MacBook 2008 (MB402) - is it worth updating?

flameproof said:

Hola,

we need a notebook for school and have an old MacBook around, which is a bit sluggish and still uses Leopard O/S. I wounder if it's worth updating, maybe with an SSD - or if possible with a later version of the Mac/OS.

It's most likely 2.1GHz, 1Gb, 120Gb

What you recommend, and what's technically possible with minimal cost?

Whould a 120Gb SSD make sense?

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Get 4GB of RAM and a 120GB SSD. You can then install Mac OS X 10.7 Lion on it, and it will keep you going for another couple of years at minimal cost.

flameproof said:

Thanks! But can it run Lion? On the Apple page it said:

• MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer)

Mine seems early 2008 (white plastic)

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Not to be rude.. but it kind of tells you right there. If it's the Late 2008 model or above then yes. But anything before that no.. You can upgrade to Snow Leopard tho.

AppleFanatic10 said:

Not to be rude.. but it kind of tells you right there. If it's the Late 2008 model or above then yes. But anything before that no.. You can upgrade to Snow Leopard tho.

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You are wrong, Lion will run on an early 2008 core 2 duo. I am posting using an early 2008 black macbook running Lion. Mountain Lion will not.

To the OP upgrade the ram to 4GB and a 120GB SSD is a good upgrade.

Interesting, because my dad's 2006 black MacBook (2.0 C2D, 4Gb ram) runs lion, but he prefers SL.

I've just done a similar thing with my 2009 MacBook. You can see the results of the 4gb RAM and SSD in my thread.

You're getting an SSD for a 2008 MacBook? You might as well keep the money and save it up for the Air. I think it's not worth it. Too little performance for too much money.

Blackberryroid said:

You're getting an SSD for a 2008 MacBook? You might as well keep the money and save it up for the Air. I think it's not worth it. Too little performance for too much money.

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What horrible advice. You honestly think the OP should spend 10x more on a new computer instead? A 128GB SSD is only around $100.

For the OP: I put a Crucial M4 SSD in my late 2006 Macbook (which is running Lion) and I'm happy with it. It's more than enough for typical light use (web stuff, itunes, MS office, etc). It's well worth the money, especially considering that you only need 128GB or smaller.

With an SSD plus 4GB of RAM, that computer will feel like a brand new machine.

flameproof said:

I am clear about the RAM, PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz should work. 4Gb is max, or?

What SSD you suggest? 120Gb is sufficient. Even smaller would be OK, I don't plan mp3 or video storage. Just a school notebook for the boy.

How would I install Lion on a blank SSD?

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Yes PC2-5300 DDR2, max is 4GB matched pair if you want to enjoy the benefit of a dual channel RAM, otherwise 6GB (2GB + 4GB) PC2-5300 DDR2 for maximum RAM.

I have a 120 Intel320 on mine, and never regretted it.

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Blackberryroid said:

You're getting an SSD for a 2008 MacBook? You might as well keep the money and save it up for the Air. I think it's not worth it. Too little performance for too much money.

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Compare the price between a 2010 MBA and an SSD upgrade. He can get a 120 GB SSD for less than $100.

mslide said:

What horrible advice. You honestly think the OP should spend 10x more on a new computer instead? A 128GB SSD is only around

For the OP: I put a Crucial M4 SSD in my late 2006 Macbook (which is running Lion) and I'm happy with it. It's more than enough for typical light use (web stuff, itunes, MS office, etc). It's well worth the money, especially considering that you only need 128GB or smaller.

With an SSD plus 4GB of RAM, that computer will feel like a brand new machine.

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Not exactly. That GeekBench score wouldn't match a MacBook Air. And it's worth getting a new one 10x the price. The performance increase is just staggering. I have a 2010 MacBook Pro, even the Air beats the crap out of it. What more for a 2008 MacBook? It's definitely faster.

I say, go get the Air.

flameproof said:

From my personal experience it takes about the same time to write an email, or read a webpage. For normal school use a Macbook should be fine. I am not a 'the-kids-must-have-the-best-and-latest' believer.

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So, you're a normal school user. I was assuming that you use Photoshop, Illustrator, XCODE, Dreamweaver, Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, Motion, Logic Pro, Fruity Loops, VMWare, you know. Stuffs like that.

But if you really are just an ordinary user (a user that only needs a netbook), you don't even need an SSD. HDD will do just fine.

flameproof said:

From my personal experience it takes about the same time to write an email, or read a webpage. For normal school use a Macbook should be fine. I am not a 'the-kids-must-have-the-best-and-latest' believer.

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I fully agree with you.

Now to counter the poster above;

New Macbook Air = $1500, (top of the line) Geekbench = 7000 let's assume, it is already too high
Old '08 Macbook 2.4 = $350 (net from ebay minus fees), SSD plus RAM upgrade = $200, total $550, Geekbench = 3739 (my score)

Let's do the math;

MBA = 7000/1500 = 4.67 points/$
Macbook = 3739/550 = 6.789 point/$

So which got the highest points per dollar?

And besides it is for the boy who is going to school. We don't need the greatest and the latest when we are still in school. I am a parent and I know what it means to be a parent giving something for his/her children. We always think what is the best for them and the situation, but it does not always equate to be the latest and the greatest.

So to the OP, look out for best deals on Crucial M4 SSD's, 120GB is enough for emails and document writing. I am using my '08 2.4GHz Macbook for my work, I have Photoshop, Illustrator and running two VM's on it.