<< Crucial is ending they're free shipping offer come july 16th. Is that just a gimmick to have people buy ram in bulksome now to avoid shipping charges later? Does crucial offer free shipping often and does anyone know if they'll be offering it again by the end of the summer? How much cheaper are ram prices going to drop - shud i just buy it now? your thoughts plz. >>
They pulled the free shipping promo before, and soon reinstated it. If Micron wants to keep their factories humming, they'll have to be price-competitive to move inventory. So one can only speculate as to whether they'll again offer free shipping, but it should be considered likely.
As for when to buy RAM, the best answer is always when you need it. Sure, there are super deals now and then that might influence you, but component prices generally head downward (as long as the product is still in full production). If you look at their price charts, 32 MB and 64 MB PC133 SDRAM costs in the $15 - $20 range. Chances are that will be the lower limit for 128 MB and 256 MB modules in the future as well. By that time, DDR and RDRAM should be more popular.
The threat of a RAM undersupply leading to prices going back up is quite unlikely unless a miracle happens to the currently-stagnating PC industry.