bigredmachine said:
..the guy said that it was the memory stick, and that it couldnt be replaced...
It's likely not the memory stick, and if it was, it surely could be replaced! hehe.
More than likely, you have the same problem I described is a short on the bottom plane of the motherboard (zt's commonly have this issue). This basically invalidates the use of bottom devices, which in your case seems to be just a memory stick in the bottom slot.
You can likely run 512mb on your laptop, but you'll have to toss your memory and install it on the top slot only. This is what I did- replace the top 256mb memory stick with a 512mb one and now it works fine with 512mb. Of course, putting any memory in the bottom slot at all (any size) will have the laptop periodically just shut itself off from the short..
Another problem I'm having is that when i close the laptop, it completely chuts off, like its shorting out or something.
Another common problem with these. First thing to do is disable ANY form of software detection on the cover. In Windows, you can set "When I close the lid:" and change this to "Do Nothing"..
If this doesn't cure your problem, you can also simply disable the switch itself as the whole top of the laptop keyboard (with the lid sensor and power/multimedia buttons) is easily removed with a couple screws. You have to remove this to get to the top memory slot as well, so you might just kill two birds with one stone and slap in a 512mb stick in the top slot at the same time hehe. Anyways, there is a small white lead that goes to the case lid switch.. you can either disconnect or cut this, and if cutting be sure to wrap with electrical tape or something non-conductive so the wires dont find eachother ever again.
Great laptops, durable and perform well.. but sheesh, they do have their share of common design issues.
Good luck!