Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!unsvax!Alfters.AppleIIe.org
From: alfter@uns-helios.nevada.edu (Scott Alfter)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: an Idle Apple...
Message-ID: <2@Alfters.AppleIIe.org>
Date: 12 Nov 90 06:31:08 GMT
References: <*D$^=0+@rpi.edu> <1990Nov9.195818.26230@helios.physics.utoronto.ca> <14416@smoke.brl.mil> <1990Nov11.125417.16301@helios.physics.utoronto.ca>
Organization: Some wacko whose rn is broken, so he's talking to the NNTP server directly! :-]
Lines: 32

In article <1990Nov11.125417.16301@helios.physics.utoronto.ca>, neufeld@physics.utoronto.ca (Christopher Neufeld) writes:
>caused by a chip other than one of the RAMs. I just figured that I'd got
>a bad batch of chips which had been mishandled between TI and AE. After
>that, though, I recommended to people that they buy their RAM expansions
>unpopulated. You have a better chance of a quick replacement if the

Good luck trying to find empty RAM cards.  The first RAM card I tried for my
computer was a "Super Expander IIe" sold by a company named Nexo Distribution
(or something like that).  $59 for an empty card.  (I picked up 512K in 256Kx1
100ns RAM chips locally.)  It would've been OK if the softswitch to switch
banks was in the right place.  It was supposed to be a RamWorks-compatible
card, but the softswitch to switch banks was at $C071.  (A real RamWorks uses
$C073 to select 64K banks.)  I sent the card back under the money-back
guarantee and placed an order with Quality Computers for a real RamWorks III.
Smallest configuration available was 256K.

Bottom line: if you're interested in brand-name RAM cards, you probably won't
be able to find 'em empty.  (It would be nice, though, as you pay much more
for the factory-installed chips than you'd pay to get your own chips.)  About
all you can do is get the smallest memory configuration possible.  (The
RamWorks III, BTW, is supposed to be available in configurations as small as
64K, but I think you can only get that configuration directly from AE; for
what they want for direct purchases, you could get 256K elsewhere.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott Alfter                             _/_
                                        / v \ Apple II:
Internet: alfter@uns-helios.nevada.edu (    ( the power to be your best!
   GEnie: S.ALFTER                      \_^_/

P.S.: I hope they fix our rn soon; replying to messages this way is a feat for
trained professionals only.  Do not attempt this at home. :-)