how do I shop for RAM?

[mosta]

I have a thinkpad A31P with 512 meg. pacific drops me, and I think in my case it has to do with ram (I started getting dropped last night when I opened a third site, along with everything else, and the system started dragging bad). so I think I should try running a gig. the machine has two slots, and I guess I just throw out the 2 modules that are in there now. on the IBM site they offer 512meg modules for $98 each. is IBM a good source? is that price competitive? their description is:

ThinkPad 512MB PC2700 CL2.5 NP DDR SDRAM SODIMM

I shopped RAM for my old 600e a few years ago (comp was old even then), and found a discount place online: oempcworld.com. I don't know if their stuff was refurb or generic or their own make (don't know anything about this stuff), but they seemed very professional and had some good reviews--But it never worked. maybe b/c my system was just too old. who knows. anyway, before I go back to them, I noticed someone on here emphasizing high quality RAM. is that a good source, or what would be? IBM? something else? thanks for any enlightenment.

[smoore]

I use crucial.com RAM

you can also use mushkin or corsair and get high quality OEM RAM.

[mosta]

cool, thanks. so I look and Crucial's price is higher than IBM's. is it better?

edit: also, what does OEM mean? "original equipment manufacturer"? so this is from the same manufacturer as what IBM sells in the box? is it refurb or used?

[terrapin314]

dealram

[NateDog]

Crucial's is guaranteed to work. Nothing like plugging in a new stick, and not having it work cause your box is old and lame . . . . or is that just me before the media center?

[mosta]

some of the dealers match my system with PC2100, but IBM and other sites give it as PC133. they're not interchangeable are they?