Too long since I've been in the RAM game

shopping for ram for a Dell Inspiron laptop

[Fiver]

I want to upgrade the ram in a Dell Inspiron 1100 notebook.

crucial.com is recommending:
[crucial.com...]
which is: DDR PC2100 • CL=2.5 • Non-parity • DDR266

Now, I would rather shop at the local store, where I can get:
brandname 512MB DDR 266 SO-DIMM 200-pin for notebooks

But no laptop ram at the local store is labeled as PC2100. Is this a fatal flaw? Anyone know if I can mix this with the dell stock 256mb in there already? Will it simply run at the speed of the slower ram?

Any help much appreciated.

[bcolflesh]

Most modern BIOS allow RAM mixing - like you surmised, it will run at the slowest speed - take your laptop w/you to the store and try it there.

[Fiver]

thanks.

I'd come across a worrying post on a raggedy forum somewhere, with a claim that a new Dell laptop wouldn't run any other brand of ram.

I should get it this week and test it immediately, post here with the facts, and hope this outranks whatever forum I found when I had to search myself :)

[Fiver]

update:
Got the laptop, got the cheap ram at the local store. Now humming along nicely with 750.

Dell charges about double the price for ram, and though I was warned the warrenty may be void if I broke in the back, I didn't have to go through any tape/security etc to get the ram in, so I'm likely fine.