I've used compact flash as ram on my PB 5300ce for a couple months now. The machine has 16mb on the logicboard as well as a 16mb ram module for a total of 32mb. The compact flash card stays in the upper slot. For some reason, if I put it in the lower slot the machine ejects it just after it starts (or restarts). I used a 64mb module made by Sandisk. I find it to be very high quality memory.
In terms of performance, having the module inserted makes a slight but noticeable difference. Compact flash, though faster than virtual memory ran off the hard disk, is still slower than actual ram. Seeing that the 5300 series of PowerBooks has some performance limitations anyway, I don't really think maxing out the physical memory would make much of a difference over using compact flash in everyday use. Besides, compact flash is much cheaper than physical ram. I use a 64mb module. It works very well for me. After formatting it with the apple driver, the flash module is read as 55mb. As a VM module, the flash card extends my run time without the AC adapter to nearly 3 hours. I use an abbreviated list of system extensions & control panels, so your performance may differ slightly. I've also tried creating a slim version of the system folder and running the PB off of the flash card. It works well. The runtime of the laptop is increased to over 3 1/2 hours. I can't really run any big programs since the module is acting as both the startup disk and VM disk as well. Perhaps if I had a larger flash card I could have more programs available. If you're looking into using compact flash as a VM disk, I'd recommend you give it a try. CF won't break the bank and it'll give you a needed performance boost. N Gerima [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- PowerBooks is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> PowerBooks list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/powerbooks.shtml> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/powerbooks%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Macintosh? Get free email and more at Applelinks! <http://www.applelinks.com>
