be able to manage 133Mhz, which can lead to a few problems especially if you want to try and get a little more speed from your system by upping the front side bus speed on your motherboard to 135Mhz or higher.

All in all, Crucial is a brand that I've learned to trust because of the sites that I visit recommending them. The sites that I like are dedicated to overclocking so when they say that they use Crucial/Micron memory in thier testing setups it shows a high level of trust. Coupled with very good prices, especially on DDR memory, and an easy on the eye website make Crucial one of the best sites to visit when shopping for memory, although you can buy through dabs.com as well.

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