Samsung Q1 goes under the knife again: more RAM is the diagnosis
Well, since my two week return actually expired yesterday, it looks like I’m keeping the Samsung Q1 UMPC. I’ll have a full review and my reasoning as soon as I can. I actually thought my 14-days expired today, but James set me straight via a Skype video chat this morning. It was actually difficult to understand him because he was using the Sony UX; the conversation was in Japanese with English subtitles. 
So "Sammy" went under the knife again. This time it wasn’t just to see his private parts, it was to upgrade his memory from 512 MB to 1 GB of DDR2 RAM. You can see by my snipping here that he was only functioning with half his capable memory, so a planned purchase from last week that was sitting in a box was the ticket. Just why do they need a 1 cubic foot box for a small RAM module, anyway? Well, that’s besides the point: if you’re a faithful watcher of E.R. or just want to know how to upgrade the RAM on a Q1, this one’s for you.
BEFORE I BEGIN: if you decide to upgrade your Sammy, you’re on your own in terms of liability meaning: don’t blame me if something breaks! I’m sure that the warranty is void as well, so keep that in mind when making this choice.
DISCLAIMER #2: I didn’t think to boot into the AVS Station software after the upgrade, but Ramon did. He reports that the Windows XP Embedded side doesn’t boot after the upgrade and I confirmed the same behavior. I’ll be researching, but in the meantime, you should be aware of this issue.
You’ll need a small Philips-head screwdriver and a 1 GB DDR2-533 SODIMM, 200-pin replacement chip which can easily be found online. At the time of this writing, expect to pay between $108 and $185 for this. The first step is to make sure the device is powered down, unplugged and has the battery removed. Then, carefully remove the six screws that I’ve highlighted below.
Once the screws are removed, the back cover of the case can be removed. Be very careful as there are two small "teeth", one on the left side and one the right side that keep the front and back together. Don’t rush this step. Once you’ve removed the back case, you’ll see the 512 MB RAM module in the center of Sammy’s guts.
See the two silver clips, one on each side of the RAM chip? Those are what keep the SODIMM module held in place. Carefully slide each clip away from the module, from inside to outside. Don’t be alarmed when the RAM chip pops up at a 45-degree angle; the clips are what hold it down, so this is expected.
Now the the 512 MB module is sticking up, carefully slide it out at the same angle from the memory bank. Once removed, you simply reverse the instructions by sliding the 1 GB module in at an angle, gently press it down flat against Sammy and move the silver clips back in place to hold it down. Once completed, you’ll see your 1 GB memory module in place and you can carefully replace the cover.
After all of the screws are back in place and Sammy is one piece again, you can replace the battery and or plug in the AC adapter. Once Sammy has a power source, just boot back up; there’s no need to make any adjustments in the BIOS as the Q1 and Windows XP will automatically identify and use the additional memory as evidenced by the below snipping after boot-up.
Although I haven’t benchmarked anything yet, the Samsung Q1 appears to respond a little snappier with the extra RAM. Keep in mind that the Intel graphics will use up to 128 MB of memory from your RAM module, so without the upgrade, there could be times where you’re running apps with a maximum of 384 MB of RAM; not an ideal amount of memory for running Windows XP Tablet Edition and a few apps concurrently. One other note; I booted into my Windows Vista partition after the upgrade. Previously, Vista was understandably sluggish on the Q1; with the extra memory, I see a marked difference in the response time of the new OS, so I may end up doing additional testing in that area. Watch for updates.
Since I had the case cracked open and some folks asked for additional pics the last time, here are some more, in no particular order for you sick-o’s.
-kct
I am so tempted to do this, as I have notice a bit of sluggishness. BUT, I purchased the additional warranty from Best Buy as well, and after paying $249 for that, I’d hate to void it. Do you think that warranty would be voided as well or just the Samsung one?
I’m planning on doing this upgrade when my Q1 arrives. Best Buy was to have shipped mine out today for delivery tomorrow (which I confirmed by phone this morning), but I just checked for a tracking number and it’s now showing backordered. Yet another Best Buy disappointment. The good news is that CDW has more than 100 units in stock, so I’ll hopefully still have my Q1 by Monday.
Kevin, you got cheated out of .01 MB of RAM! I’d take it out and send it back.
Actually, what I neglected to tell everyone is that I didn’t get the Q1 model; I got the Q.99 so it actually makes sense.
No wonder AVS doesn’t work then.
Matt- Just do in store pick up! That’s what I did. Before they even had them in store they had them in the back waiting to put them out.
WHERE?!?!
if you set the video ram to 128,in the bio’s it runs a lot better.does anyone know how to get av now to work after the ram upgrade. and does every thing work in windows vista?
I managed to get AVS working last night with a 1GB upgrade.
You’ll need a usb keyboard and whilst it tries to boot AVS just press F8 then select the option to delete settings or similar.
One problem I did have tho was I messed around in the Bios and enabled boot sector write protection. This meant I could no longer boot Windows it always ran AVS, no matter which way I pushed the powerswitch.
Steve.
Can anyone comment on the increase in performance? Dynamism has the upgraded unit for $300 more. Is the price increase worth the performance boost?
The Price is not worth it, from Dynamism,You can get the same rame on the internet for under $100.00 Check on Pricegrabber.com
AV Station now, I got it to work by Reinstalling AVS Now not The OS,and if the screen rotation stops woking reinstall the video card drivers.
Sweeeeet! I was going to wait until after I went on vacation next week, but that darn 1GB memory chip was just spitting at me saying “I dare ya”. So, I disected my Q1 and upgraded the memory to 1GB. I figured I’d try the simple things first to get AVS to work before I did a system restore. Well, I have totally awesome news. After installing the new DIMM, I booted into AVS and pressed F8. The options were to boot normally or to delete AVS restoration data. Of course I told it to delete the restoration data and everything works! Screen rotation works as well. Thanks Dimitrios! Oh, and thanks to you Kevin for sharing your pioneer efforts (ie, taking one for the team)
Awesome news Stu! Glad it worked out of you.
Kevin, you inspired me-thanks! http://www.geekblog.org/?p=13
Cool Brian and welcome to the Q1 club! I’ll be watching the new blog for updates on your experiences…
Did the upgrade tonight. Worked flawlessly. Love the Q1 now that it can breathe easier. Thanks for the easy info on how to do it. For those that do it after me, listen to what is said above. When you take the back off it will make a sound that sounds like something small broke. Be carefull. Do it slowly. All will be great in the end.
Fred
OK, I finally joined the “people of the RAM”. I just came back from CompUSA where I paid too much for 1GB chip ($119) just because it was there. I had no trouble getting the cover off and pushing F8 during the AVS Now boot-up fixed that problem. Wow! what a difference! Can you say “zippy”? Thanks for the tips on how to make this upgrade!
I just went to Fry’s here in Las Vegas to pay $1100 for a Q1 but the assistant came out with a box labelled at $1299 – when I queried the price he realized that he had the new Pentium version. As I had already picked up a $100 DDR2 to upgrade it, I put the memory back on the shelf and I snapped up the new Q1 – Pentium based with 1GB pre-installed and a 60GB drive – I’m as happy as larry
My wife has the Sony Vaio UX180 which is nice but the screen is too small for my eyes.
I wonder if I can get a Sprint Aircard that fits in a CF slot?
Steve, now that is one great marriage! Two gadget geeks in love!
I don’t know how I posted that 3 times. Spooky!
Help – I want to do this upgrade but I am confused by all the different chips – which one(s) will work? I know I need a 1 GB DDR2-533 SODIMM, 200-pin – but I am especially confused by the different chips – even from the same company that match this spec.
A search at Kingston says to use their M12864E40 chip which matches the above spec but doesn’t give further details.
Another chip – which I can get much cheaper – is the Kingston KVR533D2S4/1G – it matches the above spec and lists more details – stuff I don’t know much about. Can I use this chip?
Here’s the fuller description of this chip: Standard 128M X 64 Non-ECC 533MHz 200-pin Unbuffered SODIMM (SDRAM-DDR2, 1.8V, CL4)
Thanks for any help!
I have the kingston 1G SODIMM M12864E40. All was fine before the BIOS update. First it hung the update process, and went into a blue screen reset loop. Then i change the old 512MB back and it booted fine. I grabbed the chance and complete the BIOS flash. Everything checked out fine, so I pop back the 1G ROM then its the blue screen again. Is the new BIOS preventing the ROM upgrade?
Kingston indicates that this memory module is compatible with the Q1. If it were me, I’d contact Kingston directly and see what they have to say, although it’s concerning that this worked before the BIOS upgrade. I’ve upgraded my BIOS and my 1GB is working fine. You might need Samsung support to get involved as well on this one.
Thanks Kevin for the pics and info. After seeing them I updated mine too. However… I was a little lazy and didn’t have a phillips head handy, so I used a flat head. I screwed up the grooves on the top of the screw, and couldn’t get it out at all. So, I found a phillips for the other ones. Since the one I screwed up was in the top corner, I could bend up the case every so gently, enough to get the old chip out and new one in OK without cracking the case. However for the rest of you out there… this memory upgrade is easy to do but harder if you are lazy
I haven’t run any benchmarks either, but it definitely is faster to respond…
Richard
I have successfully upgraded my own Samsung Q1 to 1Gb using the following chip:
Corsair ValueSelect 1Gb SO-DIMM, DDR2-533
Fitting was simple and straight forward.
I’ve been monitoring the temp so far so good.
Only recently came across this site and I have been ploughing through the PodCasts. Great listening, keep up the good work.
Help!!!! Ive cracked my screen on my Q1 and need advice as to wear to purchase a replacement…… Help!!!!
Made the upgrade and all works well except my external monitor will no longer connect…any ideas?
Doug, you will need to reinstall the video drivers and you should be good to go…
I have a Samsung Q1, I noticed that a person named Sears from this site has broken the screen & has torn apart his Q1, What I like to know is the Q1 CPU replacable? Is it possible to upgrade the CPU to the Pentium M 1.0GHZ chip(723) socket 479 to make it like its new counter part(Q1).
Thanks for the easy to follow how to. I didn’t want to tear up my new Q1. Your directions make it almost too easy.
I upgrade my Q1 whit a centon memory whit the same spec. of the kington. my Q1 now is running. I buy in compusa in 160.00
Id also like to know if its possible to upgrade the CPU?
Just a warning to others who try this. When lifting the back off the unit be sure the silver piece at the top of the unit (the part with the power switch) remains with the face rather than lifting with the back. It has clips on both sides (at least on my Q1B it does) so it can go either way. If it lifts with the back the power switch assembly sort of falls apart. It’s not that hard to put it back together, but my heart stopped for a moment! Otherwise, it worked just as described.
What or how do you reload the avs portion
has anyone put vista on their 1gb version and if so does it run slow and can you do aero on it. thanks.
Ram type Kingston KVR533D2S4/1G no funktion, tested.
I spotted this deal on Bensbargains.net: ChiefValue.com has the Transcend JetRam 1GB PC2 5300 DDR2 SODIMM Memory for $65 + $4 shipping = $69 shipped.
The listing says “Transcend JetRam 1GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Notebook Memory”. Will 667 work or does it HAVE to be 533? If anyone can have a look, I’d love to jump on this great deal!
http://bensbargains.net/redirect/21618
Anybody find fault with this logic?
From a reputable IT guy:
From what I can see, it appears that the DDR2 667mhz RAM should work with the device.
With most devices, it all comes down to whatever the mainboard will support. If the board inside the device will support reading the memory at 667, then it will…if it only supports 533, it should clock the 667 down to 533 and run it at that speed. If that’s the case, you won’t get any performance boost by buying the 667, but if it’s cheaper, then go for it.
hi has anyone tried to upgrade hard drive yet?
can we now look into doing this, there must be a larger compatable drive available
I wish someone could respond to this. Ben’s has more great deals on DDR2 SODIMMs. Guess I’ll just have to buy one and find out.
The theory that faster memory should work but at the slower speed is a sound theory, however, there’s no way to be 100% sure without trying it. If there’s a liberal return policy, it would be a no-brainer to try. Again, in theory, this SHOULD work although you won’t get the advantage of the full memory speed; it will drop down to what the board supports. I think the hesitancy in responding is that nobody wants to see you pay for the memory or be responsible in the unlikely event that it won’t work. If you’re just looking for an opinion to: should this work? my answer would be yes, it should.
Thank you, Kevin, for responding. My 1GB of RAM arrived today $72.24 shipped from Frys.com.
Let me ask you this: What made you decide to go with 533 when it ships with 400 MHz?
Gunderstorm, I used Kingston’s memory configuration site last summer and that’s the memory module / speed they recommended. Hope your upgrade went well!
The Corsair RAM (DDR2 1GB PC5300 SO-DIMM 667MHz) that I bought from Frys works perfectly. Thanks for the hand-holding, Kevin, and for breaking the ground for all of us to get the most out of our machines.
I too am looking to replce the Hard Drive on my Q1 – I have the Q1B and the HD maske this annoying noise (I believe its the cache clearing on the drive) so I want to find a decent, quiet replacement. I opened the Q1 and its smaller than a 2.5″ HD – anyone know the size?
Scrif, the drive is 1.8-inches in size.
As the Q1B uses the vx700 chipset which supports max 4GB in 2 memory modules, (vs the Intel 915 GMS in the Q1 which only supports 2GB in 2 modules), anyone think of a good reason why a 2GB SO-DIMMM would not work in the Q1B ?
(I don’t really want to spend $$$ to find out I am mising something obvious !)
Latest Popular Science article showed Q1P w/ a new 32 gb flash memory. Anyone heard of an upgrade for it?
OK- this just isn’t right.. Following the directions precisely, I opened the cover and replaced the 512 RAM with a Samsung OEM 1GB (PC2-4200S). Rebooted, reached the desktop, then experienced the joy of a blue screen. The BSOD disappeared after only a second or so as the Q1 rebooted. The Q1 liked it so much that now it’s doing it every time- log in, see desktop, see desktop turn into BSOD, reboot. Retrograding to the 512 RAM puts an end to the joyride. Any ideas? What did I miss?
I’m about to get a Q1B. Would love to know what specification I need (PC5300, etc) and whether it would take a 2GB chip as Dave26 asked… Thanks!
Great help everybody – new 1GB module in and windows XP working fine. AVS is not booting (as expected) but I’m unclear as to how to get to the set up screen to delete the settings – I’m using the Q1 additional keyboard (which I assume counts as a ‘USB keyboard’) but despite pressing F8 at various time cannot get into the bootup.
Every time, the splash screen (AVStation Now) comes up – offering me the chance to press the menu button for set up and ‘u3′ for network boot, followed by the mono screen ‘Starting AVS Now…’ with the progress bar at the bottom. Once this reaches the right hand edge of the screen, the system locks up and no matter what I do, before or after, it freezes until I shut dow the q1 with the power button.
All help appreciated as I assume I’m doing something really obvious wrong
Ram: I presume the PC5300 ram is running at 533MHz when fitted and not 667? I also heard vista can make use of flash memory when ram is low? So would it be beneficial to have a CF card in at all times?
Hard Disk: Anyone know if its possible to get a ssd to fit in this device?
Would it be useful if I posted benchmarks when i attempt upgrading?
I was surprised at the difference the memory upgrade made. My app + windoz uses about
650 MB so perhaps I should not have been. I suppose the answer should be as always
windoz == more memory
I’ve a question though; my Q1 has the compact flash slot. Has anyone tried using
this and benchmarking the speed delta over the regular HD, not the SSD?
I’d gladly pay for the CF to get a real performance upgrade.
Thanks again!!
–jc
Back again, I installed a 8G CF and while I did not bench mark my app I can say the CF writes compared to the USB 2.0 are sloooow. I suspect the flash used for CF flash cards (I used 133x) is to slow to be of any real use here. But I have found a USB 2.0 flash drive and I think I’ll get curious and try the app on that soon, so stay tuned. The read times are 22 MB and write times are 11 MB/Sec so this should be more acceptable. I have to believe there will be a big difference on running the DB app because of the seek time on the conventional drive.
–jc
Any one used samsung 1GB DDR2 667 PC 5300 for lap top? how to test it and what motherboard/CPU will it work with?
Thanks
After all this time, I finally worked up the courage to drop a 1GB stick into my old Q1. (Partly because it’s off-warranty now anyway.) Getting the case off was a bit finicky, but everything else was easy. HUGE improvement in performance… though the unit still can’t quite handle 720p/5.1 video without stuttering, it can handle anything less without breaking a sweat. Standby and resume are much faster now, too. This is the Q1 Samsung should’ve shipped.
I can now vouch for the KVR533D2SO/1GR Kingston Tech chip… especially since it’s only $67 at the moment.
— Steve
Hey quick question for the Q1B owners. Are there actually warranty stickers that cover up screw holes? (ie Can I open the unit up without ripping any stickers/labels?) I really want this device but I know 512mb ram will drive me crazy. But I want to get the warranty as well. Thanks.
-Nancy
Hi Nancy,
I didn’t see any warranty void stickers at all on my Q1 screw holes. There is a spot of glue thread lock on the bottom of each screw, but they seat into metal sockets, so there really isn’t any potential to damage them.
The only fiddly part are the tabs (I had one on each side) And separating the two case halves. Be gentle.
Has anyone tried to replace the 1.8 in hard drive yet? I upgraded the memory…Thanks to everyone that posted…I am just curious how difficult it will be…
Thanks
Ted
Just thought I’d thank you for posting this roadmap for upgrading the RAM on the Q1. We picked up a Kingston KVR667D2SO/1GR module at our neighborhood Fry’s for “Tiny” today and with the aid of this piece, had the upgrade performed in under 30 minutes, making sure we were extremely cautious about those clips.
Best $35 we’ve ever spent. The difference in boot speed was astounding. The Q1 now specs out better than the notebook issued by the company.
Have a Q1, just wondering if anyone has upgraded the memory to 2 gig? as Kingston now has the KVR667D2S5/2G
Should work fine with a BIOS update: http://jkontherun.blogs.com/jkontherun/2007/05/2gb_of_ram_in_a.html
i jsut tried the upgrade an i can hear the hard drive click on, and there a blue light on the bottom….but the screen does not turn on….same things happen when i put the original memory in…i have a q1b
HI
i installed successfuly a 1GB Adata PC-533 PC Ram module at my Q1 900.
I tried to boot in the AVS sattion but the first time it didn’t work….. Then i re-installed the AVStation, whith the restore cd and voila i can boot to the AV ^^
Do 2 GB work now with the Q1 900 ?
BR0KK: you can successfully upgrade and use 2 GB of RAM in the Q1 with the 900 MHz Celeron.
Hey thats great news
.
Im going to by 2x 2 GB for my “old” Laptop and than i can try to upgrade the Mennory ^^
Do i have to Update the Firmware on My Q1?
You can certainly try it with your current firmware to see; if it doesn’t work, just swap the 1 GB SODIMM back, upgrade your firmware and swap modules again. I’d nearly always recommend having the lastest BIOS / firmware updates on a device unless there’s a known issue with them, of course.
Thank you guys, I had the booting problem on AVS Mode. It would get stuck every time after the horizontal grey bar would fill up.
I pressed the F8 key during the mentioned screen (using the Q1 usb keyboard), erased the restore point and LISTO!!! works perfect now.
Thanks again,
Adrian
For those of you who have wondered about a 2gig memory upgrade and also how to get AVS Now working, here you go.
I did some reading and figured out the problem.
The default installation of AVS Now creates a dedicated partition of 2gig.
Unfortunately, AVS Now when first launched creates a cache file equal to and maybe greater than the amount of physical RAM installed on the Q1.
As you can imagine, once you have installed 2gig of RAM, AVS Now cannot function, as its trying to install a +2gig cache file into a partition that is not big enough.
The way around it is this.
1. Download the GPARTED Live CD from this url:
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/
2. Burn the Live CD image to CD with a utility that will allow ISO burning.
3. Ensure that you have the BIOS upgrade to allow the running of a 2gig memory upgrade.
4. Make sure you have done a full back up of your partition info and disk contents.
5. Install the Memory.
6. Boot your Samsung Q1 with the GPARTED Live CD you created at step 2.
7. Resize your partitions. I made the AVS Now Partition 6gig to be on the safe side.
You might need to decrease your primary (windows) partition in order to enlarge the AVS Now partition. Click on apply changes and wait for about 1 hour-ish.
8. Once complete, do a normal re-boot into windows. This will allow windows to acknowledge changes to the disk structure, then shut down.
9. Reboot with the AVS Now Restore disk.
10. Select “restore AVS Now” option. DO NOT REFORMAT!!
11. On completion, reboot. I had to do this 2 times. First time I think is to allow AVS Now to rebuild the cache file.
12. With luck it should all be working fine now and you can boot into windows and AVS Now, mine is! If not, thank god you made that back-up.
Good luck guys.
Anyone know how to reset the BIOS password on the Q1?? How about resetting the BIOS or CMOS??
As I am getting closer to having enough nerve to upgrade the RAM in my Q1, I find that I don’t have a clear picture of one point. Adrian’s step 3 says: “Ensure that you have the BIOS upgrade to allow the running of a 2gig memory upgrade.”
How do I get this BIOS and how would I know in advance exactly what it will allow ?
just installed 2 gig using the above information,
went off without a hitch….I used 2gb sodimm ddr2 667 jetram/transcend.
anyone know if the cpu can be upgraded?
I have a couple of questions about my Q1 and wonder if this the place to ask or whether there are other User Forums for the Q1?
OK here goes.
I have three questions.
First, how does one enable Etiquette Mode to be ON all the time? That is, when the computer boots up each time, to have it ON by default?
Second, what steps need to be taken to boot using a CF card? I don’t see a provision for that in the BIOS.
And finally, why doesn’t the Q1 boot up with my USB flash card with Syslinux/PING, the way it does on my other computers? It just hangs as Syslinux is being loaded.
Thanks!
any new about the 2gb in the q1b??
I successfully installed a 2GB DIMM into a NP-Q1-M000 today with the helpof this guide. Thanks for writing it.
Hi,
I’d like to do this – someone gave me a Q1 without and discs or USB sticks or whatever – and it’s got Linux on it – how do I get back to XP?
I bought a Kingston SODIMM 1GB from Buy.com at a sweet $30. It was a retail package, sealed so looks authentic. But after insterting into my Q1b (yes has most recent BIOS from Sam) and powering on, i get a power light, hard drive spins up. But it doesn’t even post, light up the LCD or beep at me…? I put the other module back in and it starts up fine..
I made sure specs for the memory were the same. Actually I have seen a few posts where users have upgraded their Q1b with exact same part number of memory I have with no issues. I re-flashed my BIOS and even contacted Kingston, who were quick to let me know they don’t support it anymore (had to try)…
I really want 1GB but I’m not sure what the deal is? Any one have any thoughts? *stomps feet like 3 yr old*
hello! I bought Elixir DDR2-667, 2GB RAM for my SAMSUNG NP-Q1 (old model) and it works fine!
Crucial 1GB DDR2-533 SO-DIMM CT12864AC53E works too.
I looking into replacing the Hard Drive on my new Samsung NP-Q1UP Ultra Premium with one of the new SSD drives.
I know that its physical size is 1.8″.
Does anyone know if the drive is PATA or SATA? If I put in a SATA would it be backward compatible?