I'm tired of this argument. My browser is not the only piece of software I'm running. I usually have virtualbox, a compiler, an IDE running. And sometimes some scripts/programs I wrote that does intensive computing on some data set.

Forgive me; your statement does not make sense. First you're implying that all you have to do is get more RAM; then you're admitting that you only have a certain amount, so you should stop using so much.

In actuality, very few non-server PCs can be populated with any more than 16-32 GB. It's not a matter of bother or expense at all. It's a design limit.

Every single time I've driven a non-server PC into hopeless swap thrashing, it's been the damn browser that was the culprit. Don't bother trying to advise me to bookmark 100 open tabs in 10 windows to save space. That is (forgive me) an insult to one's intelligence.

Even more of a problem on laptops since the market has overwhelmingly moved from a technical capabilities standpoint to a race to less weight and more autonomy. Has a result, max memory on high end or configurable models has at best stagnated for a few years. I've a 4 years old laptop with 16GB. It's not yet possible to get that on all flagships laptops today (even though 16GB SODimm is not even expensive anymore).

To be more technically precise, the limit comes from UDIMMs based on 4Gbit DDR3. DDR4 does have 8Gbit chips, but...

No, it's not cheap at all, because buying the physical chips is not the end of it. For some laptops - like macbook air - there is a limit of how much they support, and it's not that high. Some models are not even upgradable - they just have soldered-in 8G and that's it.

> you need to close some tabs

This comment is really not contributing anything to the matter. Obviously everybody could think of closing tabs without you advising to do so, and if they don't, it may be because they want these tabs around. I regularly keep a lot of tabs around because this is my work pattern.

If the available laptops don't support enough ram, then the consumer has spoken, and what they said was that they don't want more ram or 1000 tabs open on their laptop.

Personally I wouldn't buy a laptop that is incapable of supporting the amount of ram that I need for my "work pattern".

I want a laptop of infinite memory, infinite disk space, battery size so big I have to charge it once a decade and that it's cost me $10. But clearly not all consumer wishes are possible. There are some tradeoffs, and one has to operate within the constraints of reality, not wishes.

> Personally I wouldn't buy a laptop that is incapable of supporting the amount of ram that I need for my "work pattern".

Clearly you've got it all figured out. Too bad not everybody can be you, otherwise we wouldn't have any tradeoffs to deal with.

I just mean doing due diligence before you buy something that it will actually be able to do what you intend to use it for. I wouldn't buy a laptop with non-upgradeable and insufficient RAM. I don't think most consumers do that. They just buy a brand name because they can't be bothered learning how it works or what they actually need.

Of course I have tradeoffs to deal with... But yes, I do have it figured out. Thanks.

Student here. Can't afford "cheap" laptop RAM.