Why is DDR more expensive than DDR2?

Categories: Hardware Posted by William on 3/18/2008 6:00 PM | Comments (3)

I've got 1GB of RAM in my Dell Inspiron 9200, and I could do with a little more memory, especially when running a Virtual Machine along with any other applications on the host OS, which is XP Pro.

When I got my machine 1GB was a good choice, any more than that and DELL would have charged me as much as the price of the laptop again. Unfortunately this memory is configured as 2 512MB SODIMMS, so I'll have to ditch at least one of the modules in order to upgrade.

I got an email from a well known memory supplier this morning and it was offering a discount of £5 on any order over £50. While the discount offer isn't that attractive, I thought I'd check out the current prices anyway.

DDR 1GB SODIMM, £51.69 Including VAT.
DDR2 1GB SODIMM, £14.09 Including VAT.

This price difference seems rather unfair to me and two thoughts sprang to mind. Is DDR memory in short supply due to increased demand resulting from old spec machines sold with Vista or has the manufacturing focus moved onto DDR2 and DDR3 meaning DDR production levels are greatly reduced.

I had a chat with a sales agent from the company and he stated that "as DDR is much older, they have less of it in stock and that's why the prices are higher".

hmm, perhaps I'll just leave it and think about when I replace my current laptop.

Comments

Cel on 3/31/2009 7:43 PM Hi William, I have been trying to find cheaper DDR for one of my laptops which I bought in 2006, so 3 years ago. The price is extremely high compared to DDR2 which one of my newer ones uses. I have searched on the net a lot today and find the price pretty much the same as you did a year ago. I find this maddening as I don't want to have to buy yet another laptop to replace this one as everything else about it is ok, I just need a bit more RAM.
I appreciate that DDR are probably no longer made but I think the IT manufacturers need to take some responsibility here as it seems crazy to just 'throw away' a laptop. This creates such a lot of waste. They need to consider the design for backwards compatibility a bit I think and see if this is more possible.
William on 5/30/2009 7:37 PM I'm certain that DDR memory is still being made, since you can still buy it and we still need it. Personally, I'm not convinced it has anything to do with stock or availability levels. I'd say it has more to do with the fact that those of us with older machines need more memory for newer operating systems. People buying machines today have more memory to start with and don't need the upgrade.

We're being exploited!
WilliamW on 3/14/2010 12:24 PM Just checked the DDR prices again, looks like 1GB of DDR is about £41 at the moment with 1GB of DDR2 at £21. Still not good enough Frown
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