laptop ram installation question

[VirusSyn]

Hi,
I have dell latitude d610 laptop, I was jsut wondering is it a bad idea to run memory sticks of differnt sizes in there. I currently have a 512mb in there. I have 1 gig on the way. should I sell the 512 and run 2x1gb ddr pc4200 in dual channel. Or is 1.5gb ok too, just not in dual channel, which really isnt a huge deal.

[itsmypostoffice]

some laptops are more finicky than others. ibooks & thinkpads come to mind because they actually publish a "recommend" list for compatibility. you can always mix different capacities and they'll run fine if they're the same speed. buying from the same lot will decrease chances of failure. 1.5GB or 2GB? unless you're into photo-editing or encoding there's few noticeable differences. also, your mobo has to offer dual channel capability in order to benefit from identical sodimms.

[llbeanburrito]

Postal guy is right. Just make sure both sticks are PC4200 if you want to run at DDR2 533. If the old stick is DDR2 400 then both will default to 400. You can mix sizes - anything from 256MB to 1GB. You are dual channel capable though so if you want to run dual channel it is best to get a matched pair.