Macbook Reliability Record

[.mmon]

So - I've had a Macbook for 3.5 years now. I love it but I haven't had it long enough (Past apple care) to comfortably ask this question.

I'll be going to dental school soon and I'll need a laptop that will last me at least 4 years. Currently, I have a Macbook 5,1 (Macbook - late 2008 Aluminum Unibody) and I need a second opinion on what would be the smartest thing to do.

1. Keep the Macbook as is and wait until it dies - then just buy a new one. (This will probably happen in dental school because I'll either need more drive space or it'll just die on me)

2. Upgrade the Macbook. I've already upgraded the 2gb RAM to 8gb. The next steps would be to get a SSD - looking at the OWC Mercury Electra 3g (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1388966) or the OCZ Vertex 3 (The OWC looks like a better fit - I'm going to put the SSD in my optical drive) ~ $200 and to replace my trackpad ~ $40 (No more apple care </3). So total investment $300. The thing is, will this setup last me through dental school?

Personally, I'm leaning towards #2 because I think the Macbook will be reliable, but I need a second opinion. If I go the #1 route (Highly unlikely unless you guys think this is smart), I'd probably buy the new 13in Macbook Air and use the Macbook 5,1 as a desktop.

So.. thoughts?

[ProwlingTiger]

Go with Option No. 2

I have an early-2008 Macbook and I have been having thoughts about it as well. But it just keeps going. I doubled my RAM in it recently as I had a friend needing to offload some, so I got it rather cheap.

I was going to sell mine a year ago for whatever I could get out of it and put that towards a new MBP. But honestly, with a desktop system and iPad, I can't even justify that.