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2010 White Unibody + SSD + 16gb ram

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easyryder2oo4

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 30, 2012
4
0
Hello all,

I am in search of a used macbook (I currently have the macbook 2,1 version - currently runs great for my needs but definitely is starting to show it's age!) and was thinking of getting the 2010 white macbook unibody mc516LL/A (7,1). I can get it used for approximately $350, and was thinking of upgrading it to an SSD + 16gb ram once I get it. I know it's a core 2 duo, but I don't know if i should just spend a couple more hundred dollars and get a used i5 macbook for around $800. I mostly use my laptop for microsoft office, the internet, watching netflix/streaming videos, editing photos, and making home movies. Should I go ahead and buy this or spend a little more and buy an i5 instead? Once I buy the laptop and do the upgrade, it's probably going to cost me around $750. Also, I was wondering if anyone out there has the 2010 macbook with an SSD + 16gb ram combination and how their computer is running.

Thanks in advance for all the help!
 
Last edited:
XoFu

XoFu

macrumors regular
Apr 8, 2013
127
7
easyryder2oo4 said:
Hello all,

I am in search of a used macbook (I currently have the macbook 2,1 version - currently runs great for my needs but definitely is starting to show it's age!) and was thinking of getting the 2010 white macbook unibody mc516LL/A (7,1). I can get it used for approximately $350, and was thinking of upgrading it to an SSD + 16gb ram once I get it. I know it's a core 2 duo, but I don't know if i should just spend a couple more hundred dollars and get a used i5 macbook for around $800. I mostly use my laptop for microsoft office, the internet, watching netflix/streaming videos, editing photos, and making home movies. Should I go ahead and buy this or spend a little more and buy an i5 instead? Once I buy the laptop and do the upgrade, it's probably going to cost me around $750. Also, I was wondering if anyone out there has the 2010 macbook with an SSD + 16gb ram combination and how their computer is running.

Thanks in advance for all the help!
Click to expand...

A month ago I opted to buy a 2010 MBW and install 16G of RAM and a samsung evo ssd (250 GB). I use it as my personal computer (my professional is a 2013 MBA).
In my case the price difference was much higher, and pricewise it was justified to go with the 2010MB (In Europe we do not get such good deals as you guys get in the States in new machines).
Do not get me wrong, the machine runs really well with mavericks and I have zero complains, but I'm aware I'm working with a 4 year old computer.
If I was in your shoes I would consider to spend the extra money for a new machine to at least get the standard guarantee of new stuff, in case things take the wrong turn...
Just my 2 cents
Good luck
X
 
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brdeveloper

brdeveloper

macrumors 68030
Apr 21, 2010
2,629
313
Brasil
It's like comparing apples and oranges. The MBW + SSD + 16GB will be a virtual machine workhorse and also will do very well handling big raw images and video files. Of course, it will process stuff slower than the 2012 cMBP (the cMBP is around 2-2.5x as fast). The HD 4000 is just around 55% faster than 320M. If you plan investing even more on your Macbook, maybe you'll prefer the 2012 cMBP.

There isn't an easy answer, but it seems that you're not doing anything really intensive in terms of RAM and I/O, so maybe you'd be better with the 2012 cMBP.
 
brdeveloper

brdeveloper

macrumors 68030
Apr 21, 2010
2,629
313
Brasil
easyryder2oo4 said:
Also, I was wondering if anyone out there has the 2010 macbook with an SSD + 16gb ram combination and how their computer is running.
Thanks in advance for all the help!
Click to expand...

I have a Mac Mini 2010 which shares the same specs as the 2010 13" MBP. I use it mainly for running longer tasks which I need keeping the machine turned on for a day long. It has 16GB and a 480GB SSD. I also have an Unibody 2009 MBW with 8GB and a 250GB SSD. They both look as fast as my rMBP when I'm browsing, watching movies or reading/writing text, presentations, etc.

You'll note the differences on tasks that require a lot of RAM or a lot of processing power. The MBW will be limited at SATAII rates (~270MB/s) while at SATAIII it can surpass 500MB/s.
 
capathy21

capathy21

macrumors 65816
Jun 16, 2014
1,418
617
Houston, Texas
easyryder2oo4 said:
Hello all,

I am in search of a used macbook (I currently have the macbook 2,1 version - currently runs great for my needs but definitely is starting to show it's age!) and was thinking of getting the 2010 white macbook unibody mc516LL/A (7,1). I can get it used for approximately $350, and was thinking of upgrading it to an SSD + 16gb ram once I get it. I know it's a core 2 duo, but I don't know if i should just spend a couple more hundred dollars and get a used i5 macbook for around $800. I mostly use my laptop for microsoft office, the internet, watching netflix/streaming videos, editing photos, and making home movies. Should I go ahead and buy this or spend a little more and buy an i5 instead? Once I buy the laptop and do the upgrade, it's probably going to cost me around $750. Also, I was wondering if anyone out there has the 2010 macbook with an SSD + 16gb ram combination and how their computer is running.

Thanks in advance for all the help!
Click to expand...

750 is a ton to invest in a computer that will already be almost 5 years old. You could probably pick up a used or refurbished 2013 Macbook Air for just a few bucks more than 750 with 8gb of ram and PCIe based SSD. You would get much better battery life, portability, power, and it would be supported for much longer.
 
TacticalDesire

TacticalDesire

macrumors 68020
Mar 19, 2012
2,286
23
Michigan
I wouldn't sink more than $300 into the computer max unless you have another machine you can sink the parts into later. For $750 you can get a refurb macbook air last time I saw on apples website.
 
p3ntyne

p3ntyne

macrumors 6502
Jan 10, 2014
406
3
Sydney, Australia
Since you are only using the laptop for basic things (apart from some light video/photo work), is 16 Gb's RAM even necessary. On you MB 2,1, go to activity monitor, perform your everyday tasks and see if the memory pressure every gets to orange or red.

Hence, I would suggest a 2011 or 2012 cMBP, with the base i5, 4 Gb's of RAM (since it's upgradeable, it'll be no problem if you need 8 or 16 in the future) and an SSD that is big enough yet not too expensive.

I have found, for example, a MBP (2011) w/ 2.3GHz i5, 4Gb's @ 1333MHz and 320 Gb HDD for US$580 (I'm presuming that's your currency.) Then, add a 250 Gb SSD (you may need more or less) for US$137 and you have a better computer for $717.
 
E

easyryder2oo4

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 30, 2012
4
0
Thanks everyone for the input! As most people pointed out, I think I'm going to just wait and save up for either an I5 or I7 cMBP. I went ahead and bought a 256gb ssd drive though. At least I can use that on my future laptop and it can help speed up my current 2,1 white macbook (I'm getting tired of seeing the beach ball when I'm multi tasking! Lol) I'm not really interested in buying a macbook air since you can't really upgrade it (eg. adding more RAM), and that's why I would rather buy a cMBP. The very first macbook air with the C2D was actually my very first macbook but didn't like it due to the reason mentioned above. The battery life on it was amazing tho! I ended up selling the macbook air and downgraded to the white macbook I have now since I needed money for school at the time. :(

----------
p3ntyne said:
Since you are only using the laptop for basic things (apart from some light video/photo work), is 16 Gb's RAM even necessary. On you MB 2,1, go to activity monitor, perform your everyday tasks and see if the memory pressure every gets to orange or red.

Hence, I would suggest a 2011 or 2012 cMBP, with the base i5, 4 Gb's of RAM (since it's upgradeable, it'll be no problem if you need 8 or 16 in the future) and an SSD that is big enough yet not too expensive.

I have found, for example, a MBP (2011) w/ 2.3GHz i5, 4Gb's @ 1333MHz and 320 Gb HDD for US$580 (I'm presuming that's your currency.) Then, add a 250 Gb SSD (you may need more or less) for US$137 and you have a better computer for $717.
Click to expand...

P3ntyne.....where did u find the 2011 MBP for US$580? Most places I've found sell them in the $800 range.
 
p3ntyne

p3ntyne

macrumors 6502
Jan 10, 2014
406
3
Sydney, Australia
easyryder2oo4 said:
P3ntyne.....where did u find the 2011 MBP for US$580? Most places I've found sell them in the $800 range.
Click to expand...

I found them around that price on eBay although they are not new. I would guess that you wouldn't mind a used model since that is what you were looking for in your first post. (They are Buy It Now BTW.)

And, you made a good decision. You will be much happier with a cMBP than the ageing, outdated MacBook that you were originally looking for. I have a cMBP with an SSD and the only thing that really lets it down (only slightly though) is the screen.

EDIT: After scrolling through eBay for a few minutes, I just found one for $275 because it had no hard drive. Perhaps that could be a consideration.
 
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